Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 17, 1995 TAG: 9504170102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SAM ADAMS CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
DATELINE: DURHAM, N. C. LENGTH: Medium
Heather Sue broke a few hearts Saturday night.
Kicker Heather Sue Mercer's 28-yard field goal with 1:22 left in Duke's Blue-White football scrimmage gave the Blue team a 24-22 victory at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mercer assured herself of making history, too, as the first female to earn a spot on Duke's football team.
``She is on the team,'' said coach Fred Goldsmith. ``She's worked hard and has to continue to work hard.''
The scrimmage seemed reserved for a show of arms, as quarterbacks Spence Fischer, Dave Green and Matt Rader combined to complete 32 of 46 passes for 538 yards and four touchdowns.
Mercer, however, stole the show with the game-winning field goal, which was set up by Kenan Holley's 28-yard interception return to the White team's 32-yard line. The Blue team moved the ball on the ground before being stopped, setting up a fourth-and-one play from the 10. Mercer, who kicked the extra point after the first touchdown, trotted onto the field, awaited a snap and kicked an end-over-end ball that cleared the middle of the uprights in slow-motion fashion.
``I was thinking, `Don't miss,''' said Mercer, a walk-on sophomore from New York. ``I was thinking, `Just be calm.' I figured I wasn't going to be out there anymore. I figured they'd score a touchdown and go for the two-point conversion.''
Fischer stood out in the first half, completing his first seven passes and eight of 11 during the scrimmage. Both of his touchdown passes came in the first quarter, and both were to speedy wide receiver Corey Thomas - one for 46 yards, the other for 89. Thomas caught five passes for 197 yards
Green completed 14 of 21 passes for 219 yards, including a 28-yarder to Adam Geis to give the White team a 22-21 lead.
Mercer threw a pass, too, when she was forced to take the ball after a bad snap following the Blue team's second touchdown. The pass wobbled and was batted down.
``Ever heard of Garo Yepremian?'' Goldsmith asked Mercer later.
``No,'' she replied innocently.
``Ask somebody about him,'' Goldsmith said with a smile on his face.
Yepremian, a former Miami Dolphins kicker, made highlight-reel history with a wobbly pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by the Washington Redskins' Mike Bass in a 14-7 Dolphins victory in Super Bowl VII.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB