ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512110088
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Rowan football coach K.C. Keeler was talking about his much-talked-about defense Friday when he decided it was time to say something about the guys on the other side of the ball.
``We don't just have a run-to-the-trash can-and-make-a-right kind of offense, you know,'' he said.
On Saturday before a crowd of 4,905, Keeler was proven correct, but not in the way he expected. His offense couldn't even run that simple a play.
Playing in their second Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in three years in Salem, the Profs made the wrong turns and reads all day against a steady but relentless Wisconsin-La Crosse defense. The 36-7 final score gave Rowan its second title loss at Salem Stadium, while providing the Eagles with their second NCAA Division III championship since 1991.
``I couldn't feel any better than I feel right now,'' said Craig Kusick, Wisconsin-La Crosse's All-America quarterback.
The same couldn't be said of his counterpart on the Profs' sideline. Sophomore Greg Lister, who will turn 24 in 10 days, probably feels much older, a little wiser and a lot worse for wear. He was battered by the Eagles' defense to the extent that at one point in the third quarter, he said he couldn't speak in the huddle.
A look at his final numbers wouldn't do him any good, either. He completed only seven of 27 passes for 60 yards and three interceptions and was sacked twice.
``I should have come out in the second quarter,'' said Lister, rubbing a right side where two ribs were dislocated Dec.2 during a victory at Washington and Jefferson. ``You always want to play, though.''
In truth, nobody on Rowan's offense got much of a chance to play. UW-L had possession for 40:35 compared with 19:25 for the Profs. The Eagles (13-0) ran 89 offensive plays; Rowan (10-3-1) snapped the ball 57 times.
``We left [our defense] on the field too long,'' Keeler said.
The Profs left the stadium after being victimized on too many big or broken plays. The biggest came in the final 16 seconds of the first half. The Eagles had first-and-10 at their 15-yard line and everyone in the stadium figured they would run out the clock.
Instead, Kusick stood motionless in the pocket as would-be tacklers swirled around him. After several seconds, he heaved the ball some 60 yards to receiver Jeremy Earp, who outleaped Rowan's Tom Nolan and completed an 85-yard scoring play. UW-L went to the locker room with a 16-7 lead and it never looked back.
``I figured we'd run it out, and I think that's what they figured, too,'' said Eagles defensive tackle Mike Ivey.
Most observers labeled that pass the play of the game. But things first started going sour for the Profs about nine minutes earlier.
UW-L was kicking off after tying the score at 7. Matt Anderson's kick carried deep into the wind, and Rowan return man Tarrick Grace had to back up to get to it. His momentum led him into the end zone, where the Profs expected to get a spot on the 20-yard line.
But referee Chris Steiner didn't see it that way. He put the ball at the 1.
``The ball was caught and possessed by the receiver, with his feet on the ground, on about the 1-yard line,'' Steiner said. ``His momentum of backing up carried him into the end zone, where he downed the ball.
``The interpretation by rule is that the ball is awarded to the receiving team at the spot he caught the ball.''
Rowan didn't catch a break the rest of the day. The Profs mustered only 153 yards of total offense after averaging 37.3 points in three previous playoff games.
UW-L had 451 yards of total offense with Kusick throwing for 281 yards and four touchdowns on 19-of-31 passing. He did all that after receiving stitches in his chin following a hit on his first play of the game.
``He showed why he is an All-American,'' Keeler said. ``He showed a lot more poise than we were hoping he'd be able to show.''
Keeler left Salem without the trophy for the second time in his three years at Rowan. But he couldn't complain about the man who got the gold.
After being confined to a booth at the 1992 Stagg Bowl while recovering from heart surgery, UW-L head coach Roger Harring literally got his moment in the sideline sun Saturday.
``It was a great feeling being on the sideline,'' he said.
Like Harring and Kusick, the Eagles have never felt better.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff. 1. Rowan's Eugene Foster getsby CNBdropped in the end zone for a safety by Wisconsin-La Crosse
defensive tackle Mike Ivey on Saturday afternoon at Salem Stadium.
The Eagles whipped the Profs 36-7 in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the
NCAA Division III football championship game, before a crowd of
4,905. 2. MIKE HEFFNER/Staff. Rowan College defensive tackle Dan
Robertson is consoled in the late stages of the Profs' 36-7 loss to
Wisconsin-La Crosse. color.