DATE: Thursday, October 23, 1997            TAG: 9710230721

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                      LENGTH:   73 lines

TRIBE RUNNING BACK IS BOWLING 'EM OVER SCATTERING DEFENDERS LIKE PINS IS, WELL, RIGHT UP HIS ALLEY.

William and Mary running back Alvin Porch likes to say that he grew up in a bowling alley.

Actually, he grew up in Bowie, Md.

But hey, why split hairs? You grow up in Bowie, you bowl.

``It's big up there,'' Porch said. ``Especially in my family.''

Porch, who needs just 79 yards to reach 1,000 for the second straight year, is serious about bowling. He once carried a 200 average for a 32-week season. His high game is 288. Even now, in the heart of football season, he heads to a Williamsburg alley for a weekly fix.

``I couldn't give up bowling completely,'' he said. ``I'd pass out.''

It's all quite fitting, because at 5-foot-8 and 198 pounds, Porch is a bowling ball of a running back. When he's at his best, as he was when he had a career-high 35 carries for a career-high 201 yards against Connecticut last Saturday, he scatters tacklers like pins in an alley.

``We tried to give him a break, but he wanted the ball,'' coach Jimmye Laycock said of Porch's marathon performance last week. ``Who am I to say not to give it to him? He's getting better and better every week.''

Porch will need to be on top of his game Saturday, when the 14th-ranked Tribe (6-2) hosts No. 1 Villanova (6-0) at Zable Stadium. Unlike last year at this time, when he was beaten down with shoulder and knee injuries, Porch is feeling fresh, last week's 35 carries notwithstanding.

``Last year at this time I had peaked and started to come down,'' Porch said. ``So I really worked on my conditioning in the offseason.''

Last year, Porch carried a school-record 272 times for 1,210 yards, fourth-best in school history. He didn't learn until after the season that he had played most of the year with torn cartilage in one knee.

Not that it would have kept him out anyway. Porch waited three years for his chance and wasn't about to let nagging injuries sideline him.

Recruited in 1993, Porch spent three seasons playing behind Derek Fitzgerald, the Tribe's all-time leading rusher, and Troy Keen, who is third on the all-time list. The pair combined for 6,693 yards from 1992-95.

``It was a humbling experience,'' said Porch, a fifth-year senior. ``Coming out of high school, you expect to be the man. But they were proven. I was unproven. They did a good job of grooming me, and when they stepped out, I stepped in.''

Porch has run for at least 100 yards in 11 of his 21 career starts. He's also caught at least one pass in every start. The Tribe is 9-2 when he's broken the century mark.

Porch will quickly tell you that the mark should be 10-1. The low point of his season - possibly his career - came Sept. 20 against New Hampshire, when Porch's fumble in the end zone with under a minute left cost William and Mary a victory.

``I think about it every day,'' Porch said. ``What if I hadn't dropped that ball? We'd be 7-1 instead of 6-2. I almost want it to go away, but it won't.''

Porch, craving the motivation, doesn't want it to. After the New Hampshire game, he bounced back with 173 yards in a win over Boston University. He, and the rest of the team, then played miserably in a loss at Northeastern. But Porch responded with 159 yards against James Madison and 201 last week.

Porch credits his offensive line, but his speed - he ran 10.44 in the 100 meters in high school - and surprising strength make him tough to bring down. If he doesn't evade the first man to reach him, he usually delivers a punishing blow.

``I hide behind those big linemen,'' Porch said. ``Hopefully, I'm there before (tacklers) know it.''

A sociology major, Porch plans to get his MBA and pursue a career in sports marketing. First, though, he'd like a shot at the pros.

That's the NFL, not the PBA.

``There's a lot of bowlers better than me,'' he said.

But, at the I-AA level anyway, not many running backs. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

W&M's Alvin Porch, a fifth-year senior, needs just 79 yards to reach

1,000 for the second straight year.

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