Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Game By TIM THORSEN Sports Editor The hottest two teams in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern division oauiea Saturday, and ine war was nothing short of spectacular. In the end, though, it took a stellar performance by the Florida defense to carry the Gators to a 149 victory over the Gamecocks and lift Florida one step closer to the SEC Eastern Division Championship. The Gamecock defense was terrific as well, but, in the end, one breakdown in coverage spelled disaster for Carolina. "I don't think the defense can play any better than that," senior cornerback Rocky Clay said. "A few breakdowns cost us 14 points. "We're just improving every week," Clay said. "These guys are supposed to be the SEC champs, and look how we did." With the Gators ahead 7-3 early in the fourth quarter, Florida senior quarterback Shane Matthews caught Aubrey Hill in a mismatch with Gamecock linebacker Hank Campbell. Matthews then delivered the perfect 36-yard touchdown iu 11111 iu win uic; ^oiiit. The 11-point lead did not phase the Gamecocks, though, as Carolina battled back with a 12play, 79-yard drive to cut the lead to five. The key play in the drive was a 30-yard strike from freshman quarterback Steve Taneyhill tc Terrell Harris. The bomb took the Gamecocks all the way down to the Gator goal line where sophomore runningback Brandon Bennett plunged in over the top of the defense. Soccer team lose; By NANCY SALOMONSKY Sports Editor The University of South Carolina soccer team lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Coastal Carolina, 2-0, at The Graveyard on Sunday. Before a crowd of 1,825 fans, the Chanticleers, 16-2-0, advanced into the second round ot the NCAA Tournament by defeating USC with goals in both halves of action. Coastal Carolina got on the board at the 21:26 mark when Neil Payne knocked in a pass from midfielder Maurlclo Araya to give them a 1-0 lead. The Gamecocks ^ Jjjf * ^ f - < - * - - . Above, South Carolina was out David Turner, right, had two sa Georgia 1 By TIM THORSEN bports tailor Finally, a week in the Southeastern Conference when, unexpectedly, the expected happened. For once, there were no lastsecond punt returns and subsequent onside kicks, but not for a lack of effort on the parts of South Carolina and Auburn. Florida survived a scare from the Gamecocks, in defeating South Carolina, 14-9. The South Carolina defense continued to excel, shutting down the powerful "Fun 'n Gun" offense of Florida head coach Steve Spurrier. Unfortunately for the Gamecocks, their offense continued its inept play in scoring only one touchdown against the Gators. Florida is now in the driver's seat to pick up the SEC's Eastern Division Championship and the icocks Carolina then selected to attem a two-point conversion. The pa . for two failed, however, leaving tl , score 14-9. The Gamecocks then unsucces fully attempted an onside kick, ar the Gators took the opportunity run out the clock, j "It was a bad game for us Florida wide receiver Will 1 Jackson said. "We were lucky i get the win. It was an ugly win, b i still it was a victory." The Gators almost did not g that win, though, as the Carolir defense dominated the first half < play. As the teams entered tl locker room at the half, tf ! Gamecocks led 3-0. It was the fir time in Florida Head Coach Ste\ Spurrier's career that his Gato had been shut out during the fir r half of a home game. Each team, however, had amp opportunities to put points on tl board. Carolina, already leading ! 0, missed an easy touchdowiKt mere inches just after taking tf lead on a 36-yard Marty Simpsc , field goal. After running several very su< cessful sweeps to Bennett, the hal back option play was sent in t TT I vjamcLUCK ncau ^.uacu opaiK Woods. The play worked magnif cently as the Florida secondary w; totally fooled, leaving Gamecoc junior wide receiver Don Chane 1 extremely wide open at the Gat< 8-yard line. Bennett's pass, thougl i was just a bit too long and over tf ? wrong shoulder. The pass, and tf six points, then skipped o Chaney's Fingers. "I rushed the pass because 1 was so open and I was in a hurry i get it to him," Bennett said. Florida missed a golden opporti s in first round N< only attempted four shots on tf goaf in the first half while Coast made seven. South Carolina only came clo< to scoring once in the first ha when senior forward Har Lohner's shot rolled wide left c the Chanticleers net late in the hal Gamecock goalie David Turner ha two saves in the half. The Gamecocks picked up tf pace in the second half and almo tied the score at the 67:32 mai when sophomore forward Chr Faklaris' header sailed over the ba With 13 seconds left in the garni Coastal Carolina put the gam away when Rob Williams scored. / M 1 A shot 11-7 by Coastal on Sunday ves in the first half and three in t Bulldogsi right to represent the East in th SEC Championship Game. Th Gators, 7-2 overall and 5-2 in th SEC, need only to defeat Vanderbi in their final game of the seasoi The game will be played i Nashville, and it will be th Commodores warm-up for the season-ending encounter with th University of Tennessee. The Gators still haven't foun the form that carried them to ? high as fourth in the polls this yea but the offense is once again bac on track. Shane Matthews (a twc time SEC Player of the Year) pre vides steady production from th quarterback position, while Erri< Rhett is the SEC's defending rusl ing champion. Georgia is still reeling from ii loss to Florida. Just when appeared the Bulldogs were goin Spc lose in ss l^uim ^ .jRI i# r'fMff i jB|M| l||^KjggiW||gfl| st ^w**%,s" ^fcik jvHfl| f?y VH^ IS l&Mfa^S )r h, ie ie Junior Rob DeBore, seen here aj q University of Florida ie nity to score as well, missing a to chip-shot field goal which would have tied the game at 3-3. The kick j- was a low knuckleball which CAA Competition ?e The game was very physical, as al both teams combined for 53 fouls and two yellow cards. South >e Carolina was outshot 11-7 in the If game, is Sunday's game marked the final >n game for seniors Chris Crosby, f. Hans Lohner, and Ruben Tufino. id The senior class has accumulated a 58-16-3 record over the Dast four le years, and the Gamecocks have st made three appearances in the k NCAA Tournament, is Coastal Carolina moves into the r. second round of the NCAA e, Tournament. They take on the wine ner of the Davidson/UNC-Charlotte match next Sunday. ' \ Lea Clayton/The Gamecock at The Graveyard. USC goalkeeper he whole game. and the Fk le to pull away from the Eastern divie sion, the Dawgs collapsed against ie the Gators, allowing Florida to It leapfrog them into first place. Three a. weeks ago the Georgia offense was n clicking on all cylinders, utilizing e the punishing power of runningback ir Garrison Hearst and the pinpoint ie passing of quarterback Eric Zeier. With targets like wide receiver d Andre Hastings to pass to, it is easy is to see why Zeier is the highestr, ranked passer in the SEC. k The Bulldogs finished off their >- SEC schedule with a controversial )- victory over Auburn University, ie The Dawgs (8-2 overall and 6-2 in ;t the SEC), held on to beat the Tigers l- 14-10, but only after Auburn could not get off a play from the Georgia ts goalline, which could have won the it game. The officials ruled the clock g was dead, and awarded the victory >rts The S' 4 J, ^ gainst Mississippi State defenders, w careened off the left goal post, and 3-5 fell to the turf. No good. wa The Gamecocks finished their Ga: inaugural SEC season a respectable reci ?fl ' : - - 1v 4-i I? tc >< SI * : - -' fw^Wkh ^ . ->** - . . >rida Gatoi to Georgia. keeDins their suddenly- bac slim championship hopes alive. nev A mob mentality has prevailed at in i the University of Tennessee, and The fans calling for head coach Johnny pla] Majors' head got their wish this wir past week. After nearly two decades exc at the helm of the Volunteer foot- I< ball program, Majors was forced Eas out in the middle of a 6-3 season, rea: The Vols are 3-3 in the SEC, and Qui have games remaining against bro Kentucky and Vanderbilt. bee Tennessee has a shot at an 8-3 schi overall record and a 5-3 SEC mark. off( It won't be enough to keep Majors' coa job though. typ< What a resurgence! After being hop declared legally dead by everyone rem associated with the SEC, the I Gamecocks rattled off four straight mei wins before dropping a heartbreaker Cor to Florida, 14-9. Freshman quarter- last wamp, jH! f JSP* |MMP as not able to break the 17-home-gar . With only their annual in-state a disap r with Clemson left, the will be mecocks sport a 4-6 overall son wil ord. Clemson enters the contest opponei J - is -r?<> '? ? - - ? ? ? W*l rs lead SE( k Steve Taneyhill has breathed this is / life into a program desperately failures leed of a personality transplant. Commo ; Gamecocks have gone from was exp /ing not to lose to expecting to year. i. Next year should really be iting in Columbia. T SEl Kentucky has crawled out of the tern Division cellar, and there is son to celebrate in Lexington, arterback "Pookie" Jones has East ught excitement to what has :n traditionally a basketball Georg ool. The addition of the Stack-I ~ ~ mse also has baffled opposing jOridc ches, giving the Wildcats the Jenne' 2 of edge they will need if they ' e to win games with their cur- S. Car : corps of players. .ook who's back in the base- Vande it. Once again, the Vanderbilt 7, T~ nmodores have sailed back into place in the SEC East. While File Photo ne winning streak at the pointing 5-5. Both teams looking to salvage their seath a win over their hated it. f4r * Lea Clayton/The Gamecock ^ East not unusual, this season's are especially painful to the dore faithful since Vandy ected to do much better this C Standings!" Conf. All WLT WLT ia 6 2 0 8 2 0 i 5 2 0 7 2 0 ssee 3 3 0 6 3 0 olina 3 5 0 4 6 0 rbilt 2 4 0 4 5 0 :ky 2 5 0 4 6 0