Page 12
Dressed in earmuffs, gloves, scarves,
and shorts, a "capacity" crowd turned
out at the Roberta Bronson Sports
Complex for the 1981 Intramural . Flag
Football Championship. The
participants: the Zero Squad from Her
shey Medical Center and the Kami
kazees from Capitol Campus. The C.C.
Reader betting line was Kamikazees
plus two, because of the home school
advantage.
The finals were shaping up as a
rematch between the Zero Squad and
the Nightriders. But the Kamikazees
shocked the Nightriders, 16-9, in the
semi-finals. (This writer was also shock
ed!) The Kamikazees have a highly
talented team with a lot of finesse and
quickness, but the Nightriders were
bigger and stronger. But in the end, the
quickness paid off. As for the Zero
Squad, they ran all over their semi-final
opponents, the White Dogs, by a score of
21-0.
What would have been the rematch
of the year was now labeled an even
better game. Could the Kamikazees stop
the combination of Marty DeFrancesco
I Above I: Penn State on fourth and imp tried desperately for six points, - It to no avail
Anderson, [Below], explains to his linemen the upcoming blocking assignments.
0 Ilk*, 4 .
Capitolizing on Sports
to Mike Watson? Could the Zero Squad
contain the arm of Greg DeNunzio?
The Zero Squad drew first blood with
a highly concealed 20-yard end around
from QB DeFrancesco to RB Watson,
who gave it to Mike Baer. Baer galloped
in for the first score. The PAT was no
good, so it was 6-0, Zero Squad.
Ray Dougherty intercepted a De-
Nunzio pass, setting up a ten-yard run
by William "Willie" Thornier. A twopoint
conversion pushed the score to 14-0 in
favor of the Underdogs from Hershey.
Just when things loOked bleak, the
Kamikazees got a break from the men
they called the refs. DeNunzio faded
back and hit player-coach Marty Snopek
streaking down the middle for a 35-yard
gain. In addition, a pass interference call
in the end zone set up a first-and-goal.
DeNunzio then hit Mark Flinkbaugh for
the TD. At the half it was 14-7 Zero
Squad, but it was now a ballgame.
As the second half began, defense
was the name of the game. The Zero
Squad was led by #BO Jim Artuso. He
singlehandedly stopped potential big
gainers by the Kamikazees.
Monday, November 23, 1981
Zeroes Are
No. 1
The Zero Squad,'left), battled the cold
weather and the Kamikazees, [right]
under the watchful eye of mascot, Holly,
to .v.pture the Intramural rnotlball title.
By Kevin Spiegel
The turning point of the game came
with the Kamikazees facing a third-and
a-mile situation. Mark Flinkbaugh broke
off right tackle and was gone, but those
men who call themselves refs detected a
clipping in the line. Therefore the tying
touchdown was called back. Just re
member that the Kamikazees would
have tied the score, but N 00000! The refs
saw a clipping. (By the way, I saw the
clip also)
After that break, the Zero Squad had
a fourth down and a bunch. Quarterback
DeFrancesco faded back and hit his
second favorite wide receiver all alone
some 50 yards away. His favorite wide
receiver had four guys around him, so
Baer was all alone. As the saying goes
"It was lights out, good night Irene!"
Suddenly it was 21-7, instead of 14-14.
You might say at this point, "Oh well,
the Kamikazees lost, let's go home."
Wrong. They, gave it all they had right
down to the final whistle. After the
ensuing kickoff, DeNunzio and Company
needed one play (nine seconds) to get
back into the game. DeNunzio hit Sno
pek flying down the right side for 80
' 4,
.. 1
* ********************i
* Shades of
i*
'79 Sugar Bowl?
******************l
ensive coac
yards and six points.
That was it for the scoring, but the
"capacity" crowd saw a great game.
Look, the Kamikazees might have lost,
but how many teams have a dog named
Holly as their mascot to come out to wish
the team good luck?
Congratulations to the 1981 Intra
mural Flag Football champs--the Zero
Squad. And to the best Flag Football
team at Capitol Campus--the Kamika
zees, if only they could change one play
and take back that clipping call. (Oh,
those refs!)
Three Offensive Stars
1. Mike Baer
2. Marty DeFrancesco
3. Marty Snopek
Three Defensive Stars
1. Jim Artuso
2. Dave "the claw" Dell
3. Nate Santaromita
Reader Photos by Darrell Reider
ama Staggers By
Defenseless Lions
By Darrell Reider
"Blue Z dive, off 62, on 3. Break!" was
the call last Saturday, with Penn State
just one yard away from paydirt, six
points, and a chance for a comeback from
a 14-3 deficit. Quarterback Todd Black
ledge sends tight end Mike McCloskey in
motion from left to right, and after a
good snap from center hands off the
pigskin to the Nittany Lion franchise,
Curt Warner. Number 25 moves with
the flow, looking for a hole to the end
zone, but all he sees is white and red.
Seven plays to move three feet. Sounds
easy, right? Well 85,133 fans at Beaver
Stadium groaned in disbelief after the
then N 5 Nittany Lions failed, prompting
the sudden memories of New Year's Day
1979 once again. Remember the first and
goal at the two, four consecutive running
plays up the middle into the waiting Tide
defense?
What's the problem? Is it the ABC
jinx? Choking in the big game? Or is it
the big money that creates stars in the
eyes of the players, like some kind of
dream world? True, Penn State hasn't
won on ABC-TV since December 22,
1979 at the Liberty Bowl, when the
Lions downed Tulane 9-6. The fault in
the Bama game stems from poor coach
ing by Conservative Joe and Company.
After the game, at his press conference,
Paterno blamed the loss on himself. "I
think we were a poorly coached football
team today. And I take the blame for
that," Paterno was quoted as saying.
"We just did a lousy job of coaching."
Former Arkansas coach-turned ABC
commentator Frank Broyles suggested
regional TV that State "run the option.
Please, run the option."
C.C. Reeder
continued on Page 11