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Show THE THUNDERBIRD MONDAY OCTOBER 10, 1988 PACE 13 f 'Bird comeback falls short in 34-3- 2 loss to Santa Clara BY NEIL GOSLIN was homecoming Saturday for Santa Clara as the Thunderbirds traveled to California to take on the Broncos in a contest billed as a battle of the backs. The battle became a war as running won by Santa Clara 34-3- 2 back Paul Marcy put together 199 yards for the Broncs. in the Western The 'Birds, now Football Conference, will take a break from the race with a 7 p.m. clash with long-tim- e Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe New Mexico Highlands in Thunderbird Stadium Saturday. SUSC leads the series with the Mountaineers Santa Clara's Marcy dominated the It 1. SUSC remains winless against Santa Clara and drops from the ranks of the WFC's unbeaten. produce any real offensive effectiveness. The 'Birds began the game on top by seven, but watched that lead slowly halftime deficit. dwindle to a 24-1- 7 "We could've taken them', out in the first quarter," said Bishopf "We just had to be a little more physical." The 'Birds felt they were within striking distance as the third quarter began, but the Broncos pulled out ahead with 10 quick points to set the stage for the SUSC comeback try. Penalties and turnovers seemed to play a key role in the outcome, but perhaps the key moment of the afternoon came with 4:49 to go when the 'Birds, trailing 34-2elected not to kick for the extra point. The two-poiconversion failed as 'Bird quarterback Carter threw an incompletion. But the 'Birds battled back on an touchdown pass from Carter to Thane Marshall to narrow the margin 34-3Another unsuccessful two-poiattempt with 2:20 remaining proved the fatal margin. SUSC, working with only one timeout, then tried desperately to regain the ball for another scoring try, but a third and long play with little time remaining saw Bronco tailback Matt Shaw break a long gainer for a first down, ending any hopes of a victory. Saturday's loss jerked SUSC's share of first place in the WFC out of their hands. The 'Birds, 4 overall on the situation year, now face a must-wi- n against Portland State at Portland Oct. 22, said Bishop, if there are to be any hopes of a conference title or postseason play. Since SUSC's women's gymnastics team has made the leap to Division I, the squad will begin the season by competing with four of the top schools in the country, including UCLA, California State Fullerton, Utah State University and BYU. The season begins Jan. 2 when the team will perform at a home basketball Then the month game during half-timof January will find the Lady 'Birds at the University of Northern Colorado, Boise State University and BYU. In February the squad tumbles into Utah State University and Santa Barbara. This year's new season ushers in a new coach, Brent Hardcastle. He graduated from BYU and competed in During his gymnastics from 1970-197career at BYU, he won the WAC Championship in the floor exercise event, and went on to take third in the NCAA tournament. Before coming to SUSC, Hardcastle coached at Alta e. 6. ''' y v ; nt 18-ya- nt '1 Jl( H hi come-from-behi- v A 2-- Gymnasts balance on new coach BY MICHELLE JENSEN 4 6, 2. field Saturday afternoon with a confidence that the other backs weren't able to discover on the solid field of Buck Shaw Stadium. SUSC's Kelvin Minefee, who began the day as the WFC's leading rusher, was able to gain only 62 yards, while Marcy was virtually unstoppable. The running game wasn't the only problem, though, as Coach Jack Bishop explained, "Our passing wasn't sharp. feel half devastated; we were second guessing. wanted a win, not a tie." Quarterbacks Brad Matthews and Rick Carter both saw action Saturday in hopes that one would find a groove, and in spite of two late touchdown passes by Carter, neither could k High, leading the Hawks to two straight state championships. Prior to that he coached Orem High School to a state championship title as well. There will not be any home meets for the Lady 'Birds this year due to the fact that scheduling had not been done prior to Hardcastle's employment. According to Hardcastle, most of the schools had complete schedules and were not willing to add away meets. The chances to do well in Division would be higher if there were better scholarship opportunies for Division athletes, he said. "If we could raise the money to be competitive with scholarships offered by other Division schools, we would be competitive ! I ourselves." There will be six gymnasts this year, four of whom were on last year's team. Returning are Cindy Petersen, Robin Abramowitz, Marla Husky and Tina Morgan. The two freshmen additions are Amy Poulton and Katie Thompson. , Spikers Jennifer Higby (left), and Kim Turley stretch to block an oncoming shot. Teo's camp bumps bad attitudes BY BRENT RICHEY Despite the fact that the Lady 'Bird volleyballers have won only one of their 18 games thus far this season, coach Alema Teo said he is not worried about losing his coaching position. "Cary Gallup told me, 'don't worry about it, your job isn't in jeopardy,"' said Teo of SUSC's athletic director. The first-yecoach said when he was offered the job he knew he was up against the odds. The Lady 'Birds return home Oct. e 15 to begin a home stand Mesa College. They then against complete the season with two more road trips. Teo attributes many of the losses to a schedule that required two months of extensive travel, but he considers this first year of Division competition a building and maturing year for the team. "Many of the Division teams are very well put together," said Teo, "but my main goal is to put a good team out on ar four-gam- I the court with an attitude that is a winning one." Continual road losses have not dampened that attitude, said Teo. "We were putting our heads down there for awhile, but overall the attitudes have been great." Teo expects great things next year. "The only thing that separates us from Division teams is experience and height." He hopes to pick up a couple of big players in the offseason. The Lady 'Birds match up very well defensively, explained Teo, "they've all had good compliments about our defense, but we don't have a main killer on offense." Due to the hardships of the schedule this year, Teo has not been overly critical of his team. "Instead of progressing we've been at a standstill." But Teo believes as the Lady 'Birds continue to meet the challenges of Division competition, they will continue to improve and eventually become contenders in the division. 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