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Show i Page 4B Lakeside Review Thursday, January 8, 1981 Viewmont, Roy, Clearfield, Post Strong VIKING GUARD Jon Cox adds quickness and ball control to the already powerful Viewmont squad giving it an extra edge toward making the state tournament in March. By PHIL KIRKWOOD Sports Editor n is completed and Now that area coaches have had a chance to evaluate their respective teams over the holidays, region play is now set to begin. All teams will play their first region game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and will continue to battle through February for a berth in the state tournament starting March 6. One thing the coaches all agree on is that the first region game will play an important role in setting the tempo for the league season and their teams have been practicing extra hard for the opener in the hopes of gaining some sort pre-seaso- Starred In of edge. . Heres how they stack up: Viewmont (10-2- ) n Boasting one of the best the Vikings should be records in strong contenders to take the Region 5 title. Their only losses thus far have been to power Bonneville (a team, they later beat) and to Provo in the finals of the Davis Classic tournament. Coach Ron Johansen feels this is one of the better teams he has ever coached and says he has the talent to reach the state tournament finals. Ive never had a group of super quality players like a Parrish (Norm), White (John) or a Morrell (Kyle) all on pre-seaso- 3-- 4-- Pre-Seaso- n FORWARD TROY NYE, from Clearfield will give the Falcons plenty of scoring berth. punch and make them a solid contender for the Region-- 1 title and a play-of- f ROYAL GUARD Brad McCaulley will make sure the passing is crisp and the play ; is intense when his team Jiits the floor against Layton in the Region-- 1 opener this ' Friday. the same team before. If we play together, I think we have a good chance to go all the way, he said. Parrish has been far and away the best offensive player for the Vikings scoring over 24 points per game. White, a center, has been chipping in an average of 16 a game while pulling down 11 rebounds and making five blocked shots. Morrell puts in 13 per outing and uses his quickness to average four steals. One weakness the Vikings might have according to Johansen is their tendency to cruise on a big lead and lose intensity. Johansen says defense usually suffers and weaker teams have made 8 scores closer than they should have been. Our region is unique in that it has so many different styles of play, said Johansen. We cant afford to have let downs on defense against most of these teams and we have to, be flexible enough to play all the different styles if we plan to win. Johansen says Highland, Woods Cross and West will be the teams to beat in Region 5, but that all teams will be tough to beat at home. ' . Roy ) The Royals were an up and down but team for most of the coach Ted Smith says his squad is (7-4- pre-seaso- n, finally settling down and should be strong contenders in Region-1- . When we beat Highland in our first game (giving Highland its only loss thus far) I was pleased because we shot ' very well and most of the team had not practiced much because of the football tournament, said Smith. But weve played inconsistent since then and well have to develop more intensity and play much harder if were going to win in ' , league. Smith says the teams success depends on the quickness of the guards in handling the ball and strength inside on defense. Center Rob Thomas, who averaged nine points per game in pre season, along with forward Bart Hadley will be holding down the inside attack on offense and will be the key in star- -' ' , ting the fast break. Smith also reports his team is in good physical shape and that the Christmas break helped make their mental game sharp. Smith picks Bonneville and Weber as the teams to beat and that Clearfield will play strong at home. Clearfield (6-The Falcons are one team that made the maximum out of the minimum in the Boasting virtually a brand new team after losing last years starting five and not having any player Continued on Page 5B , pre-seaso- n. Basketball, Baseball McMaihoim Bmis Of heir Mlhleffk CiredemtiGils By BUSS FULLMER Staff Writer When Jim McMahon, moved his family to Roy in 1975, there was a rumor that his son Jim Junior was bringing with him some pretty good ROY athletic credentials. Naturally the coaches at Roy High were interested, but cautious in their optimism. Football Coach Ernie Jacklin made first contact with the McMahons. It was early in July of 1975, remembers Coach Jacklin. I got a phone call from a man who introduced himself as Jim McMahon. He said that he was being transfered to Utah and had purchased a home in Roy. He said that he had a son who was a pretty good football player, and was calling to check out the situation for football in Roy, and when did he need to report to practice. I was impressed with Mr. continued McMahon, Jacklin, because he didnt try to over-se- ll the talents of his son. He just calmly told me what Jim had been doing in athletics in San Jose, California, and I gave him all the information he wanted. McMahon also told Jacklin about his oldest son, Mike, who had played varsity sports in San Jose. The coach also invited him to bring Mike, who would be a senior, but Mike had made a commitment to play out his senior year in California. As it turned out, Mike lived, that year, with the San Jose coach and was named as the outstanding senior athlete at his high school. Young Jim McMahon showed up at a Royal football practice oh a weekend and, as was the custom for enterprising quarterbacks, Jacklin put him through the paces of throwing the ball. I football games and I think he will be doing just that next year at B.Y.U. Thats when I really got excited, said the coach. I could tell that he had excellent mechanics for throwing the ball and he had a quick release. I was also impressed with his balance and accuracy. Jim looked good in practice, but did not start in his first game at Roy. He had a sore ankle, but did manage to play enough to get the starting assignment for Roys next game. That game was with Ben Lomond, and the Royals beat the Scots in a big way. Jim started every game for Roy from that k time on. The Royals won Region One titles in 1975 and 1976 with Jim at the controls. Basketball and McMahon Basketball coach Ted Smith learned of Jim McMahon from what was happening on the football field, but he had no idea of what he could do in We heard that Jim had basketball. played junior varsity ball the previous year as a sophomore in California, recalled Coach Smith, and he looked pretty good in practice. After losing two of our first three league games, we decided to start him, and then won five straight, and tied for second place in Region One. Jim averaged 12 points per game that year, back-to-bac- Coach Jacklin had a lot of faith in McMahon, and let him call most of the plays in his junior year. As a senior, Jim called virtually every play for the Royals. I just sat back, folded my arms and enjoyed the ball game, The players all laughed Jacklin. respected Jim, and did as they were told. I recall one game at Sky View, when we were on the four yard line, l. Jim told Jon Hanson that he had better get the ball into the end zone, or else he would have to reckon with the coach. Hanson did his duty, and later said, I had no choice, but to get that touchdown. llrJ1 frjfeg?1 Jacklin was always high on Jim McMahon. I would not be surprised to see him calling his own plays at B. Y.U., next year, now that Doug Scovil the offensive coordinator has been hired said coach away from B.Y.U., Jacklin. Scovil called the plays last season for the Cougars, but he allowed Jim to call audibles and that happened a lot. Jim McMahon has the uncanny ability of thinking ahead during his . V- UM- .SfLS Smith, but his first love was football and he signed a for football at B.Y.U. Jim was a pressure letter-of-inte- (3V. H- player, SXAff't nt , continued Smith. "When things got tight out on the floor, he was e the guy. He thrived on pressure. He was tough at both ends of the floor.. take-charg- JIM MCMAHON (left) of Roy, star quarterback at Brigham Young University, autographs his way through 12s footballs along with teammate Nick Eyre, a Weekend in Hollywood, Calif. lineman, during the recent Kodak The pair were among 23 players named Kodak by the American Football Coaches Association, an honor that netted them a weekend in Hollywood for awards and relaxation. i er er Jim McMahon could have played major college basketball, said Coach BT- - star-pitch- m third-and-goa- - . and Jim McMahon is a switch-hitte- r, In his senior year, continued can hit the long ball from either side of Smith, Jim upped his average to 22 the plate.' When he wasnt on the points, playing opposite John Garner, mound, the coach made room for him, who was the floor general. When John for his hitting power. He batted in broke his arm in the Sky View game, . just the clean-u- p spot for the Royals, and Jim took over as and led us was the leading home-ru- n hitter in to an 18-- 5 season our best ever season 4A At State Utah the One. finals, Region record, and we won our first Region Jim blasted a grand-slahome run One championship. Jim made the all-- , over the left field fence at Derks Field state third team that year, and would to tie the game, and Roy beat the have done better, had we done better at eventual state champion Cottonwood state. team to take third place in the tourney. play-mak- jf all impressed to see that new kid from California, who marched our third string offensive unit for a touchdown ' defense, said against our first-strin- g Thompson, and then I heard that he could play baseball. 1 met his father after a football game, and learned that since little he had been a league baseball, said Coach Thompson, but I was told that Jims game was football, and that perhaps it was . too cold in Utah for him to be pitching. I explained about our short baseball season in Utah, continued Thompson, and promised that I would do nothing to hurt his arm. Thankfully, Jim decided to give baseball a try, and he soon became our ace pitcher. . . Baseball Star Too Coach Fred Thompson first saw McMahon on the football field. We were McMahon owns all of the pitching records at Roy High, and a share of the hitting titles. . He had the interested, but let it be known that football was his game. He is planning on playing baseball, next spring at B.Y.U., and has his goals set on third base. pro-scou- ts Jim did a job for us in his two years at Roy, said Coach Thompson. He was very coachable, and played anywhere I asked him to. He came to us at a time (hat we were in dire need of pitching, and we won with him. . |
