OCR Text |
Show T-birds prepare for Tough Parson Team "We don't' have a player on the team that has ever beaten Westminister." That is all Southern Utah State's head coach Tom Kingsford wants to say about Saturday's Satur-day's encounter with the Parsons. The 13th meeting between the intrastate rivals gets underway at 1:30 p.m. in Thunderbird Stadium. Southern Utah brings a 2-1 record (1-1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference! into the defense giving up only 65 yards a game. Sturkey and company will be the T-Birds' toughest test yet this season. In total defense the 'Birds rank number one in both the RMAC and District 7 giving 229 yards per game. Sturkey's favorite targets are split end Rex Macey and Flanker Jackie Robertson. Macey grabbed nine passes for 148 yards and one touchdown touch-down against Mines, and on the season he has 31 catches have played, 7-3 (1974), 35-14 (1975), and 10-7 (1976). The T-Birds had won four in a row until 1974 including a 23-6 23-6 win in Cedar City in 1973. The T-Birds picked up a hard fought win over Adams State Saturday. It was only the third time in 13 games that SUSC has beaten Adams State. Doug Bills, junior from Springville kicked the winning field goal with 22 seconds left in the contest to give SUSC the win. Mike Powell, senior running back from Fountain Valley, Calif., led the SUSC offense with 71 yards on 17 carries while sophomore linebacker John Lundstrom, Sandy, racked 22 tackles to head the defense. Next week the T-Birds return to the road to face Ft. Lewis in Durango, Colo. game, while Westminster is 2-2 (2-1 in the RMAC). It's a must win for both teams if either wants to stay in the chase for the RMAC championship. Both teams are coming off close victories: SUSC 5-3 over Adams State and Westminster 24-21 over Colorado Mines. The Parsons also own a 32-24 32-24 victory over Adams State. Offensively, Westminster will depend on junior quarterback Walt Sturkey, who hit 11 of 20 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown against Mines. For the season Sturkey has thrown for 538 yards and five touchdowns. touch-downs. The T-Birds rank second in the RMAC and third in NAIA District 7 in pass for 355 yards and three scores. Robertson, a speedster, has eight grabs for 85 yards and one touchdown. touch-down. Robertson is also a threat on kickoff and punt returns. He has returned seven kickoffs for a 27.1 average and one touchdown while returning three punts for a 24.3 average and one touchdown. The Parson defense is led by freshman linebacker Chuck Webb. Webb has 57 tackles and two interceptions in-terceptions in the four games the Parsons have played. Cornerback Neil Carsey chalked up 11 tackles, against Mines and has 40 tackles plus one interception on the season. Westminster has won the last three games the teams |