THE BATTALION
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1975
Page 9
ilkerson, Jackson
al The two other linebackers
* Kis i
By PAT EDMONDSON
Battalion Sports Writer
S ta!L| When people talk of A&M
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merit,
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with ^ i
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ne sorto,
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* statistit,
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•' itwvesl
linebackers, the names EdSimonini
and Garth Ten Napel usually pop
up. Simonini and Ten Napel are the
premier anchormen who will direct
the Aggie defense in Saturday’s
opening contest against the Ole
Miss Rebels. Last year’s number
two defense in the nation returns six
of eleven starters. Five openings
were left by graduating seniors.
One of the openings is at middle
linebacker. The middle linebacker
is the quarterback of the defense.
He calls the defensive signals. It is
let eriTii tf
- ils on and
which al
Nyhaif
m portan|
ksof’ft
Ier °n the
climax d
1 history
e Upward
ind watd
sed to hi
d tot yot
hiiowii
ev 'ersee,
3d
eason
' the strih
decided j
s a ticliet
es clutti#
'its ands
ve ts wsj
toaaj
,le ream
to the
U the leaf
ts - iipne
it still do
rears ago
ht he
the (act la
u ire
>e bought!
pillar seift
his job to move towards the ball and
he is responsible for covering the
tight end or receivers coming out of
the backfield on passing situations.
Grady Wilkerson and Robert
Jackson are each gifted with the
qualities needed to fill this vacated
position.
Grady Wilkerson is a junior, 6-3,
220 and a hard hitting, fighting type
player. He is a strong, aggressive
linebacker who spent most of last
season performing quite well on the
Aggie kicking units. Wilkerson saw
limited action as John Paul
McCrumbley and Kenny Stratton
handled most of the linebacking
duties.
“We re ready for the season to
begin,” said Wilkerson. “With
Simonini and Ten Napel on either
side of us, we’ve got a lot to live up
to. Robert and I try to play to their
standards. ”
Robert Jackson is a junior, 6-2,
225 and extremely quick. He is an
aggressive, hustling type player
who spent the last two seasons play
ing nose guard for Henderson
County Junior College. He was
voted All-America and was the Most
Valuable Player in the conference
lx)th years. “I don’t mind sharing
duties with Grady,” said Jackson.
“Both of us can get the job done. I
think the coaches feel the same
/ay.
‘We are very fortunate to have
two quality athletes at middle
linebacker this year, said
linebacker coach John Paul Young.
“Grady plays with a lot of sense and
makes very few mistakes. Robert
lacks Grady’s experience, but
makes up for it in his range and mo
bility. Both have assets we re ex
tremely pleased to see in a
linebacker. Until one clearly shows
us that he can perform better than
the other, we shall continue to al
ternate their playing time. Asked it
he thought Wilkerson and Jackson
could fill the shoes vacated by
McCrumbley and Stratton, Young
commented, “I think overall, in
cluding depth and technical ability,
that we’ll be better off at middle
linebacker this year than any year
that I’ve been at A&M!
The 1975 Aggie linebackers
should have a phenomenal season.
Ed Simonini and Garth Ten Napel
most assuredly will. Meanwhile, in
the shadows stand Grady Wilkerson
and Robert Jackson. Nobody should
cut this duo short. It will be a long
season for opposing offenses.
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HUGE POSTER
OR
GIFT
WRAPPING
Grady Wilkerson
Robert Jackson
Oakland bops KC
Battalion
Associated Press
iree villa
T forlli
tl'at exliili
minly gam
novelty!
OAKLAND — The Kansas City
Royals had the misfortune of run
ning into the real Oakland A s, those
guys who win the World Series
every October.
"When they have to win, they do
111 ; it, Manager Alvin Dark said in tri
bute to his ballplayers after the A s
completed a three-game sweep of
the Royals with an impressive 9-1
victory Wednesday night.
Kansas City rode an eight-game
winning streak into the Oakland
Coliseum and had edged to within
five games of the first place A s in
the American League West. The
b and All
considenl
League Standings
the prize.
Associated Press
National League
East
W L Pet.
GB
Associated Press
American League
East
W L Pet.
Pittsburgh
82 61 .573
-
Boston
86
60 .589
sits
Philphia
77 68 .531
6
Baltimore
80
65 .552
St. Louis
75 70 .517
8
New York
74
71 .510
New York
73 72 .503
10
Cleveland
70
71 .496
Chicago
70 77 .476
14
Milwaukee
62
84 .425
movd lli
IT.”
Montreal
64 80 .444
West
18%
Detroit
55 91 .377
West
e made i;
Cincinnati
96 49 . 662
-
Oakland
88
56 .611
ials of tli
Los Angeles
78 68 .534
18%
Kansas City
80
64 .556
ennis Fed
S. Francisco
70 75 .483
26
Texas
72
75 .490
San Diego
66 80 .452
30%
Chicago
68
76 .472
s of Swede
Atlanta
64 82 .438
32%
Minnesota
66
75 .468
itrv’s thru
Houston
57 90 .388
40
California
66
79 .455
in the set-
litaryconf
t
1 Sept.
Forum
Senter
, mac-
jr now
hop.
litional
Royals were brought down to earth
quickly, losing 8-2 to Ken Holtzman
in the series opener Monday night.
Royals first baseman John
Mayberry described the A s hitting
that night this way: “Whoomp!
whoomp! whoomp!” Sal Bando and
Gene Tenace each hit home runs in
the opener and combined for five
homers and 10 runs batted in for the
series.
On Tuesday night, eight innings
of scoreless pitching by relievers
Paul Lindblad, Rollie Fingers and
Jim Todd forced the game into the
14th inning, when the supposedly
crippled Bert Campaneris stole sec
ond base and then scored on Bill
North’s two-out single for a 2-1 vic
tory.
“Campaneris is a great com
petitor. All those guys are,” said
young Kansas City outfielder Jim
Wohlford.
Kansas City’s pennant hopes
were dead — Manager Whitey
Herzog said as much — when the
series ended. And it was no mercy
killing with the A’s outscoring the
Royals 19-4 in the three games.
“Let’s be realistic. We re eight
games out with 18 left. If we’d won
just one of the games and were just
six back, maybe we’d still have a
chance,” said the man who suc
ceeded Jack McKeon as manager six
weeks ago and has a 30-18 record as
Royals manager.
“Well go after them again next
Classified
Call 845-2611
FRIENDS FOR YOUR WALL
(Hundreds more
stars than
pictured
here)
,J Tsir~ J
"7^' ” ^ — ——
TEXAS A&M
year.
Dark
FOOTBALL COMMEMORATIVE
5'A
IIV2
13‘A
24
31
8
l? 1 ^
20
20‘A
22%
insisting on caution, said,
“We got good pitching and big hits
in the series, but we’ve still got a
long way to go to clinch it.”
But Tenace, being as realistic as
Herzog, said, “We re going to have
to collapse to lose this thing.
Could it happen?
“Not with our bullpen,” said Re
ggie Jackson.
So, it’s on to the American
League playoffs for a fifth straight
year and a shot at a possible fourth
straight World Series title.
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