Friday, September 2, 1988/The Battalion/Page 15
)U1
• c<) nd| ar .
,n
under
ind 26
Sports
sev(J
led a col
Ags cooking Cajun
Baton Rouge Connection hits LSU
K-anie ifi
ed b anl; j
'oon lafp
>il and.
By Dianne Normand
Reporter
Four years ago, a sophomore
quarterback-, for the Broadmoor
High School Buccaneers of Baton
-—Rouge, La., came off the bench to
l 'b 11% > n his first high school football
ot betalf game.
He dropped back, faked to the
running back, then rolled out and
connected with the all-state senior
"g Oil ;
’il and _
Texan?
illo.
lsi >ccessfj tight end for a 35-yard touchdown.
establij
v Yorkf;
'og him
n Furr
this ytj
sted rev,
,r e thar
ante (jut
op's ha;
12 ceo;
dp’s firi'
ortipan;
ullion lie
lop’s *5
le’s in
ack of [r.
tive isot
:h devd
iness.
lave sir
ion, dir
they sir
ervboc;
The sophomore’s first.
The quarterback was Bucky Rich
ardson; the tight end was Wally
Hartley.
Since then, both have been im
ported from Broadmoor High to
Aggieland via the Texas A&M foot
ball team.
Now dubbed “The Baton Rouge
Connection” and wearing A&M jer
seys, both players will try to live up
to their title in Saturday’s game
against Louisiana State in f ront of a
hometown crowd.
Richardson, the Aggie quar
terback and offensive Most Valuable
Player of the 1988 Cotton Bowl, will
view the LSU game from a much dif
ferent perspective than he did the
last time the Aggies traveled to LSU
two years ago.
“I was a senior in high school
watching the game from the stands,”
said Richardson, who played as a
true freshman last fall.
Hartley, however, was on the field
for the Aggies that game.
The ’86 LSU game was the first
mark Hcollege game I played in,” said the 6-
A&M vs. LSU
• When: Saturday night, kickoff
at 7 p.m.
• Where: Tiger Stadium, Baton
Rouge, La.
• Rankings: A&M is ranked No.
11 by the Associated Press. LSU
is No. 17.
• Television: on pay-per-view
basis at Rudder Auditorium. Sa
tellite feed provided by Home
Sports Entertainment.
• Radio: KTAM 1240 AM, with
Dave South on play-by-play and
Jay Howard on commentary.
5, 240-pound junior tight end. “I
was fired up playing in Tiger Sta
dium. I grew up watching football
there.
“The LSU game is like the other
students’ Texas game for the Loui
siana players.”
Both players were recruited by
both schools, Richardson said.
“1 don’t think I would have come
to Texas without knowing anybody,”
he said. “Wally being here made the
decision much easier for me.
“I knew there was an opportunity
for me playing here since Kevin
Murray was going professional. LSU
had (Tom) Hodson for quarterback,
and I knew no one would beat him
out of that position.”
The duo’s parents support the Ba
ton Rouge natives’ decision to play
S,
ed
ich
mercii
ine ra
reop
million
n, the
- Corp.
ssionet;
.ed the
about
C was
mation i
prac- j
entra-
estate I
he re-
1 loan |
e than
ed the
bank's
mil of
based
Dallas,
ent in
Lady Ags sweep Lamar in season opener
By Doug Walker
Assistant Sports Editor
The Lady Aggie volleyball team
opened the 1988 season by sweeping
three games from Lamar Thursday
night in Beaumont.
Senior outside attacker Cheri
Steensma led the Lady Aggies with
13 kills as A&M took the three
games of the match 15-6, 15-7 and
19-17.
A&M hit .412 as a team with 47
kills and 12 errors in 85 attempts.
“The first two games tonight we
did exactly what we wanted to do,”
Givens said. “In the third we let
down and relaxed a little bit and al
lowed Lamar to get back in it.”
Steensma hit .417 with only three
errors in 24 attempts. Senior middle
blocker Vivian Viera led the team in
hitting percentage by hitting .500 in
20 attempts. Sophomore outside at
tacker Amy Cumings led the Lady
Aggies in attacks with a .727 per
centage.
Givens was pleased to be able to
use some of his younger players as
10 of the 12 team members saw ac
tion.
“I definitely think we’ve got a lot
of weapons. We’re going to be* a
really good team, and we’ll continue
to get better with each outing,”
Givens said.
Tonight the Lady Aggies meet
Louisiana State at 7:30 in the Pete
Maravich Assembly Center on the
LSU campus in Baton Rouge.
for A&M. But they’re not the only
ones to make the six-hour drive to
College Station to see the “Baton
Rouge Connection” in action.
Rusty Price, the Broadmoor High
School head football coach, also
makes the trip to see his former
players perform.
“Both were leaders on the field,
especially Bucky because he played
quarterback,” Price said in a tele
phone interview last semester.
“They definitely stood out — Wally
has a gift in catching the ball.”
The players showed this finesse
last week against Nebraska when a
Richardson-Hartley pass sparked
the Aggies’ first successful touch
down drive of the season.
“One of the best things about
them,” Price said, “is that success
hasn’l gone to their heads. They
come back on breaks and really en
joy talking to the high school play
ers.
“Last spring break Bucky was
throwing passes to Wally on Broad
moor’s practice field; he also threw
to some of the players.”
Throwing and catching wasn’t the
only thing “The Connection” did
over spring break, Richardson said.
They both watched LSU’s Purple
and Gold game. It was the Tiger’s fi
nal spring training scrimmage.
“It pumped me up and we got a
good look at the Tigers,” Richardson
said. “Heck yeah, we’re going to beat
’em.”
To that, Hartley gave his standard
phrase of approval: “Gig ’em!”
Simmons now has a chance
to be proven worth the hype
As a high school senior, I
had the privelege of
watching Aggie fullback
Randy Simmons in the last
football game of his high
school career.
It was the 1986 A AAA
Texas state championship
featuring Simmons’
McKinney High School and
my alma mater, West
Orange-Stark.
I knew he was good from
all the hype surrounding the
game, but after seeing him
carry the ball the first eight
plays of the game, I was
convinced.
Simmons was one of the country’s most highly
recruited players in 1987. He was named to to the
Parade All-America team as a senior and was rated
the No. 1 prep fullback in the country according to
recruiting expert Max Emfinger.
So when I read that both he and Darren Lewis
w^re coming to A&M, I figured they would both
make an immediate impact in the Aggies’ continuing
quest for the Cotton Bowl.
1 was half right.
Playing in the shadow of now-Green Bay Packer
Keith Woodside, Darren Lewis still managed to
ramble for 668 yards and a 5.3 yards per carry
Jeff
Miller
^gort^viewgoin^
average as a freshman.
But Simmons played only against Southern
Mississipi and was redshirted after receiving a
hardship because of knee surgery. Disappointinglx,
he was left with only five carries for 12 yards and a
2.4 yard average gain.
This season, Simmons will get his chance, right?
Wrong.
Senior Matt Curley retained his startingjob after
388 yards and five touchdowns in 1987.
The 6-2, 220-pound redshirt freshman Simmons
scored his first collegiate touchdown and played
much of the second half in the Aggies’ 23-14 loss to
Nebraska. He got the chance after Gurley went out
with a knee injury.
Now, he finally gets his opportunity to showcase
his blue-chip talent in a starting role against
Louisiana State this weekend.
With Gurley out for this week’s contest, Simmons
was thrown into his first start for Texas A&M in
perhaps the toughest place to play in college football
— Tiger Stadium (a.k.a. “Death Valley”).
He must come through with the big plays up the
middle, as the Aggies converted only 18 percent on
third-down situations.
More importantly, to Simmons anyway, is the
question of whether or not he can “live up” to t he
high expectations of Aggie coaches and f ans alike
after being such a highly sought player.
Alongside Simmons will be Larry Horton, who
See Simmons, page 16
Ten Napel dominated LSU
By Tim Stanfield
Reporter
Fourteen years ago LSU Tiger
QBs also had to be aware of an out
standing pair of A&M LBs in Garth
Ten Napel and
Ed Simonini. t-m i i
Even that Hashback
didn’t help, as
Ten Napel so
ransacked the Tigers in 1974 that he
was named the AP’s National De
fensive Player of the Week, as A&M
defeated LSU 21-14.
“From a football standpoint Garth
was always a totally aggressive
player,” former A&M Head Coach
Emory Bellard said Thursday. “He
was alert, committed to excellence
and just an outstanding player and
person.”
Ten Naple had started all 11
games in 1973 at weak linebacker
and helped the Aggie defense be
come the first of four consecutive
A&M defenses to top the SWC in
fewest yards allowed.
A&M crushed Clemson 24-0 in
the 1974 opener at Kyle Field, then
headed to “Death Valley,” better
known as Tiger Stadium in Baton
Rouge, La., where they had last won
in 1957.
“I told the squad the night before
the game that at some time every
football team had to be a good team
in order to better its own program,”
Bellard said. “And I knew that LSU
had that kind of team.”
Robertson’s fiery defenders
stuffed the Tiger offense while the
Aggies’ Wishbone ground out an
amazing 290 yards rushing in the
first half.
Skip Walker scored on a 10-yard
run late in the opening quarter and
Bubba Bean’s 50-yard scamper in
the second quarter put the Ags’ up
14-7 at halftime.
But the Tigers stayed tough, tying
the game late in the third period.
At this point Ten Napel and
friends took control of the game.
LSU fumbled midway in the final
E eriod, Ten Napel recovering the
all at the Tiger 37.
Bucky Sams powered into the end
zone a few plays later, giving the Ag
gies a 21-14 lead, but the Tigers
weren’t dead yet.
They moved deep inside A&M
territory as time ticked away. On
See Ten Napel, page 16
■■■J.:. , >
YOUR CANDIDATE FOR SAWIGS
ts in
jured
ill be
tiilton |
angtd ;
cr V :
rmine
its de-1
nillion!
ndud- j
:ounts
insur-1
nk up |
avail-1
an the j
to the
iored,
i the
' can
liiton,
heac-
ct sev-
their
;rans-
ill be
i pay-
k
JP
Special Discount Subscriptions
Award Winning Coverage
Best in Movie and Music Reviews
The Houston Chronicle is the candidate most qualified to bring you
the information you need. Keep in touch with events that relate to
your classes and your life with in-depth coverage of the state, the
nation and the world. Maximize your entertainment quotient with
Chronicle reviews of all the latest movies, albums and concerts. And
stay on top of all the stats and standings with our complete sports
coverage.
Get Your Special Discount Subscription
Just $17.50 For Delivery
from August 29 through December 13
Call 693-7815 Or 693-2323 Or Use This Coupon Today
A full fall semester discount subscription for only $17.50, for Texas A&M students,
faculty and staff. Newspapers will be delivered August 29 through December 13.
Call 693-7815 or 693-2323 or send check or money order to: Houston Chronicle,
4201 College Main, Bryan, TX 77801.
Name
Address
City
Phone
The Chronicle
State_
Zip.