Sports
Freshman Huskers defeat Swedes
By Mike Kluck
and
Kyle Schurman
Staff Reporters
If a rusty offense caused by a three
week layoff was a worry for Nebraska
freshmen coach Shane Thorcll, his
concerns were put to rest 38 seconds
into the first Comhuskcr drive.
The Huskers needed only two plays
to drive 47 yards and take a 7-0 lead en
route to a 55-0 victory over the Be
thany (Kan.) College Junior Varsity
Monday at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska I-back George Achola
gained 43 of the 47 yards, scoring a
touchdown on a pilch play from quar
terback Keithen McCant.
Following a Bethany punt, the
Huskers advanced to the Bethany 7
yard line but were forced to settle for
a 23-yard field goal by Lane Reed.
Nebraska broke the game open
with 4:07 left in the quarter when
Freeman White scored on a 38-yard
punt return. Reed’s extra point made
the score 17-0.
White said it felt great to score his
first touchdown as a Husker.
“With the line blocking, I could
have walked it in,” White said. “The
line really put their hearts into it.”
A 32-yard run by fullback Randy
Williams capped the Comhuskcrs
longest touchdown drive of the day.
Williams broke four tackles on his
scamper into the end zone.
Nebraska then took a 26-0 lead
when Bethany College’s punter Ted
Clark walked out of the end zone.
Nebraska finished off the first half
scoring on McCant’s first touchdown
pass of the year. On the receiving end
of the 15-yard pass was light end Dan
Lohmeier, who gave the Huskers a 33
0 halftime lead.
Thorcll said although he was
pleased with the performance of the
Huskers in the first half, he felt there
was room for improvement.
“At halftime we talked about work
ing on our techniques and the little
things,” Thorell said.
Nebraska opened the second half
by driving 71 yards in five plays.
McCant set up the touchdown with a
39-yard run and then finished it off
with a 11-yard pass to tight end Chris
Garrett. Reed’s kick put the Huskers
up 40-0 with less than two minutes
gone in the third quarter.
Nebraska’s special team scored its
second touchdown of the afternoon
with a 44-yard punt return by John
Crippen.
Thorell said he was pleased with
the performance of the punt return
teams, who returned five punts for 94
yards.
“Our goal today was to return every
punt for an average of 15 yards and to
return one punt for a touchdown,”
Thorell said.
On Bethany’s next possession,
noseguard Pat Engelbert recorded his
second sack of the day, dropping
Bethany quarterback Ronald Boilers
for a seven-yard loss.
The Nebraska defense had six
sacks totalling 43 yards in losses and
held the Swedes to a negative 25-yard
rushing. Bethany managed 73 yardsof
total otfense.
Huskcr punter Scott Becklcr then
hit a 60-yard punt which was fumbled
by Bethany and recovered by Kelly
Prater at the Swede 13-yard line.
Nebraska quarterback Tom Haase
scored two apparent touchdowns with
runs of 13 and 19 yards, but both were
nullified by penalties. On the next
play, Haase hit Lohmeier with a 35
yard touchdown pass for the Huskers
final touchdown with 6:13 left in the
third quarter. The extra point was
missed because of a fumbled snap.
The Huskers rushed for 386 yards
on 57 carries and completed five of
nine passes for 79 yards. Achola led all
rushers with 94 yards.
The defense scored Nebraska’s
final two points when defensive tackle
Paul Brungardt sacked Bethany quar
terback Jay Knutson in the end zone
for a safety.
Bethany coach Jay Meyers said he
was pleased with his team’s effort. He
said mistakes hurl the 2-1 Swedes.
“1 wish we’d have been able to cut
out the four or five mental mistakes we
made early, because we gave them
three touchdowns,” Meyers said. “If
we had cut those out it might have
been closer. We gave it an honest
shot, though.”
Nebraska is now 2-0 and has
outscored its opponents 117-0, but
Thorcll said he doesn’t expect the
Huskers easy games to continue.
Nebraska’s next game is Oct. 9,
when the Huskers travel to Colorado
Springs, Colo, to face the Air Force
Junior Varsity.
Andrea Hoy/Daily Nebraskan
Nebraska’s Randy Williams carries the ball tor a first down as Husker Kelly Prater holds a Bethany
defender during first quarter action, Monday. The Huskers defeated the Swedes 55-0.
NU wingbacks add dimension to offense
By Tim Hartmann
Senior Reporter
Nebraska’s Von Sheppard is listed
as a non-reluming starter in the Ne
braska media guide, but a check of th is
season’s depth chart shows him as the
No. 2 wingback.
After Sheppard suffered a knee
injury that required reconstructive
surgery after last season's Sugar
Bowl, it was assumed he would miss
the entire season. But when lul! prac
tice began, Sheppard said, he caught
people off guard by being with the
team.
“I think I surprised practically
everybody, including the players,”
said Sheppard, a senior from St. Paul,
Minn. “Some of the players have
come up to me and said they didn’t
think I would come back, but all along
r
I had a desire to come back.”
Sheppard said he knew after the
first month of rehabilitation that he
would return. It look seven months to
complete the rehabilitation, he said.
“I worked seven months straight
before 1 came out this summer,” Shep
pard said. “I worked seven months,
every day, doing a variety of things. 1
just give the credit to God and my faith
in him, and my desire to come back.”
“Von Sheppard has really used his
savvy and experience this year,” re
ceivers coach Ron Brown said. “He’s
still not the same old Von Sheppard
because of his knee, but hecan do a lot
of good things.”
Sheppard said his knee is not
completely recovered, but he expects
it to be before the end of the season.
“It’s doing pretty good,” he said.
“Last week it wasn’t feeling so well. I
was doing a lot of limping, but this
week it seems to be coming along
pretty well.”
Besides Sheppard, Brown has the
luxury of calling on two other experi
enced wingbacks — senior Hendley
Hawkins and junior Dana Brinson.
Sophomore Richard Bell also has
performed well, Brown said.
Brinson is listed as the No. 1 wing
back on the depth chart. Brown said
that’s because of his athletic ability.
“Dana Brinson has performed very
well,” he said. “He has great athletic
ability, and he uses that to our advan
tage. On counter sweeps, catching the
ball and special teams, he has been
outstanding. But I’m most pleased
with the fact that he has blocked very
well.”
Brinson said he’s also pleased with
his play, but he’s still looking to gel
belter.
“I really don’t want to critique
myself, but I’m satisfied with it,” he
said. “The only thing I hope is that I
can maintain it and then get better, for
there’s always room for improve
ment.”
Hawkins has quietly done a good
job, Brown said.
“Hendlcy Hawkins is a very con
sistent player,” Brown said. “He’s
versatile and very intelligent. He
hasn’t got the same type of publicity as
Dana, but he has performed well.”
Brown said because of the quality
depth at the wingback position, he has
been able to rotate players throughout
the game.
“I want to get all those guys in the
there because of their ability,” he said.
Brown said he thought the players
performed belter when they were
rested, so the rotation system helped.
Brinson agreed.
“I think we play better when we’re
rested,” he said. “With the rotation,
everyone is pretty rested and they can
go in and play at 1(X) percent, and
they’re not winded when they get in.
It’s really benefiting us.”
Hawkins and Sheppard said they
have gotten used to rotating.
“It’s all right; you kind of gel use to
itgoing through the system,” Hawkins
said. “I don't think we’ve had as many
in the past, we’ve always had two, but
now we have three, so I guess you get
accustomed to it.”
“It’s hard to get into the game when
you rotate like that,” Sheppard said,
“But when you have a lot of guys hurt,
you ‘cd that depth back there. I think
See WINGBACKSon 11
-1
Season ends with tournament title for NU
By Lori Griffin
Staff Reporter
lTie Nebraska softball team
finished the fall season on a high
note last weekend by winning all
four games in the Iowa State Invi
tational in Ames, Iowa.
Nebraska softball coach Ron
Wolforth said the Comhuskers
played much better at the Iowa
State Invitational than they did at
the Kansas Jayhawk Invitational
two weeks age. The Huskcrs fin
ished in a three-way tie for first
place at Lawrence, Kan.
‘‘We came miles from last
weekend,” Wolforlh said.
He said Nebraska played with
more intensity in Ames.
Nebraska began the Iowa State
Invitational Saturday by defeating
Creighton 6-3 and Iowa State 5-0,
and finished with wins over South
west Missouri State (9-0) and
Kansas (7-0). Wolforth said Ne
braska hit very well throughout the
invitational. The Huskers tallied
48 hits in their four games.
Wolforth said Nebraska lead
off hitter Jill Rishcl was the sur
prise player of the tournament. The
sophomore slap-buntcr from North
Platte went 7-tor-12 at the plate.
“It’s not a surprise how well she
played,” Wolforth said. “The sur
prise is how quickly she has per
formed to the level that we knew
she could.”
Wolforth said he was also
pleased by the play of Donna Dear
dortf, who hit a grand slam and
pitched three shutouts. He said
Ruth Chalwin and Katie Wolda
showed signs of ending batting
slumps.
Wolforth said the Huskers will
need to improve if they want to
contend for the national champion
ship next spring. He said Nebraska
needs to continue to be aggressive.
“That (being aggressive) is the
reason that the NU softball
team has been in die top 10 for the
last five years,” Wolforth said.
Wolforth said the Huskers need
to keep their “killer instinct”
throughout the off-season if they
arc to remain in contention for t£e
national title.
“We have to actually play
against ourselves,” he said.
Wolforth said the Huskers will
spend the off-season working on
weight training. He said Nebraska
also will try to get “rock solid” on
its fundamentals.
The Huskers also will work on
attacking the bases and improving
their hitting, he said.
Wolforth said the Huskers will
be at full strength in the spring
because they will have the luxury
of two additional players: Lisa
Winchester and Ann Halsnc.
Winchester will be returning
after undergoing surgery last sum
mer. Halsnc, who is on a basketball
scholarship at Nebraska, will join
the team during its second tourna
ment of the season. Halsnc led the
country in home runs as a high
school senior last year.
Wolforth said Nebraska’s first
goal for the spring is to win the Big
Eight.
“The whole season is aimed in
that direction,” Wolforth said.
“(The other titles) arc just icing on
the cake.”
Wolforth said the Huskcrs also
hope to win the NCAA regional
title and participate in the College
World Series.
“Our ultimate goal is to be one
of the two teams playing in the last
day of the season,” Wolforth said.
“(But) our season is a success if we
accomplish the first goal.
“The rest of the season will take
care of itself.”