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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-11-04, Page 43GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1987—PAGE 7A ft' Sr. Vikings win in triple overtime BY T.D. The Goderich Vikings will travel to Ex- eter Saturday to play the Exeter South Huron Panthers at 1 p.m. for the Huron Perth senior football championship but that game will be hard-pressed to match the classic -city struggle the Vikings won last Thursday to qualify for the finals. The Vikings defeated the Stratford Central Rams 13-6 in Stratford after three over- times vertimes to win their berth in the senior finals. • The game was a classic struggle in more ways than one. The two teams battled through a scoreless tie in regulation time and were still scoreless after two over- times, each consisting of two five-minute halves. The game took three hours and 15 minutes to play and was ended when the Vikings outscored the Rams 13=6 in the third overtime, Stratford scored first in the first half of the third overtime when Chris Bentley went 45 yards on a pass and run play for a touchdown. The Vikings tied the score on a touchdown by Jeff MacDonald on a four - yard sweep. In the second half of the third overtime, the Vikings scored a converted touchdown to win the game. Tailback Wayne Nivins scored on a 15 yard off -tackle run. Greg Alcock kicked the convert. That Nivins should score the winning touchdown was only just. The hard - running tailback carried the ball 63 times in the game and personally gained 303 yards, surely some kind of record. His longest run of the day came on his 63rd carry, 15 yards for the game -winning touchdown. The Vikings had quite an edge in offen- sive statistics, outgaining the Rams 415 yards to 275 in total offence. The Vikings had 370 yards rushipg to Stratford's 150. The Rams got 125 yards passing compared to the Vikings 45. The game might have ended at several points during the overtime before it did. The Rams had two field goal attempts fail. The Vikings blocked one and a bad snap negated the other opportunity. The Vikings had their chances too. Near the end of the second overtime, the Vikings punted the ball into the Rams' end zone. The receiver kicked it out, and the Vikings kicked it back in and tackled the receiver in the end zone for an apparent single, but a no -yards penalty wiped that out. In the next over- time, a Viking pass bounced off a Stratford defender but Jason Million, trailing the play, picked the ball out of mid-air and ran 35 yards for an apparent touchdown but an inadvertent whistle blown in error by an official who thought the ball was going to drop incomplete meant the ball had to be brought back to the point of the completion. The Viking defence was solid, with all 12 starters coming up with big plays somewhere in the elongated contest. The defensive line and linebackers had what coach Ray Donnelly described as their best game of the season. The victory has to. be regarded as an upset. he Vikings finished third and the Rams w e second, so the win came only as t tilt of a real effort by the Vikings. Th will need to come up with another dedicated effort Saturday against the highly -regarded regular season winners. Juniors hammer Clinton By T.D. The GDCI Vikings will play the Exeter Panthers here Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for the Huron -Perth Conference junior "foot- ball championship. The Vikings earned a berth in the final here Thursday by defeating the Central Huron Redmen 42-22 in a sudden -death semi-final playoff. The, Panthers eliminated Norwell in the other semi-final by a score of 29-6. The matchup between the Vikings and the Panthers is a natural. The teams finished first and second respectively in the regular schedule and this will be the fifth time in the last 10 years they have played each other in the championship game. The Vikings hold a 3-1 edge in cham- pionships over that time. Last year the Panthers were heavily favoured to win the championship, but the Vikings stole the cup with a victory on a touchdown on the last play of the game. This year, the Panthers will be looking to turn the tables on the Vikings who are the favourites based on their first place finish and their 38-13 victory over Exeter earlier this season. Statistically, the Vikings have a definite edge. Over the six game schedule, the Vikings offence =outscored Juniors reach finals Anthony Nyman (64) and Shawn Talbot prevent a Clinton Redmon player from scoring in a Huron -Perth semi-final game in Goderich last Thursday. Goderich won 42-22 to advance to the finals in Goderich on Saturday against Exeter. (photo by Ted Spooner) the Panther's offence by a 215 to 99 point margin while the Vikings' defence gave up six fewer points than the : Panthers. However, as sports fans know, statistics and regular season games don't mean , muchin sudden -death championship finals. The Vikings started strong against Clin- ton here Thursday, scoring on the first of- fensive series of the game. Brian Cor- riveau ran 81 yards on an end -around play for the touchdown. Clinton came back to lead 7-6 by the end of the, quarter, but the Vikings had a 20-8 lead by half-time. Ian Wark and Pheng Troeung,the hero of last year's championship "`victory, scored Vik- ings touchaowns. Braden Dent caught a two-point conversion pass from Brian Lane following Troeng's run. Troeung ran for two more touchdowns in the second half and Shawn Talbot scored another touchdown on a quarter -keeper play. Dent and Brad Fisher caught two-point conver- sion passes from Lane. I Newton's Apple Ted Spooner Senior Girls clinch first place title 1, The G.D.C.I. Senior Vikings clinched first place in the Huron -Perth Senior Girls basketball league with an exciting 46-40 come from'' behind victory over a scrappy Stratford Central club. The Goderich girls now 10-0 in league play started slowly with much lack -lustre play allowing Stratford to build an eight point half time lead. The Vikings finally caught fire late in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 38 on Jenny Allen's basket. The Goderich five then steamrolled the Rams eight to two in the three minute overtime period to win 46-40. Jenny Allen and Mary Katherine Junior girls lose 48-46 to St. Mikes Stratford By T.D. The GDCI junior girl's basketball team learned•a lesson last week. The lesson is that you don't take any basketball team from Stratford for granted. Heading into the last week of the Huron - Perth Conference schedule, the Vikings had lost only one game, that to the top place, undefeated Stratford Northwestern Huskies. Coach Lynn Meyers and his team were looking ahead to their re -match with the. Huskies in the playoffs, feeling that their loss to the Huskies would be the only blemish on their regular -season record. However, the Vikings came up flat here Tuesday against the new kids on the block, the new Roman Catholic high school in Stratford, St. Michaels. St. Mikes had lost only twice in their games so far and they prevailed for a 48-46 victory over the Vikings. Midget girls BY T.D. The GDCI midget girls basketball team split a pair of games with Stratford schools last week, defeating St. Michaels 51-38 and losing 52-48 to Stratford Central. Shannon Lawrence and Tracy Ott led the Vikings in their win over St. Mikes with 15 and 20 points respectively. Patricia Stapleton had six points while Julie Camp- bell and Alison Clarke had four points each. Clarke also had an outstanding defensive game. Sherri Dale and Kim Van Moorsel led St. Mikes with 19 and 17 points respectively. Leslie Meyers, with 16, and Sherri Hord, with 12 points, were the top Viking scorers. The fact that the Vikings learned their lesson about Stratford schools was evident Thursday when the Vikes jumped on the Stratford Central Rams for a decisive 42-29 victory. ' Kelly Wade, who missed the game with St. Mikes because of illness, showed her value to the team by scoring 10 points and leading the Vikings in defensive play and rebounding. The Vikings Leslie Meyers was the game's top scorer with 16 ponts. Meyer's aggressive and determined play was another factor in the Vikings' strong showing. April Smith led Stratford Central with 14 points. • win and lose The Vikings played well in their loss to Central. The game was a head-on full court pressure contest between the two top teams in the Huron -Perth Conference. The score was tied in the dying moments, but Stratford prevailed by the four point margin that assured them of first place. Alison Clarke, with 17 points, Tracy Ott, with 14, Shannon Lawrence, with 11, and Alana Graham, with seven points, led the Vikings. Tweens earn tie with Seaforth The Goderich Tween Ringette team earned a 4-4 tie on the road with Seaforth bn Nov. 1. The two teams traded goals throughout the game. Seaforth opened the scoring at 10:24 of the first but Tara Haylow tied it unassisted less than a minute later. All of the Goderich goals were unassisted. Teri Duckwoth made the score 2-2 to end the first. Seaforth made it 3-2 midway through the second until Leslie Brereton tied it up. Seaforth scored what looked like the win- ner with less than two minutes remaining. However, Trish Rumig scored with one tick left on the clock to end the game. Goderich Lions Petite ringette team opened their season on Nov. 1 with a 6-4 home loss to Exeter. Exeter scored two goals within a minute early in the first. Goderich answered with a goal with five minutes remaining in the first by Sherry Hogan frorn Erin Purser. Exeter scored again to make it 3-1. With less than two minutes left in the first Karen Harrison made it 3-2 from Hogan. The teams were scoreless through much of the second period until Exeter scored two goals late in the frame. With the score 5-2 and a minute and a half left Alyson Baer scored unassisted. Exeter scored with 44 seconds left to ice the game. Sherry Hogan scored her second goal with the clock running out, but it was a case of too little too late. Stapleton led Goderich with 15 points. Erin Robinson added eight, Maureen Stapleton six and Katherine Murphy two. Murphy was a_ ley to the win with her great two way game. She rebounded and triggered the awesome" Viking fast break many times. The Vikings are not in action this week as they receive a bye into the semi-finals next week on the strength •of their first place finish. The Goderich girls play in the John Paul II Invitational this weekend in 'London. Get rid of the red line Hockey has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Unfortunately, the rules, the arenas and equipment have not kept pace. Players are bigger, stronger and faster than they have ever been. Someone the size off Mark Messier, and with his speed, is a scary and common sight in the NHL. However we are forcing these lightning - fast behemoths to play on rink that is just not big enough for them. Messier himself, has said there is not enough room on the ice. Players tend to bunch -up in the -cor- ners, in front of the net, in the neutral zone and in the penalty box. Throw these large players into a small area and there will be friction. Already this year, seven players have been suspended for eight games or more for violence on the ice, including Philadelphia Flyers' hit man, Dave Brown. Brown's has been assessed a 15 -game sentence for attempted decapita- tion of the New York Rangers' Thomas Sandstrom. Time and time again, people -have called for a reduction in hockey violence, but few I have offered constructive or workable solutions. Hockey is a tough sport and fighting seems inevitable. , The best way.to reduce violence, while at the same time keeping all elements that make hockey great, is too open the game up. Give these players more room to operate and less opportunity to play in close quarters. I don't claim my ideas are original, because many of them came from conver- sations with U.S. college coach and Goderich native Bill Wilkinson. Please feel free to disagree. rith what I am about to propose. If you think my ideas won't work, try and think of ones that will. If hockey does not begin to change it may never achieve the greatness it deserves. OPEN HOCKEY UP The first and easiest thing to do tomake hockey more wide open and to force players to skate more and hit less would be to remove the centre red line. Contrary to popular belief, the red line has not always been in the game. There are more than a few oldtimers out there who will remember hockey played without the has- sle of a two-line offside. Take out the red line and the game becomes even faster and individual talents will be on display. To keep players from bunching in the comers move the nets out five more feet. There is just not enough room behind the nets. Get three or four 200 -pounders fighting over the °puck back there and there is bound to be trouble. Bill Wilkin - son's team the Western Michigan Univer- sity Broncos plays with no red line and the nets moved out. He said the game is in- credibly fast -paced. Messier once suggested the NHL adopt the large European ice surface in North America. To make the rinks larger would mean removing several hundred seats with the loss of several hundred paying customers. The trick is to make the ice seem bigger without actually changing the size. People want to see fast, well played hockey. A fight now and again can be an added bonus. However, holding, clutching and grabbing and mucking in the corners only slows the game down. Hockey is the fastest game in the world; making it even faster will make it more exciting. Mary Katherine Stapleton of the Senior Vikings basketball team nukes a shot in a crowd in Huron Perth action last week against Stratford Central. The Vikings came from behind to win 46-90 and clinch first place. (photo by Ted Spooner) Curling leagues are still open Openings are still available for anyone wishing to join a curling league. Last year there were 54 paid members and so far this year 80 have joined. Monday Night Industrial League –7 p.m. and 9 p.m.– openings are available. For more information contact Emily Crew 524-8481 Tuesday Morning Ladies League call Faye Ribev 524-2070. A new Wednesday Night Ladies League is being formed for ladies wanting to curl who can't get out during the day. Games will be held at 7:30 p.m. and for more infor- mation contact Vicki Culbert 524-7571. Junior curling will be held Wednesday afternoons at 4:30 contact Faye Ribey. Contact Laurie Paquette -524-4517 for more information concerning the Thurs- day Night -7 p.m. and 9 p.m.–Industrial League. Mixed Curling will be on Friday nights and contact Terry Worsell 524-2849. Ice is available to rent for any curling function for any business, sports group or individual, call 524-9641. Goderich will be the host of the Ladies Provincial Tournament on November 30 to December 2. President's Cup play held The Goderich Duplicate Bridge Club competed for the President's Cup on Tues., Oct. 27 at 7:45 p.m. in the Legion Hall. There were 61/2 tables present with Cathy McDonald directing. North/South win- ners, with an average of GO points, were: 1st, Betty and Ray Fisher 73 points, 2nd. Archie Hamilton and Al Biecroft, 701/2; 3rd, Tom Eadie and Sam Cuthbertson, 601/2. East/West winners, with an average of 70 points, were: 1st, John Donatis and Bill Bradley 80; 2nd, Ralph Kingswell and 13111 Duncan 781/2; 3rd, ° Mary Donnelly and Barb Howe 74.