Morgan State's football team is enjoying its most encouraging finish in more than a decade. Two weeks after shocking Florida A&M; and a week after nearly upsetting Samford, the Bears moved out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference cellar with a come-from-behind 17-14 victory at rival Howard.
The Bears (3-7, 2-4) earned two MEAC honors last week. Raynon Barrier, Morgan State's 6-foot-2, 275-pound senior center, was named the league's Offensive Lineman of the Week. On the other side of the ball, nose guard Willie Thompson turned in perhaps the best performance of a terrific freshman season. Thompson recorded nine tackles, including a sack and three tackles for losses, and earned MEAC Rookie of the Week honors.
Morgan State has come a long way since waking up on the wrong side of an 87-12 trouncing by Grambling State two months ago. Last week, the same Florida A&M; team Morgan State upset returned the favor against Grambling, ruining the Tigers' perfect season and guaranteeing that coach Eddie Robinson will have to wait until 1995 to get his 400th victory.
Wild journey for Salisbury
The record says that Salisbury State's football team suffered through a 2-7 season, but what a wild journey it was. The Sea Gulls played a typically tough schedule, they had trouble stopping opponents and they blew some big leads. For example, on Saturday, Guilford erased a 28-7 halftime deficit and edged the Sea Gulls, 40-37, on a field goal with 19 seconds left.
But Salisbury State, led by senior running back Byron Pugh, displayed an explosive offense. The Sea Gulls averaged 26.1 points, a touchdown more than last year and the highest average in coach Joe Rotellini's five seasons. They also scored on 76 percent of their possessions inside the 20-yard line.
Pugh rushed for 201 yards against Guilford, becoming the Sea Gulls' first 1,000-yard rusher since 1986. He averaged 6.2 yards per carry and 113 per game. Sophomore quarterback Marc Thomas (1,918 yards) nearly broke Len Annetta's year-old single-season passing record. Sophomore wide receiver Freddy Grant led the team with 46 catches for 573 yards, the fifth-best season in school history.
Towson signs three gymnasts
Three gymnasts have signed letters of intent and will attend Towson State next year.
Kathy Fitzpatrick, a 5-foot-5 product of St. Francis Prep School (N.Y.), has been an elite-level gymnast for three years. She competes for Igor and Nina Kopachi, who started Nina's Gymnastics Center after emigrating from the Soviet Union in 1980. Kelly Newcomb, 5-7, the Virginia Level 10 state champion, competes at the Roanoke Academy of Gymnastics. And Kim Yenko is a teammate of Fitzpatrick's. She is a two-year performer as a Level 10 gymnast.
Miscellaneous
Towson State's fourth-seeded volleyball team picked the perfect time to peak, winning the Big South tournament last week, the school's first Big South title in any sport. Seniors Connie Blades (115 assists), Christy Hutson (39 kills) and Heidi Schaefer (35 kills), junior Stacy Humphries (30 kills, 43 digs) and sophomore Laura Taneyhill (Centennial High, 21 kills) helped the Tigers win nine of 10 games. The Tigers would earn an NCAA tournament berth with a victory over the Southern Conference champion on Tuesday. . . . Johns Hopkins defensive lineman Jelani Rucker, who rushed for three short touchdowns out of the offensive backfield in his final game, was named for the third straight year to the All-Centennial Conference first team. . . . Frostburg State, which went 8-1-1 and failed to return to the NCAA Division III football playoffs, will play host to Kean (N.J.) College on Saturday at noon in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Southwest championship game. This marks the Bobcats' third ECAC appearance. . . . Donald Williams, an assistant coach of the Hagerstown Junior College men's basketball team for three years, is interim coach of Morgan State's women's team. Williams replaces Anderson Powell, who was suspended pending an internal investigation of an alleged recruiting violation. . . . Brian Hollingsworth, girls basketball coach at Francis Scott Key for seven seasons, was named assistant coach of the Western Maryland men's team, and senior Rolando Welch of Silver Spring was named a student assistant coach.