Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

t Page 19 The Panther August 25, 1980 Panthers Start Fresh Season BY HAL LAMAR Special to The Panther You might say last year, coach Jesse McClardy of Clark College wascaughtwith his bench down. In 1978, his Panthers finished with a record of 7-3, and a SIAC Division 3 title, his second since taking over head coaching duties eight years ago. But in 1979, McClardy did no recruiting, saying he had been told to do so because of newly revised NCAA rules on recruit ing authorizations for NCAA schools. The new rules prohibit Division 3schoolsfrom awarding athletic scholarships. So, the results were a team dominated mostly by walkons with little experience. Add a sea of injuries to his starters and returning letterman early on in the 1979 season, and it's fairly easy to understand the school’s disappointing 2-1-5 record. “I was lucky to get out with what I did,” lamented McClardy, who peered over last year’s in jury report for last October. Some 11 of his starters on defense had been sidelined with injuries. “We losta lotofkey people on defense. We just didn’t have the replacements. I was caught with people that were still learning. We also had some internal problems and when you get those, you are gonna have problems and losses." But this year, with a step up to Division 2 for Clark which authorizes the school to recruit and offer athletic scholarships, McClardy apparently is making up for what he missed in 1979. He went out and seemingly drained the city and state of every available defensive back, an area that he admits to being weak at last season. His cadre of freshman corners includes Artlis "Red” Roman, who played for last year’s Douglass Astro football and basketball squads, William Griggs of Augusta and Atlantan Billy Brewer. In all, McClardy found himself 4 defensive backs that he is high on. Of particular interest, he says, is secondary man William Blake, who McClardy says has been ap proached by other schools. The youngster reportedly played a couple of years at Harper High School in Atlanta, before coming to Clark College. The Clark coach is also pretty optimistic about a freshman center he picked up from Lakeshore High,Michael Brown. “I looked at him play when he was at Lakeshore. He can block. At 6-1, and weighing in at 225, he’s gonna be an asset to my line.” Clark’s offensive and defen sive line will average about 210 pounds a man, a fairly small size you might think for lineman, but McClardy says he wants a "lean but fast” line. With the loss of first string quarterback Kenneth Standifer, McClardy looks to returnees Jeff Merritts and Philip Shaw of Atlanta’s Douglass High and Turner High Schools respec tively, and a freshman from LaGrange, Rodney Brewer, to carry the mail. Clark’s offensive backfield looks fairly strong, with several returning lettermen, including Washington High's Marcus Clark, 2nd year man Henry Men-Women Banks, and a freshman, Simeon Kelly. Last year, Clark gained 642 yards rushing, despite missing 4 games with injuries, an in dication that he could go over the 1000 yard mark if he stays healthy and McClardy's young line bbcks. Clark College, which opens practice the 23rd of this month, will not have long to test the waters of the 1980 grid season. They open with the ultimate test perhaps, traveling to Richmond Virginia, to take on Virginia Union, last year’s cham pions of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic As sociation. "It’s a tough team to open up with,” said McClardy. “I think we’ll learn something. It should be a challenging ball game.” But despite his noticeable ef fort to hide his optimism, McClardy thinks this could be a good year for his Panther 11. “Our opponents we expect to be stronger, but so will we. We got a good group of high schoolers recruited. If (coaches) COj?. \ work with them, then the players will be eager to learn. I think we'll win our share of the ballgames." Hal Lamar is currently at the Atlanta World and WETV Channel 30. (mO * GO * GO * - * P f\ A * v .o“ // * i ^ £<jpporr . VC-Uhi k \ FOOTBALL \ T£A M—■— Hawks -frem page 18 The League has also set the East - West separation geographically this season using the Mississippi River. Therefore, San Antonio and Houston, the Hawks toughest opposition in the Cen tral Division the past two seasons, join the Midwest Division while Milwaukee, last year’s Midwest Champions, and Chicago Shift to the Central Division. Could you use $225 a month for college? TV* If you could, start now. Enlist in the Army, save between $50 and $75 a month from your pay, and it will be matched $2 for $l under the Veterans' Educ ational Assistance Program. After your first enlistment that could mean up to $225 a month for education. Call Army Opportunities 881-8364 Join the people who've joined the Army. An Equal Opportunity Employer