L U Football Achieves Personal Milestones

"orthe LU Flamesfootball missed being voted into the downed Concord, 26-8 team, 1992was ayearofclose playoffsby onlyone point. With a 2-1 record,theimgames; some turned into The Flames began the sea- age ofthe team changed, but heartbreakers while others son on a bad note,losing its itwas the remainder of the became thrillingvictories. openerto Furman,31-13. seasonwhich determined the

Even more significant was After the loss, itlooked as strength ofLU's team. how close the team came to though LU might repeat its The Flames traveled to making the NCAA Division disappointing 1991 season, Greensboro,N.C., tofacea 1-AA playoffsforthe firsttime but it wasn't long before the inschoolhistory. Flames were on the roll

With a 7-4 overall record, again. the team finished the season LU Trounced Morgan State ranked 19th inthe nationand 55-27initshomeopener,then

4-0 North CarolinaA&T and lostinthe closing seconds of thegame,35-32. fa

By ShannonHarrington

Row 1: Shannon Rucker, James McKnight, Wesley McConnell, SheltonLewis, KatieSeiple, Linda Ruggles, ChristinaBaker,Brian Hyma,John Wallman,Mike Cargill, KeithSanders,PeteSundheim,Lynn Ponder, Weymouth Williams, Neal Bryant, Sam Rutigliano, Darrel Daye,Derrick Donald,Bob Leahy, Chuck Kelly, JerryPetercuskie, John Petercuskie, BarryRice, Dave Williams, Charles Anderson,Kelvin Hines, Tim Witt, Brandon Collins, Charlie Elders, Damon Bomar. Row 2: Don Poole,Barrett Bastwick,William Allen,Cedrik Watkins, Maurice Jones, MikeAshley, Dan Pritchard, Sam Paton, KevinPeltier, SethCampbell, Bob Whyley,Kevin Lockwood, RonFrere, Steve Mock,Jason Smart,ChrisGoede, BryantBowden, MickMulcuck, EricAutenreith, Dwayne Corvin,Wade Ellis, Chad Labour, John Baker, ChrisChristopher, Lance Wilcher, CalvinCochran,Marcus Leggett,Tim McGill,Dion Krause,George Nimako,Anthony Parker. Row 3: Dwayne Carswell, Shawn Davis, Hassan Thomas,RicoReed, Tony Dews,Cory Rice, KurtNivens, Tyrone Smith, Manson Clark, Michael Lucas,Lance Duncan, Eric Colvard,Tim Hahn, Dan Duncan, Bobby Walker, Kent Nesselrotte, Hud Harsey, LarkinHarsey, James Downey,Anthony Moore, Adam Makkai, Richard DuPont, Matt Godfrey,John Pfeister,ElHarsh Easley,Andrew Dobler,Louie Herron, Carol Earls, David Long.

OffensiveGuard,JasonSmart, takeson a TroyStatelineman The young starter helped the Flamesoffenseaverage over 350yds per game

Sam Rutigliano completed his third winning season as Head Coach. He hascompiled the best winning percentageof any LUfootballcoach,

The coaching staff faces a tense moment as sophomore Matt Councilfinds room fora key first down inside the 10 yard line, The Flames downed theTroyStateTrojans,9-7, in their home opener,

Adrian Cherry's exceptional jumpingability was notonly a crowd pleaser, buteffective in many keyplays. His 3-touchdown performance against JMU included this upand-over game winner.

New tothe Flames'specialteams, freshman EricColvard consistently averaged over 40 yards per punt.

Starting quarterback Robbie Justino evades a would-be tackier. His excellent mobility and pin-point accuracy led to over 9,000career yards, setting an LU record

"Thisis the whole meaning of our football program." Coach Rutigliano's "prayer circle" was designed to end practice ina way forplayersto share needs and remember the reason they're outthere - tofurtherthe cause of Christ.

Giving the Morgan State defenders a headache of their own, Matt Council chalked up 158yards.He ran for 4 touchdowns,aswellas the most yards in any single game for a running back this year

Coach

A stingystarting defenselinecutdown theaverage yardageofpowerfulopponentsallyear.Theyare"a groupofoverachieversdecimated by injuries.. and painthatwould normallykeepthem out," complimented Coach Rutigliano.

Receiver James McKnight grabs one of his five touchdownsoftheseason. He ledtheteam with50 receptionsfor711yardsbeforeakneeinjuryinthe CentralFloridagame cuthisseasonshort

The time involved for thefootballteam doesn't end on the field. Athletesspent an average of 6-8 hoursperweek with Head Trainer Mike Cargilland his staff offivestudent trainers.

Coach Rutiglianoproudly observesashisteam celebratesan upsetvictory againstCentralFlorida. The team regularlyended games withprayerand singing "Victoryin Jesus."

Thefansand cheerleaders roarasMattCouncil is pushed outofbounds near the 10yard line; againof nearly 20 yards.