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po/tticipant. o;t jUAt aA a integ^J pant of flie AyAtem. not

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into ou;i eue^i day actii>itieA and into OJu;t fii>eA foTieiien

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w l|\72

Sjorts

-u

Col Randall V/.

74

Sjorts

Jennifer Schoeck: Athletic Achievement Award

Charles Tcrt�L Athletic Excellence Award

Siane

Rogers

Scholar-Athlete Award

Scott

McICay

Athletic

Leadership

Award

i e

^

^N^chael Thiessen Most Valuable Athlete Award

Ana-Miaria Ortega Most Valuable Athlete Award

S|0r1s

75

O" 00

Q D

W

(D

ttie Anny de tough running all in sev year added much-needed yards eral big situations. Photo by E, Holzherr

Nate Beard

fense.

Mhe graduating seniors have no idea what it is like to lose a foot ball game

Navy

against

team.

an

Army

or

The class of 2001

pounds ttirough

Ttie fullbact^s

Qualario Brown takes on an Army de fender during the game at Michie Stadium.

With the win became

only

undefeated

over

Army, the senior class

the second class

against Army

and

ever to

navy.

go

Photo

posted an 8-0 record in service

by E. Holzherr academy games during their four second years. They were only the class in Air Force history to never lose to Army or Navy "Itfe something that we're all very proud of because it distinguishes from past teams and leaves a legacy for future teamsj said Scott Becker.

us

traveled to Falcon Stadium for the first Commander-in-Chiefs had a field day as they Trophy game of the season. The Falcon defense forced two fourth-quarter turnovers and blocked a punt. Because of his senior CJ. Zanotti was named Mountain West

Navy

outstanding performance, Conference Defensive Player

of the Week

following

the game. He recorded

_f v-?. '.-�

f -111 ill

"It� ^

^ ^^

5

we're

1

f-'

Linebacker Jon Ecdes holds up

running

back

a

navy

the rest of the defense hones in for the tackle. The defense al-

ways surrounded the ball with several players. Photo by C. Reteneller Comerback Kurt

�

a

^

by E, Holzherr

us

because

stated Zanotti.

So, with the first interservice game over, the Falcons only needed to beat Army before they etched their names into the record books forever.

Duffy wrestles an Army Duffyfe leadership played

player to the turf. key role in the defense^

great win for

halfway to accomplishing our primary goal of winning the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy,"

as

I7

a

now

success. Photo

*�

fr*^

�

To clinch the

Trophy Air Force would have to beat Army unseasonably warm day in eariy Novembe Army tried everything in their power to gain the upper ha id, including: escorting Air Force buses with an armored, m( -hanized car and painting the Falcon^ locker room pink. Howev. r, nothing could stop the senior class from winning their foi th straight over the Black Knights. Senior Corey Nelson ret med an interception for a touchdown, senior David Adams kici ed four field goals, and seniors Scott McKay Nate Beard, anc Mike Thiessen all scored on the ground. Adams' 54-yard at A^est Point

^"

a career-high 19 tackles, including four for a loss. In addition, Zanotti recov ered two fumbles in the game.

Air Forces offense had a less than stellar day; the unit amassed only 236 total yards, which was 12 less than Navys offense. However, the de fense held the team in the game, the offense scored when they needed it most, and the Falcons were victorious by a margin of 27-13.

^�':�

?��i

�Tl_

on an

.

Thkssen

prefcres let f'

lie

to

ball

�gainst field

Thiessen's

goal

in the third

outstand

his

ing

Michie Stadium.

season

Has \v a r

w

h

e

e

d n

i'^i't.

named

of

Year.

Photo by C.

Reteneller

was

the

in the storied

longest history

of of

was said and done, the Falcons away with a 41-27 victory Above all, they left West Point with the Commander-in-Chief^ Trophy for the fourth year in a row.

came

ference

Player

quarter

longest

When all

Mountain West Con-

the

and the

"The records not whats important. The main thing is that we won the game and the Trophy^' said Adams after the game.

[e-

d

career

4jmt..'�

Therefore, the

Trophy

as it has for 1 4 of the last 1 9 years, will remain at the Air Force

The senior class is most tion

They

Academy

deserving

of the

recogni

have received because of their success. have done something that has been rare, until

they

now.

Sports

77

_Force football fans embraced the 2000

season as

the Falcons

league title and defeated Fresno State in the Silicon Val The 2000 season was truly a team effort. It was a year Classic.

Football ley that the Falcons option attack of

fallengedTor

ten times

the

the

teams lived up to their

special

name.

The main

reason

turn to

dominance

sis

option football.

on

�to

took to the air and where

for the

was an

re

Nate Beard tries to outrun

a

Colorado

The CSU game tied the record for the coldest game ever held in

State defender.

Photo

Falcon Stadium.

by

S. Ritchie

empha

It started

with Mike Thiessen, who slashed his way to 713 rushing yards and

Leotis Palmer bake

on a

young senior

uses

his best shake-and-

hotre Dame defender.

Leotis'

legs were a welcome relief to the running backs. Photo by S. Wilson

touch-

10

ilV-k

-"fr.*.

i downs and

helped

Air Force to

a

scoring

aver

anci age of 35 points a game, first in the MWC, 1 6* in the nation. Next were the fullbacks, Nat( : Beard and Scott Becker, who rushed for almost

1,000

yards, averaging

Beard finished the

and Becker rounded out the tandem i fine fashion. Thanks to both Beard and Becke

i

the Falcons led the Conference in fourth-dow

i

The Falcons the

corner

yards and Scotty McKay averaging 5.9 yards on each touch, com bining for 955 yards on the season. With the yardage gained by Leotis Palmer and Bert Giovanetti, the halfbacks gained over 13hundred yards on the year. The Falcons 295 yards on the ground the country. per game was the 3"* best in An added wrinkle to the explosive offense was the big play the air. Along with his exploits on the ground, Thiessen

through

scoring passes, was ranked first in the conference in passing efficiency and was the MWC Offensive Player of the Year.

His 218 yards per game were the second best in Conference play and Ryan Fleming topped the conference on the receiving with tossed 13

yards.

Every great

offense needs

Falcon defenders

a

strong defense, and this yearfe

pressured opposing

plenty of points. Linebacker CJ.

offenses into

Zanotti led forced 18 turnovers, which led to 78 Cornerbacks the team with 84 tackles, including 13 for loss and three fumble recoveries.

Metters and Wes Crawley were always around the ball, each with two fumble

mistakes.

They

Tony

recoveries

1

78

Sports

on

the

season.

yards per carry eight scorin;

with

runs

efficiency, converting

930 total

five

season

on

were

86

just

,

percent. as

adept at hittir g averaging 5 8

with Qualario Brown

The

spedal

teams

role in the seasori

played

success

a

big

with nine

kicks sent the other way, second best history. Corey Nelson had three and a half blocks,

in Air Force

enabling

him to tie for the schools all-time lead. Since 1990, Air Force has sent 68 opponent kicks to the ground, a number second in the nation. When it came to kicking the ball, the Fal cons were among the best in the na Dave Adams showed he was more than Place-kicker tion. just the longa record 19 field on kicker goals in 24 tries. He com hitting tying range pletes his career with five makes in six tries beyond 50 yards.

The 2000

ing I

season

marked

second in the MWC with

a

an

return

of true Air Force Football with

9-3 record. This team finished the

plac

season

ranked ninth in the country in total offense and third overall in rushing. It was a season of spectacular plays, and sometimes incredible fortitude. No doubt the heart of this team, doing so much.

on can

yet

picked by

so

few to

accomplish

so

littie,

[Here_^^as flight.,

the first

ever

Silicon

Valley

not too cold., not too hot. What

The falcons mixture of

Right

ready

were

to

take

on

Bowl game. It was a beautiful you ask for in December?

more can

Fresno State. The stadium filled with

and blue. The game out of the gate, the fal

maroon

a

began.

took a strong lead in the first quarter against Fresno 19-7. The Fal

cons

cons

continued to

throughout

pound

on

the second half

-

Fresno

putting

another 15

points on the board. holding the Fresno offense to points in the second quarter. By

While zero

halftime, it

was

apparent that the

anotlii 1�0 Sports

Falcons

dominating this game. With a halfof 34-7, it appeared that Air Force had run away with this bowl game. ft appeared that way Until the second half started. It was like the two teams went into the

^v^

time

u a

I

a r

hole

je

o

on a

ickoff

^.*^ ^ �

-, '

''

locker

punt

re-

��*-

played major role

e

helping gain /;v<.

team

field

3od o s

i t i

hoto

o n

by

.

C.

room

Bulldogs

irns

1

'.�',

and

changed uniforms. The sluggish taking over the field. The fal con defense suddenly had holes in it. However, the falcons still felt they had a strong enough lead

re-

Kickoff

irn.

id

i

hits

rown

were

score

^

were now

when the third quarter ended it was 37-20 fal leading. Yet, the bulldogs were not done.

They had a lot of fight left in them. In the fourth -

S^9

cons

\

quarter, they dominated scoring

closing the gap to 37-34. Now the falcons were sweating. the luck of the falcon was on their side. Air Force held tr ng and finished the game as the first ever Silicon

two touchdowns

n

'^^f9�A

u

ic

WAC

Valley

jr.

3i�

Wes as

Crawley stops

he awaits

a

Eresno State receiver

help from Mike Gallagher.

The Falcons win

over the Bulldogs in the Valley Bowl Classic accomplished year-long goal. Photo by C. Seaman

Silicon a

The defen.se runner.

their

totally

surrounds

a

Fresno

The Falcon defense is based

ability

to hustle to the ball.

Photo

on

by

C. Seaman

J:^^

Sports

SI