Taua a Starter; Church Finishes at .272

COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

In Reno Saturday the Nevada Wolfpack got past UNLV 27-20 as VAI TAUA (pictured here with his high school coach DON CROSS) made the first start of his collegiate career, this as an H-back. His primary role was as a blocker as he registered no carries nor pass receptions.

In Champaign, Illinois, the Penn State Nittany Lions fell 27-20 to Illinois. LYDELL SARGEANT ranked #3 on the PSU defense with seven hits—five solo tackles and two assists plus one pass broken up.

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In Salt Lake City MATT SIMS started his second straight game at tight end as Utah knocked off Utah State 34-18. Sims made no pass receptions. Once again the Utes used only three wide receivers instead of the four WR’s they utilized earlier in the season.

In Moorhead, Minnesota Upper Iowa lost its fourth straight game Saturday, this one by 31-28 to Minnesota State-Moorhead. MIKE SLAUGHTER came off the bench to register two solo tackles and four assists but JUSTICE CLEGG apparently saw no action after starting at offensive tackle the week before. Slaughter started the Peacocks’second and third games at defensive end but came off the bench last week. UIU is now 1-4.

In Valdosta, Georgia, Ouachita Baptist lost its second straight after a historic three consecutive victories to open the season. The Tigers fell to #5-ranked Valdosta State 31-3. Starting cornerback DONALD WHITE was in on four assisted tackles for the Tigers. OBU is now 3-2.

In JC ball Saturday in Torrance BOO JACKSON bounced back from a rocky start to finish 15-for-25 for 281 yards and a touchdown as #8-ranked El Camino handed #2 Saddleback its first loss, 31-24.

Jackson suffered two first-half interceptions, but from late in the second quarter to the end of the game, he was 11-for-12 passing for 214 yards and a touchdown.

"He shakes it right off and comes back strong," coach John Featherstone said told the Torrance Daily Breeze.

Jackson ranks #1 in the tough Mission Conference in passing efficiency. After five games Jackson has attempted 103 passes, completed 65 for a 63.1 percentage and 1178 yards. He has had only three interceptions vs. 11 touchdowns. His efficiency rating is 188.6. Next highest in the conference is David Pittman of Pasadena at 172.5. Among the schools who have him on their favorites list are Oregon, Boise State, Hawaii, North Carolina, Kansas, and LSU.

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MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

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In Major League Baseball RYAN CHURCH saw no action Sunday as the Washington Nationals were mesmerized by slowballing Jamie Moyer of the Phillies who won 6-1 to win the National League East title. Nationals slugger Wily Mo Pena, who replaced Church in left field in August went 0-for-4 with all four at-bats resulting in strikeouts. Church’s final numbers read .272, 15 HR, 70 RBI with 43 doubles and a slugging percentage of 464. His slugging percentage was second on the team behind all-star Dmitri Young and his doubles total ranks #8 in the National League. All seven hitters above him on the list had at least 50 more at-bats.

CHURCH REFUSES TO GO QUIETLY

As the Washington Nationals were nearly no-hit by John Smoltz of the Braves Friday night RYAN CHURCH (pictured left courtesy Mike Collins of wwwcollinsphotography.com) once again was used only as a pinch hitter. He delivered a double, his 38th of the season, to drive in the Nats’ only run. Wily Mo Pena, the hot stuff power guy who was brought in to take Church’s left field job, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Then Sunday Church was given a rare start, rare at least since August 18 when he was benched. And what did Churchie do? He delivered a game-winning three-run homer, his 12th of the season. Here’s the report from Bill Ladson of MLB.com—

“The Nationals were losing, 3-1, when they rallied to score three runs in the top of the sixth inning against right-hander Lance Cormier. With runners on second and third and one out, Church hit a 3-2 curveball over the center-field wall to give the Nationals a 4-3 lead.

“In this case, it was one too many curveballs. In the previous two at-bats, Church struck out on the pitch. In the sixth inning, the curveball hung for Church to hit it out.

"’The first at-bat, he hung one and I tried to crush it, and I swung through it. The second one, I just chased the ball down in the dirt. I was trying to get it up, but I kept fishing for it,’ Church said. ‘[In the sixth], I figured he was going to throw it in that situation -- 3-2, guys on base -- and try to strike me out. I was able to stay on it. In that situation, you want to elevate the ball. I was fortunate it went out. It took nine [curveballs] to finally get it. I was being stupid the first two at-bats.’"

“Since he was benched, Church is 11-for-40 (.275) with two home runs and 11 RBIs. Asked if he feels satisfaction that he could be productive, Church said, ‘It feels good. It's one of those things where you have to take advantage of the opportunity, because you don't know how many times you are going to get it.’"

And Wily Mo Sunday? He went 1-for-5. He’s batting .223. Church is at .266.

FOOTBALL

Before 110,000 fans including his high school coach DON CROSS, starting Penn State cornerback LYDELL SARGEANT made one solo tackle and three assists Saturday, with one of those assists throwing a Notre Dame ballcarrier for a loss. In so doing the Nittany Lions sacked (collectively speaking) Notre Dame freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who was last seen by Lompoc fans at Huyck Stadium a year ago leading Oaks Christian to a lopsided victory. Penn State won this one 31-10. The crowd was the second largest in Penn State history.


Meanwhile before 17,600 at another Big Ten venue, Ryan Stadium in Evanston, Illinois, Northwestern came from a two-touchdown deficit to stop Nevada 36-31. Running back Luke Lippincott rushed for 140 yards and VAI TAUA did not get a single carry even though he led the Wolfpack in rushing last week. He was on the field but no carries.

In Salt Lake City before 43,000 Air Force dealt Utah its first defeat in five tries Saturday 20-12. MATT SIMS saw action for the Utes but had no offensive stats to report either.

In Kirksville, Missouri, Upper Iowa fell 55-31 to Truman State though defensive end MIKE SLAUGHTER registered two solo tackles and two assists One of the solos went for a five-yard loss. Slaughter was making his first start for the Peacocks in the contest. This after starring at Hancock and sitting out a year at Baylor. Also in the UIU starting lineup for the second week was offensive tackle JUSTICE CLEGG, who as a member of the O-line of course got no statistical mention.

In Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Ouachita Baptist advanced its record to 2-0 with a 46-19 victory over East Texas Baptist Saturday night as starting left cornerback DONALD WHITE collected the team high in solo tackles with four.

From Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, at Iowa Wesleyan the word is that RUBEN GARCIA will wear #60 and perform on occasion on the Tiger offensive line. IWU fell Saturday to Ohio Dominican 46-0 but Garcia saw no action. ARYN GARCIA of Lompoc will be redshirting at the school.

In California community college play BOO JACKSON completed 18 of 28 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns Saturday night but Bakersfield connected on a last second TD (0.00 on the clock) to defeat top-ranked El Camino 33-31. “Sometimes all the hype gets into a player's head,” Jackson told David Saunders of the Torrance Daily Breeze. “This was a real wake-up call.” After two games this season Jackson, an El Camino captain, has completed 31 of 49 passes for 478 yards (63%) and no interceptions. According to Boo’s mom the two schools hottest in the running for his services next season are Oregon and LSU. Jackson wears No. 8…. Hmmmmmm, who else from Lompoc wore No. 8 in college……??

Also on the field Saturday night in Bakersfield was TYLER CHAGOYA, wearing No.33 for Bakersfield.

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In minor league baseball CHRIS WHITE went 2-for-5 Sunday as the Oneonta Tigers nipped the Auburn Doubledays 1-0 in 11 innings in the first of their three-game New York-Pennsylvania League playoff series…. With the Northwest League season ending Sunday, catcher BRIAN AGUAILAR’s closing statistics are available. AGUAILAR posted a solid .311 batting average in 2006 for the Tri-City club, a Colorado Rockies’ affiliate but injured himself early this spring. As a result he came off the disabled list only in July, was sent back to the same club, and never really got a chance. In just 34 at-bats in only 11 games over two months he collected three hits (.088).

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On Lompoc Locker Room, the TV Show BRAD MEMBERTO talks about sports writing and broadcasting and DANNY DUFFY talks about pitching in Arizona. See the schedule on the left.