By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Lou Holtz and Bobby Bowden share a laugh after the game.
It took a while for the two legends to successfully weave their way through the crowd, but they finally found one another for the most traditional of meetings.
"Good game, Coach," Bowden said to Holtz over the din of photographers and television crews jockeying for position to best capture the brief interlude on film.
"Nice comeback," Bowden said. "You had me worried there in the fourth quarter. I thought you might catch us."
Bowden's South team steadily built a 26-0 advantage going into the final 15 minutes, before two North touchdowns and a just-missed opportunity late resulted in a 26-13 win over the North in yesterday's Hooters Hula Bowl before 24,725 at Aloha Stadium.
"We couldn't match up with you," Holtz shot back. "You had too much up front on us. But I enjoyed it. Good to see you again."
Sure, in the grand scheme of college sports, this is about as dramatic as a Super Bowl rerun. But who do you know who really goes to the game to see which team wins?
Most fans went with the hope of catching a glimpse of Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel. And if they were lucky, to get the Florida standout's autograph.
Some wanted to watch the local kids return home and play here one last time. While still others studied the game plans Holtz and Bowden devised or paid close attention to see if some unknown player would prove he could rub shoulder pads with the big boys.
The game also is an award of sorts for players who excelled on and off the field. Yes, a select few will realize their dreams of a professional career. But for many others, this is probably it.
"It's funny, but you start out the week kind of knowing everybody by name, but not really knowing them as a person," said Wuerffel, who started the game, but took only three snaps from center.
"I wish I could have played more, but I'm still glad I made the trip out here. It's something I won't ever forget; the camaraderie that develops among your peers.
"It sounds corny, but this is an honor. And what's more, it's been a lot of fun spending the week with these players and coaches. It's the perfect way for me to end a magical season."
Holtz had hoped to create a little magic of his own in perhaps his final collegiate appearance, but fate conspired against him. He lost Colorado players Koy Detmer and Chris Naeole before the opening kickoff.
Naeole was out with a bad stomach virus that forced his hospitalization. Detmer suffered from a sinus infection that left him dizzy every time he stood up.
To make matters worse, Holtz already had lost offensive linemen Barry Sims of Utah and Northern Colorado's Tony Ramirez to leg injuries, leaving him only five big men up front.
It wasn't a fair fight. Just ask North quarterback Steve Sarkisian of Brigham Young, who played practically the entire game. He was forced to scramble on nearly every pass play en route to being sacked five times.
"I thought I proved to the scouts how tough I am," Sarkisian said. "This game gives me some confidence going into the NFL combine because I showed teams what I can do under extreme pressure."
That pressure helped the South defense limit the North through the first three quarters. Mississippi State kicker Andy Russ kept the North backed up all day with his punts. He had four for an average of 52 yards.
Russ also kicked field goals for the first time since high school, hitting on four of four from 28, 31, 42 and 47 yards to be named the South's most valuable player.
"It's an honor because we had a lot of great athletes on our team," Russ said. "I had a good average today on punts, but most of that came because of the roll you get on the carpet.
"But hopefully, the scouts will look at me as a place-kicker, too, after what I did today. I know I tied the Hula Bowl record for field goals. We thought about going for the fifth one from 47 yards out, but the wind kind of kicked up, so Coach Bowden decided against it."
The South also had two touchdown passes. Southern California's Brad Otton, who hit 10 of 18 for 144 yards, connected with North Carolina tight end Freddie Jones on a 53-yard scoring play to give the South a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Fresno State's Jim Arellanes added a 10-yard scoring strike in the second to Florida State's Wayne Messam to make it 17-0. Russ added three more field goals before the North struck back in the fourth.
On a fourth-and-four play from the South 38, Holtz crossed up Bowden with a quick trap. Walter Payton Award winner Archie Amerson hit the hole quickly to break into the secondary untouched for the touchdown.
Despite being only 5-foot-9, the Northern Arizona product led all rushers with 57 yards on only six carries. As a result, he was named the North's MVP.
"I don't think they were expecting a run," Amerson said of his 38-
yard scamper that made it 26-7 with 12:39 left in the game. "It was a nice hole. All I had to do was get up through there and run as fast as I could. It felt great."
Sarkisian added a 17-yard scoring strike to Stanford's Brian Manning, and got close again, only to be stopped on a third-down play from the South's 3 as time expired.
"We just dominated them up front," Bowden said. "Lou was hurt by some of those injuries, but give his kids credit, they fought hard until the end."
North 0 0 0 13--13 South 10 10 6 0--26Scoring summary
First quarter
South-FG 42 Russ, 8:58.
South-F. Jones 53 pass from Otton (Russ kick), 14:17.
Second quarter
South-Messam 10 pass from Arellanes (Russ kick), 3:10.
South-FG 47 Russ, 15:00.
Third quarter
South-FG 28 Russ, 2:13.
South-FG 31 Russ, 14:10.
Fourth quarter
North-Amerson 38 run (Reali kick), 2:21.
North-Manning 17 pass from Sarkisian (conversion failed), 9:47.
A-24,725.
North South First downs 20 21 Rushes-yards 39-95 42-102 Passing 230 241 Comp-Att-Int 20-36-1 18-33-1 Return Yards 0 81 Punts-Avg. 8-49.1 4-52.0 Fumbles-Lost 3-1 3-1 Penalties-Yards 5-35 5-34 Time of Possession 31:30 28:30
Individual statisticsRushing-North: Amerson 6-57, Kidd 1-31, Kinder 7-23, Schuster 4-16, King 7-3, Morgan 3-3, Harris 1-(-2), Sarkisian 10-(-36). South: Smith 12-52, Mitchell 7-39, Thompson 3-21, Staley 8-19, Allen 2-6, Ferguson 4-(-2), Otton 1-(-7), Muhammad 1-(-7), Arellanes 3-(-9), Wuerffel 1-(-10).
Passing-North: Sarkisian 19-34-0 for 217 yards, Morgan 1-2-1 for 13 yards. South: Otton 10-18-0 for 144 yards, Arellanes 8-15-1 for 97 yards.
Receiving-North: Leshinski 7-78, Manning 4-40, McGuire 2-33, Morgan 2-26, King 1-31, Kinder 1-8, Kidd 1-6, Harris 1-6, Amerson 1-2. South: Miller 5-51, Jones 3-87, Muhammad 3-35, Messam 2-14, Allred 1-22, Smith 1-15, Ferguson 1-7, Staley 1-7, Mitchell 1-3.
Klompus already has nailed down five-year deals with ESPN-TV and Hooters that will guarantee a Hula Bowl into the 21st century.
The last piece of the puzzle would be the AFCA, which by all accounts, was pleased with this year's 51st annual game and selection process. Member coaches helped Teaff field the two teams.
"This is the only college all-star game that I will ever agree to coach in," said Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden, whose South team dominated the North, 26-13, in yesterday's game.
"I was feeling ill the week before I came out here, but being in Hawaii helped cheer me up. This is such a wonderful place. And let me tell you, these young men had the time of their lives this week. They won't ever forget it."
Klompus already knows who one of his head coaches will be in the 1998 game. Division I coach of the year Bruce Snyder of Arizona State will be invited by Teaff. Klompus hopes someone like Joe Paterno of Penn State or Nebraska's Tom Osborne will be on the other sideline.
"We're looking to get a coach in the top five," Klompus said. "Grant will probably select that. I think the AFCA feels this is an excellent venue to showcase their coaches and their players."
The one area Klompus still wants to improve on is the attendance. He may wind up with the highest television rating of the Hula, East-West Shrine and Senior Bowl games, but his crowd was definitely the smallest.
Last week's East-West Shrine game drew 62,000 people, while Saturday's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., had more than 40,000. Yesterday's ticket count was 28,431 distributed and 24,725 in attendance.
"It's gotten a little better every year since we took over 27 months ago," Klompus said. "Everybody associated with the game seemed to enjoy it, so we're very happy with that part of it."
McGuire - who had a BYU sticker on one side of his helmet and a Saints sticker on the other in honor of St. Louis School - finished with two catches for 33 yards.
He was not invited to the NFL combine, but still hopes to be drafted in April.
"I'll just have to wait and see what develops," McGuire said. "It felt great to be back on the field in front of family and friends.
"I wish I could have scored a touchdown, but it wasn't meant to be.
"I had a good time. I put the Saints emblem on my helmet in honor of my old school."
Aleaga, of Maryknoll and Pac-5 fame, finished with seven tackles in a losing effort for the North. Like McGuire, he enjoyed playing in Hawaii one last time.
So did Malepeai, who was a last-second replacement for an injured North player. By game's end, there were only five healthy linemen, meaning Malepeai had to play the whole way.
Tyronee "Tiger" Bussey died of leukemia on Jan. 3 in Detroit. Hula Bowl media spokesmen Dave Plati, who also is the sports information director at Colorado, said the players wanted to remember him in that manner.
"We lost my last game as a Hawaii player to Wisconsin, so it was nice to be on the winning (South) team," Henderson said. "I had a really good time this week, being with all these top players.
"I thought I played all right. Our front seven did a great job keeping pressure on Sarkisian. He practically threw on every down."
Henderson gave up a touchdown on a post-corner route run by Stanford's Brian Manning. The 17-yard scoring strike from Sarkisian cut the South's lead to 26-13.
"I kind of slipped on that play," Henderson said. "Manning ran a really good route and Sarkisian hit him on the play."