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Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Losing streak a buried memory for Prairie View
By Dwain Price
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
DALLAS - The key play in Prairie View A&M's record-breaking
victory Saturday night came long before the final goal-line stand
that preserved a 14-12 defeat of Langston.
Last spring, Panther players and coach Greg Johnson had one
final discussion about their NCAA Division I record losing streak
that would eventually reach 80 games. They talked about the documentary
HBO made on the streak last season, the one in which players used
reverse psychology and talked on television about taking college
football to a new low.
They watched a tape of the documentary one last time, put it
in a plastic bag and buried it in the north end zone of Blackshear
Field in Prairie View.
"We left all of that ugliness, all of that misery and
pain, all of the hurts and injuries, and all of the excuses and
buried them in the end zone and we moved forward from there,"
Johnson said Monday during a news conference at Dallas City Hall
to promote the Al Lipscomb Classic game against Grambling on Saturday
at the Cotton Bowl.
The Panthers are no longer college football's punch line. This
week, they have the last laugh. They have a longer winning streak
than the Cowboys.
And Johnson is not hesitating to move forward. Monday he didn't
hesitate to request upgrades for his program. Since 1996, Prairie
View has survived on 15 football scholarships, supported by students
and alumni. Prairie View has not been able to offer any school-funded
scholarships since a financial scandal wiped out the 1990 season.
But with some more financial support, Johnson said the program
can be totally resurrected.
"If we can get some more I feel like we can get a better
quality athlete," Johnson said. "Give us something to
really work with if you want us to win.
"Don't just stick us out there ... week-in and week-out,
and then complain about we're not doing this, or we're not doing
that, or we had Southern (University) on the ropes. Give us something
to fight with."
Saturday night, the Panthers displayed the fight that wins
football games. Langston didn't go quietly into the night, closing
Prairie View's lead to 14-12 with 34 seconds remaining when Archie
Craft threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Ted Roberts.
Prairie View players held hands on the sideline as Langston
broke the huddle for its 2-point conversion attempt. Craft tried
a sneak up the middle.
It took the officials about 15 seconds to get to the bottom
of the pile and make a call. Linebacker Steven "Mighty"
Garner managed to stop Craft just short.
"The only thing that went through my mind was, it was
over. It was over," Garner said. "All the blood, sweat
and tears, and now it was over."
Prairie View had its first victory since Oct. 28, 1989, when
the Panthers beat Mississippi Valley, 21-12. Johnson was the defensive
coordinator at Langston when it began Prairie View's losing streak
with a 19-18 beating the following week.
So what about the new streak, the one that can hit two Saturday
with a victory against Grambling?
"I know this week, football is going to be fun,"
Johnson said. "For a long time it hasn't been fun. It's been
a drudgery. It's been like work. You hate to go to work sometimes,
but you know you've got to if you want to feed your family, and
that's kind of how it's been for the kids in the past."
But now the Prairie View kids are hungry.
"One isn't good enough for me," said running back
Kevin Bell, who had a 57-yard touchdown run in the second half
Saturday night. "I don't want people to think it's a fluke."
(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Visit the Star-Telegram on the World Wide Web: www.star-telegram.com.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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