August 8, 1974
By Murray Chass
ANAHEIM, California, August 7 - Plagued by a rash of mistakes - four lost fumbles and several costly penalties - and shut out until the last play of the first half, the New York Stars rallied for an 11-8 victory over the Southern California Sun tonight.
Tom Sherman teamed with Bert Askson for a 40-yard touchdown pass in a third-and-2 situation midway through the fourth quarter for the winning score as a crowd of 28,174 - all but 301 paying - watched in agony.
In their two previous road games in Philadelphia and Jacksonville, the Stars played in front of 124,000 fans but only about 38,000 paid.
After the touchdown pass put the Stars ahead for the first time, the Sun tried to stage a rally of its own. But Tom Chandler and James Sims dumped Tony Adams, the quarterback, in two different situations, assuring the Stars' third straight victory.
That the Stars won at all was surprising because of the earlier sloppy play.
The first time the Stars got the ball - on the opening kickoff - Jim Ford fumbled it away to the Sun's Alonzo Emery at the New York 39-yard line.
On the first down, Kermit Johnson ran 7 yards to the 32, and on second, Tony Adams, the Sun's rookie quarterback, passed to Ike Harris, a rookie wide receiver, who caught the ball near the goal line and stepped into the end zone for a quick touchdown.
Lou Angelo, the Stars' rookie strong safety, had a shot at knocking the pass down before it reached Harris, but he leaped too soon and watched helplessly as the ball sailed over his head and settled into Harris's eager, waiting hands. Adams then passed to Jacque MacKinnon, an old American Football Leaguer, for the Action Point and an 8-0 lead.
When the Stars got the ball back, they didn't go anywhere, primarily because of Jim Baker, a linebacker and Dave Roller, a defensive tackle who spent a little time with the New York Giants in 1971.
When the Stars took the ball the third time, the same pair teamed to take it back. Roller hit Ed White and forced him to commit his first of three fumbles in the first half, and Baker recovered at the New York 39.
Southern California threatened to score, but Jeff Woodcock intercepted an Adams pass in the end zone on a third-down play from the 11.
Later in the quarter, the Sun scored an apparent touchdown as James McAlister took a short pass from Adams at the Stars' 35 and raced into the end zone. But Southern California was called for illegal procedure; nullifying the score.
The Stars, who managed only one first down in the first quarter, threatened for the first time early in the second quarter, but with a third-and-8 at the Sun 47, Roller smacked Tom Sherman, the quarterback, for a 9-yard loss, forcing a punt.
Later in the quarter, White stymied the Stars by fumbling on two consecutive plays. Al Young recovered the first for the Stars, but John Hoffman grabbed the second for the Sun at the New York 40.
However, the Stars grabbed the ball back three plays later when Tom Chandler stole on Adam's aerial at the Stars' 25. The linebacker fumbled, too, but John Elliott fell on the ball at the 35.
The Stars then drove quickly into field-goal position, mainly on Sherman's 26-yard pass to Young, and Mo Lajterman kicked a 32-yard field goal on the last play of the half.
The Sun had two field goal tries in the third quarter, but Nick Dzepina missed both, kicking a 41-yarder wide to the left and a 23-yarder wide to the right.
Star turnovers preceded both tries. Bob Hermanni committed the Stars' sixth fumble of the game on a punt return and Ted Seifert recovered it for Southern California, and Jim Baker intercepted a Sherman pass at the Sun 48.