STRAT-O-MATIC REVIEW Rams Nip Raiders in Opener
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STRAT-O-MATIC J' REVIEW Devoted excu1sive1y to the Strat-O-Matic game fans, with the consent of the Strat-O-Matic Game Co. I Vol. 1-5 July 1971 35¢ I Rams Nip Raiders In Opener Strat-O-Matic Kicks Off '71 Grid Season Editors note: The following is an account of Strat-O- Matic's annual football game between the first two teams off the presses for the new year which, as in the past, traditionally "kicks off" the new table football game season. The following was sent to the Review by the Str~t-O-Matic Game Co. In accordance with company policy, Strat-O-Matic Game Co., Inc. commenced the football season with a game between the first two teams "off the press"--Oak1and Raiders and Los Angeles Rams. The Raiders were coached by Steve Barkan and the Rams by James Williams. Winning the coin toss and electing to receive, the Rams started off as if they meant to bury the Raiders from the start. Oakland's kickoff was downed in the end zone for a touchback and the Rams started out on their own 20-yard line. Nine plays later, the Rams scored after an aO-yard drive highlighted by Roman Gabriel's four-for-four passing, with an 11-yard toss to Jack S~ow accounting for the score. David Ray's kick was good and Rams led 7-0 after three and a half minutes. The Raiders took the ensuing kickoff, but after three plays had lost two yards and then punted from their own 16. As Mike Ei~he\ddropped back, the Rams put the rush on and blocked his punt. The Raiders recovered on the five-yard line, but the Rams had first and goal. Gabriel twice called on Larry Smith, but the line held to stop him for a loss of a yard and then the Raider pass defense batted away a pass intended for Billy Truax. Dave Ray came in to get the 14-yard field goal. which gave the Rams a 10-0 lead after only 5:30.of play. The Raiders took the kickoff but were again stopped without a first down and Eischeid exchanged punts with Pat Studstill. After getting their initial first down Oakland had to punt again, with the Rams taking over on the Raider 49-yard line. With a key third-and-seven situation, Gabriel hit Jack Snow with a 30-yard bomb and, two plays later, hit Les Josephson for a 12-yard TD strike. Ray's ~ick was good and with one minute to go in the first quarter the Rams led 17-0. 2 Once again the Rams held Oakland without a first down, but could not capitalize as Les Josephson lost a fumble on the Oakland 28. The Raiders, starting their first sustained drive of the day with their backs to the wall, scored 13 plays later on an 8-yard pass to Ray Chester. In the drive, Charlie Smith caught two passes for 18 . yards and ran three times for 19 yards, getting first downs on three occasions. George Blanda's extra point try was good and Oakland cut the margin to 17-7. It appeared, however, that Los Angeles would score again as it got to the Oakland 39 before Gabriel, on a third down play lost eight yards attempting to pass and Studstill had to punt to Alvin Wyatt, who called for a fair catch on his own eight-yard line. Deep in his own territory, Lamonica hit Fred Biletnikoff for 60 yards to get to the Ram 32, then hit Warren Wells with a 32-yard bomb for the score, cutting the LA lead to 17-14 with three minutes to go in the half. Faced with a fourth-and-four on the Raider 43, and :45 on the clock, LA elected to go for the first down and made it as Larry Smith gained nine around end. A pass was knocked down, then Dave Ray made a 41-yard field goal, giving the Rams a 20-14 lead at halftime. Taking the second half kickoff, Oakland started another drive to paydirt, aided by two 13-yard, third down pass completions, one to Pete Banaszak and one to Ray Chester. The drive stalled on the Ram 20, .then George Blanda came in and missed a 27-yard field goal. The Rams cou'l d only get five yards following the missed field goal and punted to the Oakland 36-yard line. Oakland was stopped cold, then Eischeid boomed a 52-yard punt that Haymond lost five yards on and more important, fumbled away. The Raiders recovered and had first and goal on the Ram seven-yard line. Dixon lost a yard, then Lamonica hit Ray Chester for an eight-yard touchdown pass and Blanda's kick gave the Raiders the lead for the first time, 21-20. Alvin Haymond then personally got the lead back by taking the following kickoff back 82 yards for a Ram touchdown; LA back in front 27-21. An exchange of punts found LA's Pat Studstill punting from his own 13-yard line as Oakland had put them in the hole. Studstill kicked the ball to Alvin Wyatt, who returned it 52 yards for the touchdown. Blanda's kick gave the Raiders a 28-27 lead after three quarters. The Rams, buoyed by a 28-yard completion to Wendell. Tucker, began to move, but a pass to Billy Truax was intercepted by George Atkinson. The Raiders quickly picked up 30 yards and were down to the Ram 22 when Charlie Smith lost a fumble. Three plays later, Willie Ellison fumbled the ball back to Oakland on the 30-yard line, but on the next play, Lamonica was intercepted. Taking over on their own 20-yard line, LA was stopped and punted to Oakland's 38, where they were stopped and punted back to the LA 19, where Haymond took it out to the 31. The Rams then went to work, with Gabriel hitting Truax on a key third-and-seven play for 12 yards to the Oakland 23 from where, with 4:15 left in the game, Dave Ray kicked a field goal putting the Rams back in front 30-28. Alvin Wyatt took the following kickoff out to the 25 where Oakland started a drive to pull out a victory. Hewritt Dixon gained five yards in two plays. Then on third and five, Dixon ran around end for one yard. With two minutes to go and fourth and four, Lamonica tried to hit Chester with a pass, but it was knocked down. Three plays later, Dave Ray kicked a 29-yard field goal giving LA a 33-28 lead with 1:00 left. George Atkinson took the kickoff to the Oakland 31 with :30 left. A pass to Chester fell incomplete. then a long pass to Wells was intercepted as the game ended. In what had started as a runaway. then developed into a see-saw game, LA had held on for a 33-28 victory. In the individual statistics. Gabriel was 15 for 29 for 165 yards and two touch- downs. Les Josephson carried the ball 18 times for 74 yards and Larry Smith had 11 for 62. Billy Truax caught five passes for 37 yards and Jack Snow had five for 82 yards and a touchdown. Alvin-Haymond had four kickoff returns for 161 yards. For Oakland. Daryle Lamonica hit 12 of 30 for l45·yards and three touchdowns. His leading receivers were Chester •.who caught four for 33 yards and two touchdowns,and 3 Warren Wells who had two for 38 yards and one touchdown. Hewritt Dixon had 74 yards in 17 carries and Charlie Smith 12 for 50 yards. Gaylord Perry - A Shutout Whiz Richard Rogerson Edmonton, Alberta, Canada During my replay of the 1969 National league, Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants tied a Strat-O-Matic record by shutting out the opposition 13 times. Perry, winner of the Cy Young award, picked up 24 victories while losing but three for the National league's best team. The Eastern Division champs, the New York Mets, were eliminated from the playoffs in three games. Team Standings: (130-game schedule used) EAST WEST Team Wins losses GBl Team Wins losses GBl New York 8'8 42 San Francisco 79 -5-1- Pittsburgh 80 50 8 Atlanta 73 57 6 Chicago 76 54 12 Houston 69 61 10 St. louis 56 74 32 Los Angeles 57 73 22. Phi1ade1phia 51 79 37 Cincinatti 56 74 23 Montreal 41 89 47 San Diego 52 78 27 HOME RUNS RBIs WINS INNINGS STRIKEOUTS Aaron - 51 Aaron - 128 Perry - 24 Dierker - 262 Jenki ns - 238 McCovey - 41 McCovey - 114 P. Niekro - 21 Jenkins - 250 Dierker - 210 Bench - 37 Bench - 100 Seaver - 20 Perry - 247 Selma - 209 Jenkins - 20 Dierker - 20 PERCENTAGE AWARDS PLAYOFF SCORES Perry - .888 (24-3) Cy Young - Gaylord Perry (18)* SF-2 NY-l MVP - Hank Aaron (13)* SF-5 NY-3 Best Rookie - Richie Hebner (9)* SF-2 NY-l (*-first place ballots) Playing Tip Frank Fortin For those who have found it especially hard to keep records over a long season, I will pass along the method in whi ch I record: Using 8 x 11-1/2" un1ined paper and holding it lengthwise, one can separate boxes to record the statistics he wishes to carry. In order to hold these records, use small hash marks, and record at the end of every game or series diligently.