Page 14 Portland Observer, November 5,1961
OSU ’Tails '
6600 NE U n io n
P o rtla n d . O R .
T ai. 287 O **3
W ith the score 45-0 Oregon State
kicked a field goal m idw ay in the
fourth quarter. One O S U assistant
coach was heard to say: “ 14 more o f
those and we’ re right back in i t . ”
Avezzano lost his cool as well as the
game. On the Beavers’ first posses
sion, with Cal leading 7-0, the Beav
ers had fourth and one on the Cal
fo u r. A vezzano called on Randy
Holmes to cariy; Holmes obliged by
losing a fumble on the one and Cal
recovered. A vezzano was so con
vinced that his man had scored that
he went on the field and raged at the
o fficials. A ll he got was a 15-yard
penalty, so instead o f being backed
up near th e ir own goal lin e, the
Bears actually had breathing room.
Undeterred, Avezzano continued to
scream at the officials, ignoring his
team while it was giving up an 84-
yard touchdown drive. Very in ter
esting.
D id you know?
Melvin Renfro. Jr. rips off a big gain in leading Reynolds to a 14-7 win over Gresham.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Mel Renfro, Jr. carries the ball
by Ron Sykes
On an unusual November evening
Oregon’ s finest athlete ever sat in
the stands at tiny M o u n t H ood
C om m unity College. A long way
from Texas Stadium , Three River
Stadium, and all the large stadiums
that were once his stomping grounds
in the glorious days o f yesteryear.
This time he returned to watch and
not to play. He sat silently, eyes
glued to the Held, but focusing on
every move o f a young tailback on
the Reynolds H igh School squad.
On the first play o f the game the ball
went to the Reynolds Lancer ta il
back wearing No. 41. H e took the
pitch, skirted the right side, then
followed his blockers downfield. He
guided his blockers in the same
manner as that of the University o f
Oregon’s old No. 20. He was finally
brought down after a ten-yard gain.
The public address system blared
out, “ Renfro, the ball carrier, for a
gain o f 10 yards.” Mel Renfro, Sr.
lunged forw ard in his seat, then
leaped into the a ir w ith clenched
fist. “ Way to go M elvin,” he shout
ed. This was the first time the ex-U.
of O. AU-Ameiican running-back and
Dallas Cowboy All-Pro quarterback
was to see his son perform on the
gridiron. Mel Renfro, Jr. is easily
recognizable as the son o f Mel Ren
fro, Sr. “ It gave me goose pimples
to see him out there,” beamed Mel,
Sr. “ He has the same stride, the
same moves, and seeing him took
me back 20 years into my past.”
MEL RENFRO
Unlike his famous Dad, Mel Ren
fro, Jr. did not burst upon the foot
ball scene. Mel, Jr. did not play var
sity football as a sophomore as did his
D ad . M e l, Jr. chose a d iffe re n t
sport. His choice was soccer. “ He
virtually grew up with soccer.” said
M el, Sr. “ From day one he was in
terested only in kicking the round
black and white ball.”
M e l, sr. was undoubtedly O re
gon’s greatest athlete as a prep. His
records at Jeff will long be remem-
bered and are too numerous to men
tion. M e l, Sr. played w ith his late
bro th er Ray and together they
form ed what most prep follow ers
believe to be the best high school
backfield ever produced anywhere.
M e l’s achievements were not lim
ited to fo o tb all alone. In I9 6 0 , at
C a lifo rn ia 's prestigious G olden
West track meet, (a meet bringing
together the top prep track men in
the U .S .), M el won the gold in the
high hurdles, the 180-yard low hur
dle and the broad jum p to easily win
the outstanding athlete award. At
the University o f Oregon, M el was
A ll-A m erican in both football and
track.
Is all this a hard act to follow?
Last year Mel. Jr. began dabbling
in track and field. Before the sea
son’ s end he had become O regon’ s
premier high school long jumper.
Both father and son disdain mak
ing comparisons, but M el R enfro.
Sr. is a hard act Io follow. “ I came
to see him play and to give whatever
advice I could on his college ca
r e e r ," said M e l. Sr. M e l, Jr. has
performed well enough in his brief
football career to get feelers from
S ta n fo rd . Id a h o , O reg o n. N o tre
D am e. Oregon State and S .M .U .
W here would Dad like to see him
go? He said. “ I l will be his choice,
but I would like to see him go to
S .M .U . and play for my good
friend. Ron M eyer.”
Mel. Jr. stands 5 '1 0 ' and 165 lbs.
C ollege scouts believe he has a
brighl future in football.
T he M ilw a u k e e Bucks placed
holdout forward Marques Johnson
on the N B A suspended list, and said
former A ll-S tar forward Bob D an
dridge has signed an offer sheet with
them.
The Golden State W arriors sus
pended second-year forward Larry
S m ith , a h oldout over a con tract
dispute.
The USC had no choice but to ac
cept Ted Dawson, former K O IN -T V
Sports Director, as the play-by-play
man for the U S C -N o tre Dam e
game.
The U .S .A . cable netw ork w ill
show 40 regular season games this
season, with Thursday night double
headers on tap throughout the sea
son.
T h at before the opener w ith
Houston the L A Lakers had a pre
lunch cocktail p arty fo r the team
and guests. W ell, the Laker players
all showed up except one Kareem
A bdul-Jabbar. “ Kareem probably
didn’t show up because he thought
Moses M alo u r would be present,”
cracked a veteran journalist whose
name shall be kept secret to protect
both his health and welfare.
Black Collage Football Scores
Howard U. 49, Norfolk St. 28
Towson St. 24, Delaware St. 7
Hampton Inst. 3 1, Guilford 6
Jacksonville St. 28, Delta St. 14
Mississippi Coll. 37, Livingstone St. 17
N. Alabama 37, Tenn. M artin 10
N. Carolina A & T 25. Morgan St. 23
N. Carolina Cent. 50, Bowie St. 0
S. Carolina St 40, Morris Brown 6
Tennessee St. 28, Southern U. 18
Virginia Union 14, Virginia St. 12
Alcorn St. 14, Bishop 13
A rk.-Pine B luff 20, Langston 18
Grambling St. 17, Texas Southern, 17
Henderson St. 42, S. Arkansas 21
Elizabeth City St. 28, Fayetteville St. 0
Sports Talk
by Ron Sykes, Sports Editor
W h a t’ s wrong w ith O S U fo o t
Joe, but that the last half o f the sch
ball?
edule California, Stanford and Ore
In the last 5 games OSU has been
gon were teams they could surely
outscored 264 to 57. Now it doesn’t
match up with. W ell, remember Joe
take an Einstein to figure that
also said the Beavers’ program was
an unfavorable deficit exists and it’s
equal to th a t o f W S U , only to be
not on the plus side o f the Beaver
trounced 23-0 at Corvallis.
ledger. Oregon State, a fte r being
W hen w ill these promises end?
blown out by a mouse-less Cal team
Last S aturday at C al the Beavers
45-3, stands 1-7-0on th e ’81 season.
were h u m iliated 4 5 -3 . And only
The players, to a m an, believe
scored when Coach Roger Theder
that the coaching is not at fault.
pulled his shock troops m idw ay
No one. Maybe C raig F e r tig .. .
through the third quarter.
afterward he left this bunch for Joe
After the game Avezzano said, "1
Avezzano. Oregon State has nine
am upset. 1 am upset at every aspect
seniors on the roster, all Fertig men.
o f our football team. Before the sea
A ll but guard M ike M cKelvey are
son 1 did not talk about nor indicate
starters. To become competitive the
that
we had solved all problems that
Beavers must win some games.
needed
to be solved to have a con
Sounds impossible but it can be
tending football team. Right now I
done. Junior college transfers are
am upset with myself, our coaches
not the answer. But one can hardly
and our players.”
blame Avezzano for panicking, go
After the poor showing in Berkeley
ing for JC ’ s, after last year’ s hor
will
there be any changes?
rendous 0-11. Oregon State signed
“
We
are definitely going to make
six junior college players in hopes of
some changes,” fumed Avezzano.
strengthening some glaring weak
“ I believe a few will involve the sec
nesses. They must now realize that
o n d ary. I anticip ate a couple o f
you can’t take a weak program and
changes
up fro n t on defense and
make a strong one overnight. OSU
possibly
one
o r two offensive line
coaches must get down in the
changes. Again we are not going to
trenches o f college recruiting, they
put up w ith or condone anything
must avidly seek the blue chippers,
but a top e ffo rt.” '
they must make promises and hope
fu lly land two or three good ones
R ealistically Oregon State has
each year. Coach Avezzano, before
o n ly tw o q u ality players on their
the C alifornia game, stated that his
roster. Victor Simmons, who is the
Beavers would d e fin ite ly make a
leading pass receiver and Randy
good run at C a l, that the Beavers
Holm es, the top rusher. H owever,
were probably overmatched against
it’ s obvious that more is needed to
the likes o f Minnesota, USC, W SU ,
become a winner in the tough PAC-
W ashington and O k la h o m a , right
10.
♦
Mika Harper, Portland'* newest star bags a field goal over Jeff
Cook of Phoenix. Harper has bean excellent filling In for Kermit
Washington.
(Photo: Mika Washington)
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