Wuerffel, Rhein rule the World

By DAVE THEALL, VERA FILIPELLI, Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 26, 2000

The Rhein Fire, trailing most of the game, won its second World Bowl in three years with a last-minute scoring drive.

Pepe Pearson's 1-yard touchdown run with 1:12 left gave the Fire a 13-10 victory Sunday over the Scottish Claymores in Frankfurt, Germany.

"It was a great feeling when I scored," Pearson said.

The win was not assured until Claymores kicker Roger Hart's 40-yard field goal went wide left with four seconds left.

The Fire's Galen Hall became the first NFL Europe coach to win two World Bowls. "I thought it would come down to the last seconds, and it certainly did," the former Florida coach said.

Quarterback Danny Wuerffel, the 1996 Heisman Trophy winner out of Florida, was 12-for-30 for 90 yards and two interceptions, but the league's second-leading passer led the Fire on a 43-yard touchdown drive for the winning score.

"If I don't play another down of football, I'll be thrilled to have this as my final memory," Wuerffel said. "Winning a championship with these guys and a coach as great as Galen is something I'll remember forever."

Trailing 3-0 in the first quarter, Scotland responded as regular-season MVP Aaron Stecker ran for a 36-yard touchdown. Stecker was signed by the Bucs in January.

SOCCER: Two days after routing Trinidad and Tobago 11-0 in its Gold Cup opener, the U.S. women's team overpowered Costa Rica 8-0 in Louisville, Ky. Nikki Serlenga scored three goals for the United States, which clinched a berth in the semifinals of the eight-nation tournament. In the first game, Katia Da Silva scored seven goals in Brazil's 11-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago. Brazil plays the U.S. team on Tuesday. ... Patrick Kluivert scored a tournament record four goals to lead the Netherlands over Yugoslavia 6-1 in Rotterdam, and World Cup champion France defeated Spain 2-1 in Bruges, Belgium, to complete the semifinal lineup of the European Championships. Spain's Raul Gonzalez missed a penalty kick in the last minute. France plays Portugal in Brussels on Wednesday, and the Dutch play Italy in Amsterdam on Thursday.

SWIMMING: Robert Margalis of St. Petersburg Aquatics won the 400-meter freestyle in 3 minutes, 55.60 seconds at the Santa Clara (Calif.) International. Dara Torres broke the U.S. record in the 50-meter freestyle as she won her fourth event in the meet.

TENNIS: Patrick Rafter won his third consecutive Heineken Trophy, beating Nicolas Escude 6-1, 6-3 in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

TRACK AND FIELD: Mike Marsh won the 100 meters at the Oregon Classic in Portland. Marsh won despite a slow start, running a 10.18 in front of former Hernando High standout John Capel and Bryan Howard, who led the first half of the race.

HORSE RACING: Scatter the Gold, who didn't race as a 2-year-old, won the the Queen's Plate at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. ... Riboletta completed a sweep of Hollywood Park's three major stakes races, winning the Vanity Handicap.

BOXING: John Brown scored a unanimous decision over Robbie Peden in an IBF junior lightweight bout in Elgin, Ill.

GREYHOUND RACING: WW Kiowa Hurby held off favorite Flying Waterford in the St. Petersburg Derby semifinals at Derby Lane. Skeptic defeated Boot Scootin Gal in another semifinal. Jam Zone and Mike A Train completed the list of stakes finalists. JB Junior B seeks its 25th victory in starts this year Tuesday night. Aimin By Design won its 19th race Saturday (Kennel standings, 7C).

CYCLING: Urine samples from competitors in the Tour de France will be saved for testing for the banned hormone EPO once a new exam has received approval.

RUNNING: Mike Ferreira of St. Petersburg won the Run Through Hell 5K at Al Lopez Park in Tampa, finishing in 17 minutes, 41 seconds. Jacki Waller of New Port Richey won the women's division in 18:57, followed by Kit Van Allan of Palm Harbor. ... Joseph Kahuga of Kenya and Samantha Hughes of Australia won the men's and women's divisions of the Gold Coast (Australia) Marathon.

ROWING: Olympic champion Xeno Mueller of Switzerland won the single sculls at the World Cup in Vienna.

BASKETBALL: Doron Sheffer, who played for UConn in the '90s, retired from his Israeli club team Maccabi Tel Aviv. ... Billie Moore, former U.S. Olympic and UCLA coach, was elected president of the Women's Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tenn.

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