Seahawks

You know you have arrived and belong among the elite when you can bounce back from a tough loss and defeat a good team in yet another pressure-cooker.That's what the South River boys hoops team did lastweek in running its record to 13-2. The Seahawks have more than proven they are for real.The Hawks dropped an 84-81 heart-breaker Tuesday at Annapolis (12-1), with Albert Lee's desperation bomb from just over half-court falling a tad short at the buzzer. It was almost another routine South River finish.

Mike Holmgren is new to the Seattle Seahawks, but he knows their neighborhood. It is smack in the middle of mediocrity, just south of football nirvana.The Seahawks haven't seen the klieg lights of the postseason since quarterback Dave Krieg and coach Chuck Knox threw the switch in 1988 after a 9-7 regular season. That 10-year playoff drought ranks as the longest in the NFL, but it's nothing new to Holmgren, Seattle's first-year general manager and head coach.When Holmgren reported to Green Bay as a rookie head coach in 1992, the Packers hadn't been to the playoffs in nine years and three coaches.

For the second year in a row the South River girls lacrosse team opened its season against Broadneck, one of its toughest rivals. Once again, the game went right down to the wire. Taylor Bresnahan scored the game-winning goal with 1:47 to go and the No. 4 Seahawks used strong defense and a little help from the pipes to take a 10-9 victory over the No. 9 Bruins in an Anne Arundel County league game. After Bresnahan's goal, the visiting Bruins won the next draw and Kacy Koolage rolled the crease and scored to cut the South River lead to 10-8 with 1:17 left.

This time, the South River girls soccer team would not have to endure a scare by an unranked Broadneck squad.In a rematch between undefeated county rivals, the seventh-ranked Seahawks scored a goal in each half and smothered the host Bruins, 2-0, last night.South River improved to 8-0 in the county and 9-1 overall, while Broadneck dropped to 7-1 in the county and 7-3 overall.Less than a month ago at the Pioneer Shootout, South River watched Broadneck cut a 3-0 lead to 3-2 in a 17-second span of the second half before winning, 4-2.Last night, Seahawks junior forward Kelli Hogan and senior midfielder Brooke Belka scored goals, and a defensive unit anchored by seniors Jessica Beard and Abby Johnson and junior Lauren Mckeever shut out the Bruins.

SEATTLE - Mike Holmgren stopped practice in the middle, gathered the Green Bay Packers in a circle and then fumed and kicked his way to an important lesson. Some defensive player had the nerve to level Brett Favre during a training camp drill in 1998, even though the quarterback wore a jersey colored red to mark himself off-limits. Holmgren's face matched the jersey's color immediately. It was lecture time, requiring a full-team address for the most cardinal of sins. "I want to let everybody know that you don't come near the quarterback," Holmgren said.

What was a cold South River offense in its first three football games is cooking finally -- thanks to the efforts of the head chef and his assistants.Third-year coach Dave Summey and assistant coaches Jim Henne, Chuck Golch, Tom Newman and Lance Evans gradually added more spice to the Seahawks' offense."It took a little while for things to jell," said Summey, whose 5-1 Seahawks are ranked No. 17 in the metro area. "It was just a matter of time."It took time, specifically, to stir things up on the offensive line after watching the Seahawks' lukewarm attack in victories over Broadneck, 6-3, and Maryland Scholastic Association C Conference champion St. Mary's, 6-0, and in a 14-7 loss to Linganore.

DETROIT -- Darrell Jackson may be the player who most exemplifies the underdog Seattle Seahawks in Sunday's Super Bowl. The six-year veteran is one of the NFL's best receivers that no one knows. Unheralded as a third-round draft pick in 2000, Jackson quickly outdistanced, among others, his one-time University of Florida teammate, Travis Taylor, who was chosen 10th in that draft by the Ravens. Still, after 378 career catches and despite two big games in this year's playoffs, Jackson, 27, feels he is slighted in any discussion of the league's elite receivers.

Severna Park freshman Erin Dubina made an early impression last night at South River with a rocket shot that banged off the crossbar before being smothered by Seahawks goalie Erin Johnson.A little later in the first half, Dubina was at it again. She finished an easier chance that proved to be the game-winner for the No. 4-ranked Falcons, who turned back some strong second-half pressure from the No. 11 Seahawks to come away with a 2-0 win.Junior Holly Noga provided the insurance goal with eight minutes left, only after the Seahawks gave the Falcons defense all it could handle in the second half.

Amid tight marking in the latter stages of Wednesday's girls soccer game between No. 5 South River and No. 8 Severna Park, it would take something special to decide the outcome. Settling a short throw-in from Morgan Torggler, Severna Park sophomore midfielder Gabby Moreno made one dribble to find space before unleashing a left-footed shot from 20 yards over South River senior goalie Lyndse Hokanson that found the top right corner. The goal, Moreno's first of the season, came with 7:50 to play and proved to be the decider as the Falcons left Edgewater with a 2-1 win over the Seahawks in the teams' Anne Arundel County opener.