Friday, July 18, 1997

Canadian, Montanan impressed with everything but weather

By BILL HART / Abilene Reporter-News

As far as Joey Jurenka and David Fadish are concerned, Texans can take their weather and keep it.

They admit that on occasions the temperature reaches the mid-90s where they live, but they are encountering a different kind of heat here.

Fadish lives in Hafford, Saskatchewan, about 400 miles north of the Canadian border with the United States, while Jurenka is from Blue Sky, Mont. They're here for the Dairy Queen All Americas Bowl Six-Man football game Saturday night at Elmer Gray Stadium.

They are members of the North team, composed of players who reside out of Texas, and will try to even the score against the South, which won the inaugural game in Ranger last summer.

"It's hotter here after the sun goes down than it is in the middle of the day back home," Jurenka said. "It took me a couple of days to get used to the humidity, something we're not used to.

"It may get into the 90s, but it usually cools down to the low 60s at night. During our two-a-days back home, we'd work out from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and then we'd come back at night for our other workout."

Fadish says the temperatures in his part of the world may reach 90, but it usually lasts only a week. So what have they done to combat the heat?

"Drink lots of water and stay under the air conditioner as much as possible," Jurenka said - and Fadish echoed the same.

Both admit that the heat shouldn't be that much of a problem when gametime arrives and when the temperature is predicted to reach almost 100 degrees.

The weather isn't their only concern. The game will be played under Texas Six-Man rules which differ from the rules used in Montana and Canada.

"In Canada, a quarterback can run with the football, but here he must either pitch it or hand off to another player before he can run," said Fadish, a quarterback. "I had a problem with it the first day and took off, but I've adjusted since then.

"Also, the defense must be at least a yard off the offensive line, and we get three downs to go 10 yards for a first down. But I think we've adjusted to it."

"Six-Man teams outside Texas must hand off the football before they can run, but here they can pitch the ball back," said Jurenka, a running back. "We also run tight and spread formations, but Texas has a lot more sets than we use. We've had to adjust to a different type of blocking, but I don't think we'll have any problems with them (rules differences) once the game starts."

Because of the heat, the players haven't been able to do much sightseeing, but they did go to the Mall of Abilene. This is only the second time that Fadish has been in the United States. The other time he went to an air cadets program in Minot, N.D., barely past the Canadian border.

This is the first time either has been in Texas, and they say it's about what they expected.

What impressed them the most?

"The girls," replied Fadish. "Everything has been nice."

"It's beautiful around here," Jurenka said. "But I don't like the hot weather."

The teams will work out twice today in their final preparations before Saturday night's game. They will also be honored at a banquet tonight at the Abilene Christian University cafeteria.