All 3 Raider Passers Get Into Act in 24-19 Win

Marc Wilson’s old friends in the Coliseum crowd of 52,153 jolted him again Saturday night, but he got up and shut them up. It may be only for a night, but if anything good ever happens for Wilson in Los Angeles, it’s one they’ll remember.

Wilson entered the game against Dallas in the second half, was booed . . . and threw his first pass into the hands of Cowboy linebacker Steve DeOssie, who returned it to the Raider 12.

Guess what the crowd said?

If anything else went wrong, was the Raider quarterback derby on for real?

Wilson, booed ever louder, dropped his next pass into the hands of Tim Moffett, running a fly pattern up the right sideline, for a 35-yard gain.

When that drive died at the Cowboy 21, Wilson came back on the next one with a 60-yard touchdown pass to receiver Rod Barksdale, putting the Raiders ahead to stay in a 24-19 National Football League exhibition victory.

Of course, Wilson has been up and down in this place before.

“In fact,” he said later, “we were on the sideline joking, saying ‘I didn’t feel right that first series, they weren’t booing loud enough.’ Just kidding.”

Said Coach Tom Flores: “I thought it was great. You talk about guts, courage. . . . “

The other quarterbacks had their own moments. Jim Plunkett, seeing his first action since the San Francisco 49ers’ Jeff Stover dislocated Plunkett’s shoulder last season, hit his first two passes, then missed on 10 of 11.

But he closed by connecting on four in a row, marching the Raiders 75 yards at the end of the first half for their first exhibition score, that coming on Plunkett’s 14-yard touchdown pass to second-year fullback Steve Strachan.

“Shaky start,” Plunkett said. “I felt a little jittery out there. I was kind of apprehensive about getting hit.

“I did get hit in that last drive. Pain? It hurt like hell, but fortunately, not my shoulder.”

And Rusty Hilger bounced back from his eight sacks last week to complete 3 of his 4 passes, including a 56-yarder for a touchdown to another young receiver, Mark Pattison.

The Raiders needed some bright spots, having opened with that 32-0 loss that made the dog days of training camp even doggier.

The Cowboys were 0-2, having scored only two field goals. With that as preamble, the teams struggled through a scoreless first period before Rafael Septien, who had two of four Cowboy field goals in the game, kicked off the scoring with a 42-yarder.

Plunkett then took the Raiders on the 75-march march, throwing to Dokie Williams for 10, 28 and 18 yards. The last pass, a slant-in against Everson Walls, put the Raiders at the Dallas 14 with 1:11 left in the half.

Plunkett called time out, then came back, sending Strachan curling out of the backfield and hitting him in the end zone.

Plunkett had been cheered by the crowd. The next quarterback, Wilson, was lightly booed when he ran onto the field to start the second half, and more loudly booed when he came to the line of scrimmage.

His pass was picked off by DeOssie, who returned it 24 yards. The Cowboys then peeled off an impressive 12-yard drive for their first touchdown of the exhibition season.

“Jolted?” said Wilson later. “Yeah, kind of.”

Wilson came onto the field again, and the booing really started. His first play was a Vance Mueller run for four yards.

Then he hit Moffett, dropping the ball prettily into the receiver’s hands.

“That kind of calmed everybody down,” Wilson said.

That drive died at the Cowboy 21, the Raiders going for it on fourth-and-one and Strachan getting hurled back.

The next drive lasted two plays. Strachan gained one yard. Then Wilson found Barksdale--the Arizona State track star who never played football there or in high school in Compton--over the top of the Dallas defense for the last 60.

Wilson stayed in for one more series. There was nary a boo.

Raider Notes Case of the Silent Beeper: Jim Plunkett’s touchdown drive was helped, memorably enough, by a malfunctioning beeper that kept an NFL instant-replay crew in the pressbox from ruling Dokie Williams’ 28-yard reception a non-catch. Williams caught the ball but was immediately stripped by Dallas’ Manny Hendrix, although official Gordon Wells didn’t seem to notice and ruled it a catch. In the pressbox, NFL official Norm Schacter, watching an instant replay, ruled it incomplete and ordered another crew member to beep referee Bob Frederic. But the beeper didn’t work. Obviously a hometown beeper. . . . Raider owner Al Davis, helping NBC with its commentary, said he’ll announce a plan to cut Coliseum capacity to 80,000 and move seats closer to the field. Davis said he might lift TV blackouts after 72,000 tickets are sold. . . . Jesse Hester, who dropped the first two passes thrown to him last week, caught everything thrown to him. Other Raiders enjoying good nights: Lester Hayes, with two interceptions; Vance Mueller, who gained 33 yards on his last six carries; Howie Long, with 1 1/2 sacks. . . . The best Cowboy was No. 3 tailback Robert (He’s History) Lavette, with 79 yards, a 7.9 rushing average, 4 receptions, a touchdown and a 43-yard kickoff return. How’s he going to play behind Tony Dorsett and Herschel Walker? . . . Ex-UCLA receiver Mike Sherrard caught one pass for Dallas. He was open later for what would have been a 30-yard scoring pass, but No. 2 Cowboy quarterback Scott Pelluer missed him.