With Marcus Cooking, Raiders Fry Some Fish and Land a 30-28 Win

Neither rain nor wind nor Marcus Allen’s injury nor the Dolphins of old stayed the Raiders from their last appointed rounds at their home in south Florida, the Orange Bowl. Allen healed, the rain stopped, the wind died.

The Dolphins of old? They’re history.

What remains is Dan Marino, several receivers and the nucleus of an expansion team. The Raiders, who had beaten several worthier predecessors here in heart-stopping contests, defeated them, 30-28, Sunday in a game that was neither as close nor as exciting as the final score would suggest.

Nevertheless, the Dolphins are 2-5. The Raiders, once 0-3, are 4-3.

“As long as our offense scores 17-plus points there is a strict feasibility of going 13-3,” Lester Hayes said.

With the Dolphins scheduled to move to their new stadium next season, the final Raider record here is 6-3-1. They’re 15-3-1 against the Dolphins overall and Tom Flores is 6-0 against Don Shula.

The Raiders simply pushed the Fish, as they’re known locally, or more accurately, the Mammals, off the line of scrimmage, running on them as Ohio State once ran on Northwestern or USC on Oregon State. Thus they limited quarterback Dan Marino’s attempts to test Sam Seale, who was starting his first game ever as a defensive back, standing in for the injured Mike Haynes on the red-hot right corner opposite Mark Duper.

The Dolphins did everything else to help. Whenever things got dicey, one of their special teams players turned over the football, causing Shula’s jutting lower jaw to threaten secession.

“They just steamrolled us, running the ball right down our throat,” said Shula, in a brief but pointed post-game address. “The special teams were not close to competitive.”

How did the Raiders dominate them?

They rushed for 214 yards and a 4.9 team average.

Allen had 91 yards by halftime, Napoleon McCallum had 41 and the Raiders had 161.

The Raiders had the ball for 20:54 in the first half, the Dolphins for 9:06.

Starting with their first possession of the second period, the Raiders had successive rushes for gains of 6, 12, 25, 11, 18, 2 (Allen’s leap into the end zone on which he was untouched), 11, 5, 12, 4, 5 and 6 yards. That’s 12 carries for 117 yards.

And none of it was on anything as flashy as an end sweep. These were blasts off tackle, with occasional counters and draws, representing one of the great moments of the season for the offensive line and its littlest guard, fullback Frank Hawkins.

“That was one of the greatest blocking days I’ve ever seen from Frank Hawkins,” Matt Millen said. “I mean, he was laying people out . When we scored the touchdown, I forgot about our running backs and went right up to Hawk to congratulate him. I couldn’t believe some of the hits he made. That was one of the best games I ever saw in terms of flipping people.”

Said Allen: “That was nothing. He does that every week.”

Said Howie Long: “I’m no expert on offense, but with the people we have up front and a fullback like Frank Hawkins, running the ball down peoples’ throats is a good way to go.”

It was the way the Raiders started going when Allen went down against the Giants, in the game that left them 0-3. After that, with McCallum getting more and more time, they began running more inside.

“He moves the sticks,” Millen said of McCallum. “He’s not real fast, he runs straight up and down, but he moves the sticks.”

And he takes the load off Allen. This was Allen’s first start in a month, and it was an upset. His injury was first diagnosed as a sprained right ankle but when it responded slowly, and when Allen reaggravated it last week, everyone wondered.

“I had a bone scan Friday,” Allen said. “Even the doctors don’t know what it is.”

He flew across country on the Raider charter with his leg hooked up to a machine that stimulates circulation. All better? Allen says it felt the same way afterward that it had before, but Saturday he felt good enough to take part in the light drill and Sunday he went back into the lineup.

He finished with 96 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing, plus 3 pass receptions and a third touchdown on a 16-yard pass play. With the crack Miami defense trying to cover him one on one with inside linebacker Jackie Shipp, Allen caught a pass from Marc Wilson and scored without breaking stride.

For the Raiders, it was not a day without cares.

Leading 6-0 early, they fell behind when punter Ray Guy, worried about the stiff wind he was kicking into, got off a pop fly that bounced backward, forcing him--indignity of indignities--to down his own punt eight yards past the line of scrimmage at the Raider 22. Two plays later, Marino zipped one past Rod Martin to tight end Bruce Hardy for 18 yards and a touchdown and the Dolphins led, 7-6.

That was when the Raiders started plowing under the Dolphin defense. By halftime, the Raiders led, 23-7.

But in the third period, the Dolphins rallied, Marino marching them 82 yards, finishing it with a five-yard scoring pass to another tight end, Dan Johnson. Now the Raider lead was down to 23-14.

The Raiders were also playing conservatively on offense, to the displeasure of high Raider officials.

“C’mon, Tom,” said Al Davis in the press box to his coach, Tom Flores. “Don’t be afraid.”

Since the two weren’t hooked up by phone, telepathy or anything else, Flores kept calling his own game. He wanted to stay conservative while the Raiders finished going into the wind in the third period.

The Dolphins were able to hold them on the period’s last possession, forcing Guy to punt into the wind once more. He got off a 32-yarder which the Dolphins returned to their 43. But Linden King, subbing on the four-man pass-rushing line for Greg Townsend (remember him?), then got to Marino as he was unloading. Marino’s throw went far over Duper, hung up in the wind and was intercepted by Seale.

But the Dolphins held again.

This time Guy punted with the wind, a distinction that seemed lost on the Dolphins’ James Pruitt. Guy kicked it 10 yards over his head and Pruitt then fumbled, trying to pick it up on the run.

The Raiders’ Stefon Adams swooped in and fell on the ball at the Miami two. The Raider offense trotted onto the field for one play, Air Marcus, which had familiar results.

“Allen leaps over no one,” said a Miami writer.

The Dolphins managed to make it look closer than it was when Marino and Mark Clayton connected on a 68-yard scoring play to end the game after two Raiders had batted the ball in the air.

The day started in rain and ended in sunlight, which was appropriate for the Raiders, less so for the home team. Dolphin owner Joe Robbie says he’s going to evaluate Shula after the season but he’d better hope that Shula doesn’t evaluate the roster in terms of potential and move on, perhaps leaving another Shula behind to get some experience.

But even that seems unlikely. Son David, the receiver coach here, presumably would go with dad, and son Mike is tied up playing quarterback at Alabama.

Raider Notes

Mike Haynes’ injury is a bruised calf. He played on it last week after hurting it in Kansas City but experienced more spasms that kept him out of practice last week. When he tried it Sunday, he was forced to scratch. “I talked to Bruce Hardy, my former college teammate, before the game,” Haynes said. “I said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be able to go.’ He said, ‘Ohhh, I’m sorry to hear that.’ ” . . . Raider Joe Carter’s fumble on a kickoff came after Raider tight end Andy Parker blew through the wedge and hit the ball with his helmet. . . . Linden King had a fine game subbing for the suspended Greg Townsend. Townsend will return for next week’s game at Houston.