Hollas Hangs In and Wins

Donald Hollas refused to give up on football, even though pro football all but gave up on him.

Hollas was rewarded for his stubborn resolve on Sunday as he guided the Oakland Raiders to a 27-10 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Making his second start in place of injured Jeff George, Hollas threw two touchdown passes--his first since 1992 when he played for the Bengals.

“It’s been so long,” Hollas said.

Hollas, who started only twice for the Bengals from 1991-94, is a journeyman who didn’t play at all last season after signing with the Raiders. He got his chance after George injured his groin early this season, but he struggled in his first start, a 7-6 victory over San Diego two weeks ago.

After an open date, though, Hollas came through with touchdown passes of 19 yards to Tim Brown and 39 yards to James Jett. Hollas finished nine for 21 for 173 yards.

“It was a long two weeks and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was relieved right now,” he said. “I took a lot of heat.”

Napoleon Kaufman had a career-high 31 carries for 143 yards, Lance Johnstone returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown, and Greg Davis had two field goals as Oakland (5-2) won its fourth game in a row.

The start is the Raiders’ best since they went 5-1 in 1995, and they already have more wins than last season.

“Obviously we had a lot of doubters. I guess we proved a lot of people wrong--up to this point,” Kaufman said.

Cincinnati (2-5) lost two fumbles that led to Oakland touchdowns. The Bengals had lost only one fumble before this game.

Cincinnati was sloppy and ineffective with quarterback Neil O’Donnell (16 for 26 for 137 yards) being replaced by Jeff Blake in the fourth quarter. Blake was promptly sacked twice.