Tuesday, November 17, 1998

Ma‘afala ‘day
to day’

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

It couldn't have come at a worse time for Pittsburgh Steelers running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala.

The former St. Louis School and Utah star pulled a hamstring in his left leg while running downfield on punt coverage near the end of the first half of the Steelers' 23-14 loss at Tennessee.

The 5-foot-11, 255-pound Fuamatu-Ma'afala had just raised his season touchdown total to three, and his stock as a Pittsburgh rookie, by converting a screen pass from Kordell Stewart into a 26-yard scoring play.

It was his second touchdown in two weeks and gave Pittsburgh a 14-10 lead.

He is now second on the team to Charles Johnson (seven) in touchdowns. He has two rushing touchdowns.

Fuamatu-Ma'afala has only touched the ball 14 times (eight receptions) and has 107 yards of total offense and 18 points to show for it.

''They say it's day-to-day," said Fuamatu-Ma'afala. ''They're giving me electric stim to contract the muscles and help the swelling. It's stiff right now but I'm going to try to get on the bike tomorrow (Tuesday)."

Denver Broncos' right defensive end Maa Tanuvasa (Mililani, Hawaii) recorded his fifth and sixth sacks of the season in a 30-7 Monday Night Football win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Tanuvasa is tied for the team lead in sacks with right tackle Trevor Pryce.

Three of his four solo tackles were for losses.

On second-and-10 late in the first quarter, Tanuvasa hit Bam Morris for a three-yard loss to the Chiefs' 23.

On first down close to halftime, Tanuvasa sacked quarterback Rich Gannon for a 14-yard loss to the Kansas City 15. On second-and-20 near the end of the game, he sacked Gannon for a 9-yard loss to the Chiefs' 30.

Former University of Hawaii kicker Jason Elam kicked three field goals for the Broncos, increasing his season total to 15. He hasn't missed this year. He also kicked three extra points to raise that total to 39.

Adrian Murrell (Leilehua, W. Va.) scored the last touchdown in the Arizona Cardinals' 35-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Murrell caught a 7-yard pass from Jake Plummer with 1:30 left in the game for his fourth touchdown of the season. He finished the game with 34 yards on 14 carries and 16 yards on three receptions.

Cincinnati starting nose tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen (Molokai, Boise State) had two solo tackles in the Bengals' 24-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Seattle tight end Itula Mili (Kahuku, BYU) got some time but no receptions in the Seahawks' loss to the Oakland Raiders.

Starting linebacker Kurt Gouveia (Waianae, BYU) had four tackles, including an assist on a 9-yard sack against Jim Harbaugh, as San Diego beat Baltimore, 14-13.