New Cast, Same Result New-Look 49ers Get Job Done Against Vikings

Not bad for a backup. Pretty good for a couple of understudies. With a new cast of offensive heroes, the San Francisco 49ers are back in the NFC championship game.

Terrell Owens and J.J. Stokes again filled in admirably for Jerry Rice, and Terry Kirby had the best game of his career in place of Garrison Hearst as the 49ers rolled to a 38-22 victory Saturday in the divisional playoffs.

“We put it all together, offensively and defensively,” said the 49ers’ first-year coach, Steve Mariucci.

Minnesota coach Dennis Green said it didn’t make any difference that the 49ers were without some of the primary stars of their offense.

“They’ve got a lot of big, capable receivers,” Green said.

“They showed a lot of range and they made a lot of big catches They’re very comparable to some of other 49er teams who have won Super Bowls in the past.”

The victory advanced San Francisco to the NFC title game for the fifth time in the ‘90s, but for the first time since 1994.

The 49ers, the conference’s top seed, will play host to either Tampa Bay or Green Bay, who play today at Lambeau Field.

Despite missing Rice, their best receiver who’s out for the year with a knee injury, and Hearst, their top runner whose fractured collarbone needs more time to heal, San Francisco is still in the running for an unprecedented sixth Super Bowl title.

Green Bay eliminated the 49ers from the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

Kirby, starting for the injured Hearst, ran for a career-high 120 yards and two touchdowns. Owens and Stokes, the young receivers who have been productive in Rice’s absence all year, had another good day.

Stokes caught a career-high nine passes for 101 yards, and Owens had four receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown.

“Today, everybody played well,” Kirby said.

Added Owens, “The offensive line went out and made some holes for Terry, and I think that opened things up for me and J.J.”

Besides three 1-yard scoring runs, one by William Floyd and two by Kirby, Ken Norton Jr. had a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown and Owens a 15-yard TD catch from Steve Young. Gary Anderson added a 34-yard field goal.

Randall Cunningham had touchdown passes of 66 and 3 yards to Cris Carter and a 13-yarder to Matthew Hatchette. But the Vikings, hurt by their own mistakes and penalties, couldn’t pull off another upset as they did last week by rallying past the New York Giants.

Cunningham was 18 for 40 for 331 yards and Young 21 for 30 for 224 yards.

Left unanswered in the loss was the future of Green, who has strained relations with Vikings ownership and hasn’t said whether he’ll be back.

In the third quarter, Cunningham closed the Vikings to 24-14 with his second scoring pass to Carter, but the 49ers pulled away again with two more scores on Young’s scoring throw to Owens and Kirby’s second touchdown run.

Breaking away from a 7-7 tie, the 49ers scored two touchdowns in 47 seconds, both set up by Minnesota mistakes, and led 21-7 at halftime.

Mitch Berger, whose shanked punt preceded San Francisco’s first TD, had another short kick, allowing the 49ers to start their second scoring drive at their 39. Young drove the 49ers to the Vikings 32 before lofting a pass inside the 5, where Torrian Gray was called for interference on Stokes.

Rookie linebacker Dwayne Rudd kicked the penalty flag and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving San Francisco a net 30-yard gain to the 2. After linebacker Dixon Edwards was penalized for holding on the next play, Kirby ran in for the 1-yard score.

Seconds later, Cunningham dodged pressure from Roy Barker and got a pass off to the sideline. But Norton stepped in front of Hunter Goodwin, making the interception in full stride, and went 23 yards for a touchdown.

The son of former heavyweight champion Ken Norton punctuated the score by punching out the goal post, one of his traditional celebrations.

49ers 38, Vikings 22

Minnesota 7 0 7 8 - 22

San Francisco 7 14 10 7 - 38

SF-Floyd 1 run (Anderson kick), 8:03.

Min-Carter 66 pass from Cunningham (Murray kick), 7:26.

SF-Kirby 1 run (Anderson kick), 6:28.

SF-Norton 23 interception return (Anderson kick), 5:41. SF-FG Anderson 34, 8:17.

Min-Carter 3 pass from Cunningham (Murray kick), 5:13.

SF-Owens 15 pass from Young (Anderson kick), 2:00.

SF-Kirby 1 run (Anderson kick), 7:32.

Min-Hatchette 13 pass from Cunningham (Walsh from Cunningham), 3:47.

A-65,018.

Min SF First downs 16 31 Rushes-yards 16-57 41-175 Passing 321 219 Punt Returns 4-22 0-00 Kickoff Returns 5-109 2-28 Interceptions Ret. 0-00 1-23 Comp-Att-Int 18-40-1 21-30-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 1-10 1-5 Punts 7-29.9 6-38.7 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 12-91 7-69 Time of Possession 21:56 38:04 Individual statistics RUSHING-Minnesota, R.Smith 8-33, Cunningham 2-14, Hoard 5-11, Evans 1-(minus 1). San Francisco, Kirby 25-120, Young 4-37, Floyd 3-13, Levy 9-5.

PASSING-Minnesota, Cunningham 18-40-1-331. San Francisco, Young 21-30-0-224.

RECEIVING-Minnesota, Carter 6-93, Reed 5-114, Glover 3-84, R.Smith 3-27, Hatchette 1-13. San Francisco, Stokes 9-101, Owens 4-49, Jones 3-39, Kirby 3-24, Levy 1-6, Floyd 1-5.

MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COMING UP Next Sunday AFC championship: Denver or Kansas City vs. Pittsburgh, TBA NFC championship: Green Bay or Tampa Bay at San Francisco, TBA.