Steve McNair and his Tennessee Titans didn’t set the world on fire the first half of Atlanta’s Super Bowl XXXIV, but they scared the daylights out of Super Bowl champion St. Louis right up to the end of the thrilling last half before falling.

Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner, who passed for more than 400 yards, most of which came in the first half when only three field goals resulted for his Rams, still saved the day for the favored Rams when he hit Isaac Bruce with a pass that he turned into a 73-yard touchdown in the last two minutes.

But it was the Mount Olive native McNair whose heroics nearly brought Tennessee back from the brink that had the Georgia Dome throng screaming.

Down 9-0 at halftime and 16-6 after three, McNair and his hustling AFC champions came very close to getting the touchdown in the final seconds that could have sent the thriller into overtime – or even spelled victory for the Titans had they gone for two. Which is doubtful.

Little Alcorn State’s exciting all-everything McNair had done his thing in a big-time manner, and for that his home state of Mississippi was super excited.

His running and passing against a slightly superior team did him proud. When the pressure was on, he was tough all over!

St. Louis deserved to win (most winners do), but the Titans, with McNair calmly heading their attack, sure made for a Super Bowl worthy of the name. It was by far better than some of them.

SHANE SANDERS is yet another ex-Natchez athlete to do well in high school sports after his family moved. Shane has done so well pitching for Wallace State Junior College in Alabama that he has earned a scholarship to pitch for the University of Alabama.

Shane’s dad Donald Sanders was reared in Natchez, and now lives in Cullman, Ala., where son Shane starred as a prep pitcher before accepting the junior college scholarship.

In his first season at Wallace State, he not only recorded 13 saves on the mound but hit .300.

In 1998, Wallace State went to the Junior College World Series, and the University of Alabama, where he now owns the baseball scholarship, went to the College World Series. So you know ‘Bama could shoot for the best high school and Junior College grads.

Shane’s a big boy who hits well, pitches well and plays the outfield well.

In fact, Sanders earned a Junior College World Series ring as a Wallace State freshman.

His ex-coach, Randy Putman, says of Sanders’ signing at Alabama, &uot;He’ll do fine, he’ll fit right into their program. I think he can be an impact player. He has great work habits and a lot of desire…and he’s competitive.&uot;

Just another Natchez native showing his athletic wares elsewhere. Attaway, Shane.

HURRIED HASH…Billy Shaw, once a great All-Pro football star who was last year enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is actually a Natchez native who later returned for a spell following his professional career with the Buffalo Bills…Now a resident of Toccoa, Ga., the outstanding Bills’ offensive guard (All-AFL) was chosen in the second round of the 1961 AFL draft. The former Georgia Tech All-American was a 6-2, 258-pound guard in college and professional football…Billy played high school ball at Vicksburg Carr Central, and I remember that he was an All-Big Eighter there…Billy was a highly-regarded citizen of our town while here. Proud of him, too.