The New Chargers Get Same Ol’ Kicks

As he was being driven to training camp one day recently, Charger owner Alex Spanos saw a couple of motorists waving to him.

“I’m glad they noticed,” he said. “I think people know we’re making the effort.”

The first test of Spanos’ reconstruction effort produced a 12-7 exhibition win over the Cleveland Browns before 42,300 fans at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium Saturday night.

“It wasn’t exactly a Van Gogh,” Charger receiver coach Al Saunders said.

Give him points for understatement.

The Charger offense consisted largely of the right leg of Rolf Benirschke, who kicked four field goals and served notice he isn’t going to surrender his job without a fight.

The Charger defense had some good moments, roughing up Cleveland quarterbacks for four sacks and recovering a couple of fumbles.

The defense also got scared out of its brand-new game britches in the waning moments when Cleveland tight end Harry Holt dropped what would have been a 19-yard, game-winning pass from quarterback Gary Danielson.

“Show me a defense that’s bragging after one exhibition win and I’ll show you a defense that’s going to lose its next three,” said linebacker Billy Ray Smith, who made a fourth-period fumble recovery that set up the third Benirschke field goal.

Coach Don Coryell seemed satisfied, but just barely, with the night’s work.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we won, and that’s very important,” he said.

He complimented the defense for producing turnovers and pressuring the Browns’ quarterbacks, which included rookie Bernie Kosar (five completions in six attempts for 32 yards).

Coryell said he thought the pass to Holt could have been caught, “but I believe there was a hit just as the ball got there. At least, I’d like to believe that.” The hit appeared to be made by defensive back Lucious Smith.

Although a couple of rookie runners, Anthony Steels and Curtis Adams, were impressive, Coryell was disappointed in the overall offensive effort.

“We didn’t move the ball as I hope we can and like we have to do,” Coryell said. “We’ve got to put the ball in the end zone.

“Even when Dan (Fouts) was in there, we were not scoring touchdowns. We’ve got a lot of room for improvement.”

Fouts played only a quarter, giving way to the man who may be his reliever this year, Bruce Mathison.

In the first extensive action he has seen as a pro, Mathison completed 10 of 24 passes for 95 yards with 1 interception.

“It was not as good a game as we would have hoped for, but we have to view the films before we make a judgment,” Coryell said.

The most impressive member of the offense was Adams, who rushed eight times for 74 yards. Steels was the top receiver with four catches for 42 yards, and also ran for 21 yards.

Adams might have scored on a 40-yard run in the second quarter, but fatigue overtook him.

“You could call it camp fever,” Adams said. “My legs just ran out from under me. I didn’t have the strength.”

Adams, who likens his long stride to that of Marcus Allen, said he hopes this game will increase his chance of making the roster.

There has been more than a little speculation that Benirschke must have a good summer to be assured a spot, but he isn’t having any of that talk.

“I wasn’t any more keyed-up than usual,” he said. “I’ve always had my pride, and I never want to miss. It was nice to bat 1.000 tonight, and nice the kicks made a difference.”

He’s working with a new center, Dennis McKnight, and a new holder, Mathison.

“The new battery was tested and we all came through,” Benirschke said.

Three of his four kicks came off the skin portion of the infield, which Benirschke said caused him to slow his motion and not over-swing.

“I felt comfortable,” he said. “I was challenging myself.”

It seemed mainly a night to breathe a sigh of relief for most Chargers, and rookie offensive guard Jim Lachey was no exception.

“Heck, yeah, I was nervous,” he said. “I just wanted to keep my guy off the quarterback (which he did).

“It would’ve been nice to get a touchdown, but, heck, I’m glad to get this one under my belt. Maybe now I can sleep a little better.”

Chargers 12

Browns 7

Cleveland 7 0 0 0--7

San Diego 3 3 0 6--12

FIRST QUARTER Chargers 3, Browns 0 Benirschke 47-yard field goal at 3:50. 21-yard drive, 5 plays. Key play--Steels, 13, pass from Fouts.

Browns 7, Chargers 3 Colson 1-yard run at 10:41. 70-yard drive, 12 plays. Key gains--Byner, 7, 18, runs. Mack, 7; Newsome, 10, passes from McDonald. PAT--Bahr (kick).

SECOND QUARTER Browns 7, Chargers 6 Benirschke, 22-yard field goal at 14:43. 78-yard drive, 11 plays. Key gains--Adams, 40, run; Johnson, 17, pass from Mathison.

FOURTH QUARTER Chargers 9, Browns 7 Benirschke, 22-yard field goal at 11:19. 37-yard drive, 8 plays, after fumble recovery by Billy Ray Smith. Key gains--Steels, 5, 9; Spencer, 9, runs.

Chargers 12, Browns 7

Benirschke, 49-yard field goal at 13:33. Four-yard drive, four plays.

Field goals missed--None.

Attendance--42,300 (10,993 no-shows)

TEAM STATISTICS

Cleve SD First downs 15 17 Rushes-yards 29-114 29-126 Net. yd. passing 115 142 Sacks-yd lost 5-37 2-7 Passes 20-31 16-32 Int.-yd. ret. 0-0 1-3 Plays-net yd. 65-229 63-268 Punts-average 6-44.0 5-44.6 Punts ret.-yd. 1-12 3-17 Kickoffs ret.-yd. 5-81 2-46 Fumbles-lost 3-2 2-1 Penalties-yards 6-40 5-28 Time of possession 32:38 27:22 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Cleveland TCB NYG Avg. TD Byner 5 37 7.40 0 Colson 10 31 3.10 1 Green 5 26 5.20 0 Mack 5 21 4.20 0 Allen 4 -1 -0.25 0 Totals 29 114 3.93 1 San Diego TCB NYG Avg. TD Adams 8 74 9.25 0 Spencer 7 29 4.14 0 Steels 12 21 1.75 0 Mathison 2 2 1.00 0 Totals 29 126 4.34 0 Passing Cleveland PA PC PI Yd TD McDonald 11 7 0 45 0 Kosar 6 5 0 32 0 Danielson 14 8 0 75 0 Totals 31 20 0 152 0 San Diego PA PC PI Yd TD Fouts 8 6 0 54 0 Mathison 24 10 1 95 0 Totals 32 16 1 149 0 Receiving Cleveland No. Yd. TD Green 6 45 0 Langshorne 2 27 0 Holt 2 16 0 Brennan 2 13 0 Mack 2 12 0 Allen 2 10 0 Newsome 1 10 0 Tucker 1 9 0 Colson 1 6 0 Byner 1 4 0 Totals 20 152 0 San Diego No. Yd. TD Steels 4 42 0 Micho 2 29 0 Johnson 2 26 0 Adams 2 10 0 Bendross 1 11 0 Sievers 1 9 0 Joiner 1 7 0 James 1 5 0 Spencer 1 5 0 M. Williams 1 5 0 Totals 162 149 0