No. 1 Sacramento City Hands Pierce 39-20 Loss

Pierce College football Coach Jim Fenwick was checking his players into a hotel here late Friday night when he noticed a placard in the lobby that read: “Bomb Squadron Reunion.”

“That’s kind of ironic,” he said as he thought of the prospect of playing Sacramento City College the following night.

It was announced two days earlier that Sacramento had been ranked No. 1 in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire.

The Panthers played up to their ranking, routing the Brahmas, 39-20. With the victory, Sacramento, which has won national titles in 1982 and 1983, won its 55th game in its last 60 outings. The Panthers have lost only one home game since moving to Hughes Stadium in 1980. The span covers 28 games.

It didn’t take the Panthers (2-0) long to justify their ranking.

Behind sophomore running back Mark Young, they took the opening kickoff and marched 67 yards on five plays to take a 7-0 lead. Young carried all five times and capped the drive with a 10-yard run. His longest carry of the drive was 22 yards on a second-and-three situation.

In all, Young rushed for 102 yards on 23 carries and scored three touchdowns.

Defensive lineman Mike Veevalu intercepted a deflected Mike Hadad pass on second-and-15 at the Pierce 42 and returned 41 yards for a touchdown with 6:25 left in the first quarter. It gave Scramento a 21-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Pierce made its move. The Brahmas drove 63 yards on 15 plays, eventually scoring on a 1-yard plunge by tailback Robert Davis with 9:02 left in the half.

Less than two minutes later, center Dave Morton made a high snap on an attempted punt and the ball deflected off the hands of punter Bryan Mangum and into the end zone, where defensive back Jeff Armstead recovered for a Pierce touchdown to cut the Brahmas’ deficit to 21-14. Armstead also blocked a field goal and intercepted a Panther pass.

With the score 26-14, the Brahmas again closed the gap when quarterback Steve Haddad snuck in from the 1. The play was set up by Davis’ 66-yard run to the Sacramento 7-yard line.

The loss was Pierce’s second straight. The last time the Brahmas lost two consecutive games came in the final two weeks of the 1982 season.

The game was arranged last year, after Pierce posted a 10-1 record but was criticized in print and by opposing coaches for playing a weak schedule.

A matchup against Sacramento promised to strengthen the schedule. That it did. What it didn’t do was strengthen the Brahmas’ record.