Cal Lutheran Has a Coverage Plan

He’s bald. He’s bold. And he’s beautiful to anyone who has followed football at Cal Lutheran College.

He’s Hank Bauer, a hard-running fullback who is best remembered as a runner who’d rather bowl down tacklers than avoid them.

An All-American as a senior in 1975, Bauer, 31, still holds three school rushing records: most yards (2,659) and attempts (502) in a career, and most yards in a season (1,024). He made the San Diego Chargers as a free agent and was named NFL special teams player of the year three times. Now he coaches special teams for the Chargers.

The Bauer name is more than a memory around Cal Lutheran. Hank’s older brother Jim, 35, played at the college from 1968 through 1971, and has been the defensive coordinator and special teams coach at the college since 1978.

Thanks to the Bauer brothers, successful special teams have become something of a specialty at CLC.

“I spent a week over the summer at the Chargers’ training camp,” Jim Bauer said. “We incorporated into our system some of what he does in San Diego.”

“We exchanged ideas,” Hank said from San Diego. “College rules are different than in the pros and Jim had to adapt for that. But Jim and I keep in touch and, hey, I’ll help Cal Lu any way I can.”

Cal Lutheran, despite the use of four kickers, has not had a punt blocked this season.

The coverage is more noteworthy. Opponents have returned 34 punts for 39 yards. CSUN lost seven yards on four returns last week.

CLC has averaged 10.7 yards per punt return and has outgained opponents by an average of five yards per kickoff return (25.4 to 20.5).

Special-team personnel at a small college is a mix of starters and reserves. Bauer credits starters Greg Harris (wide receiver) and Todd Leavens (safety) and reserves Jim Buffo and Blake Helm as making most of the tackles on punts.

Three players have stepped in at kingbacker, the CLC version of a rover, and three have gone down with season-ending injuries.

After Earl Bentancourt reinjured a knee last week, inside linebacker Sean Demmon moved to kingbacker and promptly exited with a broken wrist. Chris Heintz was lost the week before after breaking an ankle.

Ken Wood, a senior starter at outside linebacker, will assume the kingbacker spot Saturday when CLC (4-2) visits Santa Clara (5-1), ranked sixth in Division II.

“Sure, I feel more pressure (with the injuries), but I think everyone on the defense feels it,” Wood said. “I think the injuries have made the defensive unit become tighter. We’ve become very close.”

Mike Kane, a Cal State Northridge running back who ranks among the top 15 scorers in Division II, strained ligaments and missed most of Saturday night’s 27-23 victory over Cal Lutheran and will miss this Saturday night’s game against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

“He won’t play,” Coach Tom Keele said. “It just hurts so much he can’t play.”

Kane suffered a similar injury to his left foot last season and missed two games.

His replacement, Richard Brown, was shifted from wide receiver but is a legitimate tailback. It didn’t take long for him to prove that. A swift, elusive runner, Brown finished with 98 yards in 21 carries and two touchdowns. He will be the starter this Saturday against Cal Poly in the Matadors’ homecoming game.

“We are very fortunate to have Richard Brown,” Keele said. “We won’t change a thing with him in there.”

CLC quarterback Tom Bonds, who was the WFC’s leading passer a week ago and the third-leading passer in Division II, will play Saturday but will not start. Victor Wilson replaced Bonds last week and completed 15 of 38 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns.

“Bonds still can’t follow through on his passing motion,” Shoup said. “The question is, do we go with a Wilson at 100% or a Bonds at 80%? Both will probably play.”

CLC is struggling for respect in the NCAA Division II Western Football Conference. The Kingsmen lost their first WFC game last week to CSUN (4-2) and face an increasingly tough schedule.

The Kingsmen therefore hve their best shot and reaching the postseason playoffs in the NAIA, in which they also hold membership.

Despite losing their second game, the Kingsmen are ranked 18th in the NAIA, falling from 15th. Problem: Only eight teams make the NAIA playoffs.

“The NAIA takes our difficult schedule into consideration,” CLC Coach Bob Shoup said, “but we must go 8-3 to have a shot at the playoffs.”

CLC will meet its greatest challenge in Santa Clara (2-0 in the WFC), which has defeated Sacramento State and Cal Poly SLO.

Against Cal Poly, CSUN’s run-and-shoot passing offense will encounter something it hasn’t seen much all season and something that usually makes a passing team drool: a man-to-man defensive secondary.

“San Luis Obispo is a real physical team,” Keele said. “But they play a man-to-man defense and no one has really played us like that this year. We hope that’s good news. We’re looking forward to it.”

Despite their 2-4 record, the Mustangs showed they are a solid team with last week’s 44-0 pounding of St. Mary’s. Among the teams that have beaten them are UC Davis, Santa Clara and Division I Fresno State.

Cal Poly welcomed running back Jim Gleed back to the squad last week after the senior had missed two games with an injury. Gleed rushed for 101 yards and three touchdowns in the romp over St. Mary’s. He is second--although a distant second--behind Kane in the Western Football Conference scoring race with 30 points in four games. Kane has scored 68 points in the Matadors’ first five games. Gleed is averaging 70.8 yards per game, fourth in the WFC.

Cal Poly Coach Jim Sanderson had this to say about his Mustangs’ chances in North Campus Stadium against the Matadors: “If we can keep their offense off the field, we can win the game.”

His shoulder is hurt, which takes his mind off his leg, which has been hurting all season. But you would never know from looking at the statistics that CLC wide receiver Greg Harris is not at full strength.

Harris, a senior, has caught 22 passes for a WFC-leading 502 yards. His average of 22.8 yards per catch is also best in the conference for receivers who have caught 15 or more passes.