Cal Poly SLO Spoils CSUN’s Homecoming

As a homecoming celebration, this party was a bust. If Eisenhower had been feted at his homecoming in 1945 the way Cal State Northridge was Saturday night, the people of New York City would have dropped anvils on the future president instead of ticker tape.

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs turned the Western Football Conference game into a terribly depressing encounter for CSUN, pounding the Matadors, 34-21, before about 5,000 fans in North Campus Stadium.

You’ve heard of a televised NFL game being blacked out locally? Well, this game was just plain blacked out. The lights went out in the stadium with 8:21 left in the game and a 20-minute delay followed.

Backup fullback Joey Kolina led Cal Poly with two touchdowns and a 100-yard kickoff return as the Mustangs, 3-4 overall, evened their WFC record at 1-1. CSUN fell to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

Trailing 21-3 at halftime, CSUN got its first break of the game on the opening play of the third quarter when Steve Dominic recovered a Cal Poly fumble at the Mustangs’ 25. But three incomplete passes by Chris Parker forced CSUN to settle for Mike Doan’s second field goal of the game, a 37-yarder.

The Mustangs’ Sinclair Miles apparently took the field goal personally. He caught the ensuing kickoff at his goal line, pounded through a host of defenders near the 25-yard line and then scorched the middle of the field. Two other defenders came within inches of Miles, but a fake by Miles knocked both off their feet, and he went on for a 100-yard touchdown return, equaling the school record and boosting SLO’s lead to 27-6.

A long pass from Parker four minutes later bounced off the pads of Chris Moore and into the arms of linebacker Rich Bosselman in the end zone. A game that was nasty from the beginning, with dozens of altercations breaking out in the first half, turned even meaner as players began engaging in that wonderful football tradition--punching each other in the helmet and facemask.

The ensuing two plays turned into near brawls, and on the third play, a charged-up CSUN defense forced a fumble and recovered it at the Cal Poly 11.

Parker then ran it into the end zone on first down to cut the deficit to 27-13, being rewarded for his effort by a flying body slam out of bounds that would have made Hulk Hogan wince. More punching of helmets ensued as the contest seemed on the verge of turning into a hockey game.

The punching ended at that point, however, but Cal Poly’s offense didn’t. With 9:23 left in the game, Robert Perez lofted a 20-yard touchdown pass to Lance Martin, giving the Mustangs a 34-13 lead.

A moment later, CSUN finally found a way to stop Cal Poly, with credit going to the campus electricians. The stadium was plunged into near-total darkness, and the Mustangs, for virtually the first time in the game, were unable to score.

The Dodgers, who routinely hold Bat Night or Cap Night promotions at Dodger Stadium, probably would have seized this chance to have the first-ever Portable Generator Night.

While they could still see, the Matadors played without its all-time leading rusher, Mike Kane, who sustained a severe foot injury last week. But Richard Brown was a solid replacement, gaining 60 yards in the first half and scoring CSUN’s final touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Parker in the closing minutes of the game.

The Mustangs, who piled up 221 yards in the first half to 155 for CSUN--including a 152-74 advantage in passing yards--began with a powerful drive on their first series of the game, crashing over, around and through the CSUN defense for 47 yards in less than two minutes and taking a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by starting fullback Paulo Pueliu. The scoring run was made possible by a block thrown by 6-5, 325-pound SLO sophomore Eric Tautolo, who grew up in the shadow of the Queen Mary in Long Beach, or vice-versa.

CSUN struck back quickly, marching 63 yards--with Brown accounting for 49 of them on three runs and an 11-yard reception--and cutting the deficit to 7-3 with 5:30 left in the first quarter on Doan’s 22-yard field goal. The field goal came after Parker underthrew a wide-open Brown near the goalline on third down.

Cal Poly scored again, however, on its next possession when Kolina scored on a four-yard run, giving the Mustangs a 14-3 lead. The touchdown drive was keyed by a 19-yard run by Gleed, who was finally hit by a CSUN defender at the Matadors’ 43. Unfortunately, the hit came somewhere near the CSUN faculty parking lot and a 15-yard personal foul was whistled, giving SLO a first down at the 28. Gleed carried twice for 24 yards, setting up Kolina’s scoring run.

Cal Poly boosted its lead to 21-3 with 9:02 left in the first half on another touchdown run by Kolina, this one a 13-yarder. The scoring run again was made possible by a block by the truck-sized Tautolo.

The Matadors had their best chance of the first half to score a touchdown when they drove to the SLO four-yard line with 35 seconds remaining.