Southland Roundup : Azusa Pacific Fumbles Away Playoff Chances as Cal Lutheran Wins, 30-27

Quarterback Tom Bonds threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Darren Gottschalk with just under four minutes remaining to give Cal Lutheran a 30-27 victory Saturday over Azusa Pacific in a nonconference game at Azusa. The loss dropped Azusa Pacific to 7-1-1, all but ending the Cougars’ NAIA playoff hopes, while Cal Lutheran is 5-5.

The winning drive was set up when Cal Lutheran recovered a fumble with five minutes left. Bonds, who finished with 24 completions in 41 attempts for 347 yards, drove the Kingsmen 45 yards for the winning score.

Bonds threw for three touchdowns, all to Gottschalk. Azusa Pacific had one last chance to win after the touchdown, but quarterback Dave Russell’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete at the Cal Lutheran 45 with 1:13 left.

Azusa Pacific had rallied from a 24-10 deficit behind two touchdown passes by Russell and a safety to take a 27-24 lead. But the Cougars were undone by turnovers--fumbling six times, losing five.

Christian Okoye, who ran for 139 yards in 29 carries, became the first Azusa Pacific back to run for 100 yards against Cal Lutheran. Okoye finished the season with 1,355 yards rushing, an Azusa Pacific record.

Occidental 28, Claremont-Mudd 21--Sophomore Jon Billingsley caught a 42-yard touchdown pass from Pat Guthrie with 1:35 left at Claremont to lift the Tigers to their 21st consecutive SCIAC victory.

The winning touchdown was set up by Mark Garcia’s interception of a Steve Olson pass.

Guthrie finished with 15 completions in 35 attempts for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two of the touchdown passes went to wide receiver Daryl Ogden. Garcia also scored in the second quarter on a 62-yard touchdown pass from Doug Porter on a fake punt play.

Olson completed 18 of 36 passes for 246 yards and 2 touchdowns, both going to Todd Cameron. Chris Dabrow also scored on a three-yard run in the second quarter for Claremont-Mudd.

Occidental, which clinched the SCIAC title last week, finished the regular season 8-1, 5-0 in conference. Claremont finished 1-8, 0-4-1.

Redlands 28, Pomona-Pitzer 17--Quarterback Jamie Garton completed 13 of 27 passes for 178 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Ed Soto ran for 121 yards in 36 carries and a touchdown to lead the Bulldogs to a SCIAC victory at Redlands.

Jeff Leahy caught touchdown passes of 36 and 62 yards from Pomona-Pitzer quarterback Ed Irick for a 14-3 halftime advantage, but Redlands rallied for 19 points in the third quarter to take a 22-14 lead. Kicker Bill Smith added field goals of 19, 20 and 34 yards for Redlands (4-6, 3-2). Pomona-Pitzer finished 1-8 and 1-6.

CS Sacramento 34, CS Northridge 10--Quarterback Greg Knapp threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter to lead Sacramento to a Western Football Conference win at Sacramento.

Knapp finished with 17 completions in 26 attempts for 206 yards, while Northridge quarterback Chris Parker completed 29 of 46 passes for 307 yards and 1 touchdown. Parker, though, was sacked six times by the Hornet defense as Northridge finished with minus-24 yards rushing in 18 attempts.

Sacramento is 8-2 overall, 4-1 in conference. Northridge fell to 4-6 and 1-3.

San Diego State 34, Texas El Paso 6--Junior Chris Hardy had 19 carries for 223 yards and a 92-yard touchdown run to lead the Aztecs to a Western Athletic Conference win at San Diego.

San Diego, which had 504 total yards, is 4-6 overall, 2-4 in the WAC. UTEP is 1-9 and 1-6.

Boise State 42, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 14--Todd Anderson ran for two first-half touchdowns as the Broncos raced to a 35-0 halftime lead en route to a nonconference win at Boise, Ida.

Anderson, who two years ago was a quarterback at Oregon, finished with 78 yards in 21 carries to lead a Bronco rushing attack that gained 285 yards. Cal Poly had four turnovers, three of which Boise turned into touchdowns. Cal Poly dropped to 4-6, while Boise is 7-3.

Whittier 23, La Verne 6--Jerry Hier carried 18 times for 153 yards and a 67-yard touchdown run and Mike Owens completed 16 of 25 pass for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Poets to a SCIAC victory at Whittier. Hier’s touchdown in the first quarter gave Whittier a 10-0 lead, and Owens second touchdown pass in the fourth quarter sealed the win.

Whittier finished second to Occidental in the SCIAC with a 4-2 record, 7-3 overall. La Verne finished 4-5 overall, 3-3 in the SCIAC.