CS Fullerton Stands, and Jumps, Taller Than Northern Arizona, 22-8

For the majority of the season, Cal State Fullerton had been unable to make effective use of its quartet of talented senior wide receivers.

The Bombs Corps (the nickname they gave themselves as sophomores) is a trio now, since Corn Redick broke his collarbone two weeks ago, but it finally made it back to center stage Saturday night as the Titans beat Northern Arizona, 22-8, in a nonconference game before 3,762 in the Walkup Skydome.

Fullerton has struggled to find some sort of offensive consistency all year, and Saturday the Titan coaching staff figured maybe their best bet was to have freshman quarterback Tony Dill throw the ball as high as he could and let 6-3 James Pruitt, 6-3 Allen Pitts or 6-0 Wade Lockett get good position and outjump the defender.

The result was three touchdown passes--two of the alley-oop variety--for Dill and a win the Titans (4-5 overall) needed to keep their chances for a winning season alive. Northern Arizona is 3-7.

Dill’s performance was a long way from awe-inspiring: He completed 10 of 21 for 135 yards and was intercepted twice, but he seems to be gaining poise.

The Fullerton defense played extremely well again, but the offense and special teams were plagued by mistakes. The Titans fumbled five times (losing two), missed an extra point, had another blocked and had a punt blocked for a safety.

“Call it winning ugly,” Titan Coach Gene Murphy said. “The specialty team play was atrocious, and that disturbs me.”

The Titans scored first--on a 13-yard pass from Dill to Pitts--but they didn’t exactly put together a defense-buster of a drive.

Midway through the first quarter, Lumberjack running back Rick Bail fumbled and cornerback Vernon Norwood recovered for Fullerton at the Northern Arizona 16-yard line. Two plays later, Dill saw an unguarded Pitts, backpedaling toward the end zone and frantically waving his hands. Tim Wharton, who recently replaced the inconsistent Len Strandley, missed the point after touchdown and the Titans led, 6-0.

Fullerton used the same combination, and the alley-oop play Pitts and former Titan quarterback Damon Allen perfected last year, to go ahead, 13-0, with 6:47 left in the first half. On first down from the Northern Arizona 25, Dill lobbed the ball toward the corner of the end zone, and the 6-3 Pitts just outjumped Clark Osborne for the touchdown. This time, Strandley made the extra point.

Northern Arizona “drove” two yards to get its first points just before the intermission. Punt returner Todd White, filling in for Redick, muffed his second straight punt and DeWayne Shavers grabbed it for the Lumberjacks. But two incomplete passes and a two-yard run later, the Lumberjacks had to settle for a 32-yard Goran Lingmerth field goal.

The teams traded fumbles and field goals--a 27-yarder by Lingmerth and a 34-yarder by Strandley--in the third quarter before the Titans put the game away on Dill’s six-yard pass to Pruitt, who got his chance to go up and take the ball away from the 5-10 Osborne.

Former Fullerton player Craig Austin, now the Lumberjack quarterback, had a long evening. He completed 19 of 40 passes, was intercepted 3 times and sacked 6 times.