Southland Roundup : In First Football Game Since 1971, UC Santa Barbara Beats Redlands

Freshman running back Kenneth Smith ran for two touchdowns as UC Santa Barbara, playing its first intercollegiate football game since 1971, defeated Redlands, 28-2, Saturday night at Redlands.

Smith scored on a 72-yard run with five minutes remaining in the first quarter and a 2-yard plunge with 4:53 remaining before halftime for the Gauchos, who gave up football after the 1971 season.

UC Santa Barbara was a university division school at that time and played, among others, Washington and Tennessee. The Gauchos are now in NCAA Division III.

Quarterback Paul Wright opened the scoring for Santa Barbara with a 1-yard run after just 6:16 of play. Wright also completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Bob Capuzello with 6:07 remaining in the game to complete the romp.

Redlands got its only points with one second to go in the first period when the UC Santa Barbara center snapped the ball out of the end zone on an attempted punt.

Azusa Pacific 27, La Verne 9--Andre Cheeks returned an interception 39 yards for a touchdown, and linebacker Brian Peterson returned a blocked field goal 62 yards for a touchdown to lead the Cougars in the season opener for both teams at Azusa Pacific.

Azusa Pacific, ranked eighth in the NAIA, managed only 207 total yards in total offense, but La Verne had 7 turnovers.

Azusa Pacific took an early 3-0 lead, but La Verne charged back, blocking a punt for a safety and taking a 9-3 lead when Edwin Fletcher scored on a 55-yard run.

With two minutes to go in the half, Cheeks intercepted an underthrown pass from Leopard quarterback Mark Van Allen and raced down the sideline to give Azusa Pacific a 10-9 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, freshman quarterback Mark Brown replaced an injured Van Allen and drove La Verne to the Azusa Pacific 31, where Shawn Zink attempted a 48-yard field goal. But the kick was blocked by Jim Cornell, and Peterson picked the ball up and went untouched into the end zone to give the Cougars a 17-9 lead.

Christian Okoye, who had 89 yards in 20 carries, added a third- quarter touchdown, and an interception in the fourth quarter set up an Azusa Pacific field goal.

CS Northridge St. 35, Sonoma St. 17--Senior tailback Mick Kane rushed for 122 yards in 21 carries and scored 3 touchdowns to lead the Matadors in a nonconference game at Rohnert Park.

Senior fullback Levelle Brown added 64 yards in 7 carries as the Matadors ran up 227 total yards rushing, while limiting the host Cossacks to 177 total yards.

Menlo 27, Occidental 14--Quarterback Jerold Montano threw three touchdowns passes to lead the Oaks to a win at Menlo in their first game at the Division III level. Menlo took a 21-7 lead at halftime as Montano threw touchdown passes of 23 and 7 yards to Michael Kaahahawai, and Doug Patterson ran 3 yards for another score. Menlo, which formerly competed as a junior college, made it 27-7 in the fourth quarter when Montano threw his third touchdown pass.

Cal Poly SLO 26, Cal State Chico 18--Senior running back Jim Gleed rushed for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns, and quarterback Robby Perez passed for 215 yards for the Mustangs in a nonconference game at San Luis Obispo.

U. San Diego 20, Whittier 16--Pat Dixon threw two third quarter touchdowns to Jeff Mansukhani to rally the Toreros over the Poets at Whittier. Trailing 16-7, Dixon and Mansukhani hooked up for touchdowns of 6 and 23 yards to give San Diego the lead.

Dixon finished with 14 completions in 31 attempts for 197 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions, while Mansukhani caught 6 passes for 91 yards.

Cal Lutheran 31, San Francisco St. 0--Quarterback Tom Bonds completed 20 of 37 passes for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Kingsmen’s rout of the Gators at Cal Lutheran. Both of the Bonds’ touchdowns came in the second quarter, as he threw 16 yards to Jim Osborn and 19 yards to Eddie Gran for a 21-0 halftime lead.