Small Colleges / Alan Drooz : Starting Over, UCSB Doesn’t Do It Old Way

When we last checked in on UC Santa Barbara football, the Gauchos were getting spanked so soundly by San Jose State that they dropped football. Not just the pigskin itself, the whole program.

That 55-10 loss was in November, 1971. Until last weekend, that was the last football score in the Gaucho record book.

Gaucho football is back and the first game in 15 years was a rousing success, a 28-2 victory Saturday over Redlands, a team that is supposed to be a conference contender.

Coach Mike Warren, a 1967 Santa Barbara graduate and former star linebacker, considers the reinstatement of football a dream come true, and his appointment something more than that. “Since I left in 1967, I have thought about it,” he said.

Warren teaches in the Lompoc school system and left as coach at Lompoc High School, where he had a 10-year record of 128-34-4 and appearances in four CIF Southern Section Northwestern Conference finals, to take the job.

He coached the club-level team last year, instituting a pro-style offense and approach he says he learned from his old coach at Santa Barbara, Jack Curtice. “I believe, as did Coach Curtice, that your best chance offensively when the other teams are more physical is to throw it,” Warren said.

Against Redlands, the Gauchos ran up 347 yards while holding the Bulldogs to 177. The Gauchos had five interceptions. Warren also may have unveiled a future star in freshman running back Kenny Smith out of Verbum Dei High School. Smith gained 118 yards in 10 carries, one a 72-yard scoring run.

Quarterback Paul Wright, a club player last year, completed only 9 of 22 passes, but one of his completions went for 57 yards and a touchdown. Cornerback Mike Hoffman, late of Orange Coast College, intercepted three passes, tying a school record.

The football program’s comeback began in 1983, when students formed a club that competed against other clubs, junior colleges, junior varsities and a few small universities. That continued through last season, when the schedule included Pierce and Imperial Valley colleges, junior varsities from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Davis, and a San Fernando Valley club.

In the spring of 1985, the students voted to tax themselves $4.50 a year to fund an intercollegiate program. That summer, Warren was named coach. Although Santa Barbara’s 20 other athletic teams compete on the Division I level, the football team is beginning in Division III and its nine-game schedule includes opponents from divisions II and III and the NAIA.

The roster includes about a dozen holdovers from the club team. There are about 70 players overall, almost all of whom are Southern Californians. There are only four out-of-state players.

The Gauchos play at Division II Humboldt State this week in what should be a tougher test. The schedule includes such other Division II schools as St. Mary’s and the University of San Diego, NAIA powerhouse Azusa Pacific and a season-ending homecoming game against Sonoma State.

What ever happens the rest of the way, though, it was a sweet debut.

Football Coach Jim Milhon of Azusa Pacific is something of an ingrate to his old coach, Roland Ortmayer of La Verne.

Milhon was a starting running back 30 years ago for Ortmayer, who has been at La Verne for 39 seasons. He took much of his coaching philosophy and approach from Ortmayer. Since Milhon became coach at Azusa Pacific in 1978, the pupil has been tough on the teacher. Milhon has won 7 of 9 games against Ortmayer, including Saturday’s season-opening 27-9 victory.

Ortmayer’s explanation for Azusa’s dominance is simple: “Too many horses.”

Despite their coaching rivalry, Ortmayer and Milhon remain close friends who live near one another in La Verne.

Biola University’s first-year cross-country program for women is taking a little time to catch on, but Coach Gerald Masterson, who started the season with two runners--sophomore Kathy Stierling and freshman Ellen Sachs--is optimistic.

Masterson, who also coaches the men’s team, has a third woman training with the team now and said he may have a fourth before the end of the season.

Although five runners are needed to compete as a team, the Biola runners are able to compete individually, which suits Masterson for the moment.

“Last week, one placed third and one placed fifth,” he said. “I want to take them as far as their ability can take them. They have some personal goals. To me that’s as important as team goals. And if they do well (in national meets) it will help recruiting.”

Small College Notes Brian Williams is the new men’s soccer coach at Occidental. He coached the women’s team last season. . . . Occidental senior nose guard Scott Pogorelc, a returning starter, suffered a back injury requiring surgery and will miss the football season. . . . Azusa Pacific tailback Christian Okoye--all 6 feet 3 inches and 250 pounds of him--was timed in 4.4 seconds twice in 40-yard dashes during workouts. . . . Chapman College won two of three games in its own Far West soccer tournament, losing the championship game, 1-0, to defending Division II champion Seattle Pacific. Chapman midfielder Doug Neely was named tournament’s MVP. . . . The three-year-old Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team, which at times couldn’t field 11 players two years ago, received its first national ranking this week after tying California, 1-1. The Lady Toros (1-0-1), are ranked 17th in Division II. . . . Rena Wright set several school track and field records at Cal State Dominguez Hills, but the school dropped its track program. When the soccer team was strapped for healthy bodies she played soccer. This year, noticing that the volleyball team was thin, the athletic 5-10 junior is taking up that sport. Her younger sister, Taffy, also plays for the Lady Toros.