Cal Lutheran Win Turns Cossacks Into Sad Sacks

The first inclination of any kind person watching the Sonoma State Cossacks playing football is to feel sorry for them. In seven years of NCAA competition, Sonoma has never had a winning season. And, so far this season, it is headed for the dumpster again.

Cal Lutheran added another chapter to the Cossacks’ sad history by beating them, 37-21, at Mount Clef Stadium on Saturday.

The loss was Sonoma’s sixth straight to Cal Lutheran dating to 1970. Since then, the Kingsmen have outscored the Cossacks, 195-66. This year’s game was all but over in the second quarter, when CLU jumped to a 27-8 lead.

From that point, the game should have been called on account of the fact that nobody could bear to watch. A radio announcer who regularly covers Sonoma said the game was one of the “ugliest” he had ever seen. Presumably, he knows bad football when he sees it.

There was, for instance, the opening kickoff, which Cal Lutheran’s Mark Hodges returned 90 yards for a touchdown.

“Anybody could’ve run that thing back,” said Hodges. “Nobody even touched me. I knew I was going all the way from the beginning.”

A few minutes later, quarterback Tom Bonds hit receiver Eddie Gran for 36 yards. Then, he threw a 17-yard touchdown to tight end Darren Gottschalk.

But, whatever Sonoma was suffering from apparently was contagious. From the end of the first quarter to the final minutes before the half, Cal Lutheran did the Cossacks proud.

After being forced to punt, the Kingsmen were nailed with a personal foul that advanced the ball to their 17. Two downs later, the Cossacks’ Dennis Hochman kicked the first of his four field goals.

On their next possession, the Kingsmen lost yardage when their supposedly reborn offensive line broke down and Bonds was sandwiched between Cossack defenders Greg Bernading and “Just Call Me Bubba” Adams.

Punter Kent Sullivan had the snap from Sean Demmon sail over his head and travel about 30 yards into the Cal Lutheran end zone. Sullivan, chased by five Cossacks, punched the ball out of bounds for a safety. That made it, 14-8, with 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter the Kingsmen had a field-goal attempt blocked, but they finally settled down and let Sonoma do the self-destructing.

Bonds blooped a screen pass to Gottschalk, who ran 30 yards for a touchdown with just more than two minutes left in the half.

Moments later long snapper Jerry Morrison bounced a not-so-long snap to Cossack punter Rich Mendoze, who was tackled at the one. CLU’s Shawn Johnson dove over for a touchdown and a 27-8 lead.

Even Kingsmen players on the sidelines looked as if they would have preferred to be home watching Australian-rules football.

“It’s just that they were mediocre,” said CLU receiver Joe Fuca.

Sonoma quarterback John Mefferd, who completed 11 of 30 passes, agreed, saying, “We weren’t prepared. We beat ourselves. When we had receivers open, they dropped the passes, but a lot of the time, we couldn’t even get the passes off.”

Mefferd said he felt pressure from the CLU defense throughout the game. “That number 63,” he said, “is one tough kid.” The quarterback was referring to defensive tackle Mike Miller, who on many occasions was sticking his helmet in Mefferd’s face.

Said Miller, “I was just going after the ball. Actually, I wasn’t even playing where I was supposed to. I just kept getting loose.”

None of the Cal Lutheran coaches seemed to mind.

The Cossacks managed just 13 yards on the ground but passed for 208. Most of the yards came long after the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Bonds, meanwhile, completed 20 of 25 for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns.