Fast Return : Bonds Should Miss Just Two Games for Cal Lutheran With Knee Injury

The blow-off-the-rest-of-the-season gloom that oozed from Cal Lutheran players after quarterback Tom Bonds suffered a knee injury Saturday cleared up considerably on Tuesday. The doctor’s report was favorable. Bonds’ knee ligaments are only sprained, not torn as feared.

That Bonds probably will miss just two games is the good news. The bad news is the Kingsmen have to get through two conference opponents--Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Northridge--with three freshmen backup quarterbacks. Way back-back-backup quarterbacks.

Shane Hawkins, who came in after Bonds went out in Cal Lutheran’s 29-17 loss to Cal State Hayward, completed 1 of 6 passes for minus 3 yards and threw 1 interception. Jeff Chalmers, a 5-9, 150-pound 18-year-old who looks like he just stepped out of junior high school, replaced Hawkins in the fourth quarter. He completed 8 of 20 passes, including a touchdown pass. He was intercepted twice.

Next in line is punter Kyle Duey, who Coach Bob Shoup wants to redshirt. He’ll only call signals if the others get hurt, falter badly or both.

Shoup even thought of using Tom Sweeney, who played defensive end and linebacker for the past two seasons, at quarterback. Before coming to Cal Lutheran in 1984, Sweeney played quarterback at Massachusetts. But a strained rotator cuff forced him to switch positions.

Whether the 6-0, 220-pound Sweeney can still throw is a question that will remain unanswered. On Tuesday, the NCAA ruled him ineligible this season, stating that Sweeney had attended college for 10 semesters and could no longer compete.

“If we had Sweeney,” Shoup said, “he’d be starting this week.”

Even though Shoup won’t say who will start against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday, he said both Hawkins and Chalmers will play.

“Chalmers is the better passer, Hawkins is the better runner. Bonds could do it all--he was a complete package. The only way to get Chalmers and Hawkins ready is to have both of them play. We’ll decide on a starter tomorrow,” he said Tuesday.

During the second day of fall practices, Chalmers was competing in CLU’s football decathlon that included a 30-yard race run backward. As he crossed the finish line, Chalmers tripped over a marker and dislocated his left elbow. The arm was in a cast for 10 days and a sling for another 10 days. He began workouts with the team a week and a half before he was thrust into the Hayward game.

“The first series on Saturday, I was bewildered,” he said. “I was unaware of what was going on.” And he proved it by throwing an interception a minute after he entered the game. “The coach was trying to explain as much as he could on the sidelines as we went along.”

In the game’s final minutes, the quarterback led the Kingsmen on a 70-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Joe Fuca.

Said Fuca: “When Bonds went down, I thought the season was history. But Chalmers is tough. He’s got a lot of poise and a strong arm. He’d never even worked with us before and he did all right. If we use the offense we use with Bonds, Chalmers will start. If we start running the ball, who knows who will play.”

If the Kingsmen switch to a run-oriented offense, it’ll be Hawkins. Never mind that Hawkins’ passes wobble and float, and more often than not are off-target. He has quick feet and is better acquainted with Shoup’s offensive schemes.

“I think between Jeff and me, we can get it done,” Hawkins said. “But it’s hard to live up to Tom. It’s hard for the team--having a player like Bonds and now all of a sudden they’re stuck with us. Hopefully, we’ll survive.”