COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Southland Roundup : La Verne Wins Aerial Duel With Occidental

John Kusleika caught a two-point conversion pass from backup quarterback Mark Brown on a fake extra-point kick after Mark Van Allen’s sixth touchdown pass to give La Verne a 53-52 overtime win over Occidental Saturday at La Verne.

The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams combined for 812 yards passing and 10 touchdowns. Van Allen finished with 28 completions in 46 attempts for 404 yards and also ran for a touchdown. Dave Ramirez, Brian Ninde and Barry Tyler each caught two touchdowns.

Occidental quarterback Mark Krajnik completed 30 of 59 passes for 408 yards and 4 touchdowns, all to Jon Billingsley, who caught 15 passes for 190 yards. Krajnik added touchdown runs of 10 and 1 yards.

Trailing 38-30, the Tigers tied the score late in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard run by Krajnik and a two-point conversion pass. The game went into an overtime tiebreaker, where each team is given the ball at the other team’s 25-yard line.

Both teams scored touchdowns and one-point conversions to send the overtime into a second series from the 25. It appeared the teams would be tied again when Krajnik scored on a one-yard run and Van Allen threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Tyler.

But instead of trying to tie at 52 to send the overtime into another series, Brown, the holder on the kick, picked up the ball and threw to Kusleika, who caught his first pass of the season.

Occidental is 2-2-1, 2-1 in SCIAC after losing its first conference game in 24 starts. La Verne is 4-2, 3-1 in SCIAC. Occidental beat La Verne, 34-10, Sept. 27.

Azusa Pacific 49, U. San Diego 19--Christian Okoye ran for 162 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Cougars’ rout of the Toreros in a nonconference game, the first game played in Azusa Pacific’s new on-campus stadium.

Okoye carried 24 times in three quarters, scoring on runs of 1 and 47 yards in the second quarter as the Cougars built a 28-12 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Okoye added a six-yard touchdown run as Azusa Pacific (3-0-2) increased its lead to 42-12.

Azusa Pacific finished with 525 total yards, including 327 yards rushing. After falling from eighth to 13th in the NAIA Division II poll because of the two ties, the Cougars needed the win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

CS Northridge 21, Cal Poly SLO 20--Bryan Kellen caught a six-yard touchdown pass on a fourth down with 10 seconds remaining to give the Matadors a WFC win over the Mustangs at Northridge. It was Kellen’s second touchdown reception of the game.

Northridge is 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the WFC. San Luis Obispo is 2-3 overall, 1-1 in the WFC.

Claremont-Mudd 16, UC Santa Barbara 13--Running back Chris Dabrow scored on a six-yard run with 8:44 remaining to lift the Stags over the Gauchos in a nonconference game at UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos had one chance after Dabrow’s touchdown, driving to the Stag 35, but they were thwarted when they lost a fumble with 1:35 left.

Dabrow finished with 118 yards in 32 carries, and quarterback Mike Pembroke completed 12 of 21 passes for 133 yards and ran for the Stags’ other touchdown.

Claremont-Mudd is 4-1. UC Santa Barbara is 2-4.

Menlo 20, Redlands 14--Junior Tyrone Gates ran for two touchdowns, the second coming in the fourth quarter, to give the Oaks a nonconference win over the Bulldogs at Redlands. Eric Carlson ran for 215 yards in 31 carries and a touchdown for Redlands (0-6).

Santa Clara 33, Cal Lutheran 9--Quarterback Greg Calcagno completed 26 of 38 passes for 297 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Broncos beat the Kingsmen in a Western Football Conference game at Thousand Oaks.

Kingsmen quarterback Tom Bonds returned to the starting lineup after missing two games with a strained knee, but was ineffective, throwing five interceptions as Cal Lutheran (2-4 overall, 0-3 in the WFC) lost its fourth straight game. Santa Clara is 2-4 overall, 2-1 in the WFC.