HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Southland Roundup : Toreros Fail to Take Advantage of Penalties

The University of San Diego football team set out to snap a three-game losing streak Saturday afternoon in Torero Stadium, and its opponent--St. Mary’s College--seemed to be doing everything it could to help the Toreros accomplish that goal.

St. Mary’s was penalized 24 times for 234 yards, but was still able to beat USD, 10-7.

The Gaels came close to the NCAA Division II record of 28 penalties set by Northern Arizona against La Verne in 1958.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” St. Mary’s Coach Craig Rundle said. “We haven’t had officiating like this before. I don’t see how, but maybe we just did commit all those penalties.”

USD (3-5) was penalized 8 times for 69 yards.

“The referees said they were going to call it close, and I guess their players just didn’t listen,” USD Coach Brian Fogarty said. “They didn’t play cleanly.”

USD took a 7-0 lead on the final play of the first quarter when Virgil Enriquez caught an 18-yard pass from Pat Dixon for a touchdown. The touchdown was set up by the first of three interceptions by Torero linebacker Chuck Royer. St. Mary’s tied the score on a 12-yard run by James Javier midway through the second quarter.

Penalties kept both teams from moving much in the second half, though St. Mary’s scored on a 28-yard field goal by Dave Hunt late in the third quarter to take the lead.

USD had its last chance in the final three minutes, driving to a first and goal at the St. Mary’s three. But Dixon fumbled a snap from center and then threw two incomplete passes. Sam Furseth then missed wide on a 28-yard field-goal attempt with 2:20 left.

Azusa Pacific 28, San Francisco State 17--Fullback Christian Okoye rushed for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead Azusa Pacific to a nonconference victory at San Francisco.

Okoye, who carried the ball a career-high 34 times, scored on runs of 1, 2 and 15 yards. Azusa Pacific took the lead for good in the fourth quarter on a 49-yard touchdown pass from reserve quarterback Richard Jimenez to halfback Curtis Lowell.

A 6-foot 2-inch, 250-pound senior, Okoye has gained 1,215 yards and scored 16 touchdowns this season. He needs 140 yards to break his school record of 1,355 yards.

San Francisco State, winless in eight games this season, took its first lead of the year in the third quarter on Disraeli Ellison’s one-yard touchdown run.

Azusa Pacific is 5-0-2.

Claremont-Mudd 52, Pomona-Pitzer 0--Chris Dabrow ran for 217 yards and 4 touchdowns in 23 carries to lead the Stags over the Sagehens in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at Claremont-Mudd.

Dabrow scored on runs of 4, 12 and 16 yards in the first half as Claremont-Mudd took a 38-0 lead. On the first series of the second half, Dabrow added a seven-yard touchdown before coming out of the game. Dabrow has 939 yards and 12 touchdowns this season.

Claremont-Mudd is 6-1 overall, 3-1 in SCIAC. Pomona-Pitzer is 2-5, 1-3.

La Verne 20, Whittier 0--Mark Van Allen completed 19 of 36 passes for 206 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Leopards in an SCIAC game at La Verne.

Van Allen’s first touchdown, a 31-yard pass to Brian Ninde in the first quarter, gave La Verne a 7-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, La Verne clinched the win when Van Allen threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Moise Garrett. The Leopard defense limited Whittier to only 181 total yards, sacking Leonard Barton six times. La Verne is 5-2, 4-1. Whittier is 3-5, 1-3.

Occidental 16, Redlands 15--Eric Sundstrom caught a four-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Mark Krajnik with a minute left to rally the Tigers in an SCIAC game at Occidental. Jon Billingsley had 8 catches for 91 yards for Occidental (4-2-1, 3-1). Running back Eric Carlson rushed for 178 yards and a 55-yard touchdown in 31 carries for Redlands (0-7, 0-4).

CS Northridge 38, Santa Clara 32--Matador quarterback Chris Parker threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third in a Western Football Conference game at Santa Clara. Northridge (7-1, 3-1) held off a 16-point rally by Santa Clara (3-5, 2-2) in the fourth quarter.