CSUN’s Brown Proved His Value by Moving to Fullback

When it comes time for Northridge football players to vote for the team’s most-valuable player, senior linebacker Mark Dozier, the team leader in tackles, should garner a lot of support along with center Brian Clark, defensive tackle Steve Dominic and defensive back Kip Dukes, the three team captains.

Another player who should receive strong consideration is running back Richard Brown.

Last season, Brown was understudy to tailback Mike Kane, who would go on to win All-American honors. This was to be Brown’s season for stardom.

But there were two major problems: Albert Fann and Lance Harper, the other talented runners on the Matador roster.

Brown split time at tailback early in the season but was switched to fullback at midseason. Only 5-11, 180 pounds, he was the second-smallest starter at the position in the Western Football Conference and the adjustment was no small task.

Although disappointed he had to change positions, Brown didn’t complain. Instead, he teamed with Fann and Harper to form the most explosive backfield combination in the conference.

Brown finished the season with 667 yards rushing and 18 pass receptions for 115 yards, while doing a decent job of blocking. He also returned 19 kickoffs for an 18.4-yard average.

Kane once called Brown the most talented runner he had ever been around.

And certainly one of the most unselfish.

Flag day: There is reason to believe that the football teams from Northridge and Cal State Sacramento do not like each other much. They combined for 224 yards in penalties in Saturday night’s Western Football Conference finale.

Northridge was penalized 13 times for 136 yards in the Matadors’ 21-16 win. Sacramento was flagged nine times for 92 yards.

The sloppy and sometimes ugly play was particularly apparent on CSUN’s first touchdown drive. The Matadors took advantage of five Hornet penalties for 55 yards. Twice Sacramento stopped CSUN on third down only to be hit with a penalty that gave the Matadors a first down.

The result: Perhaps the most unimpressive 83-yard scoring march since the invention of the face mask.

Hitting back: The game didn’t decide the championship of the WFC this time, but Northridge players in particular seemed to take Saturday’s season finale seriously.

Maybe that was because it was the last college football game for 18 seniors on the team who wanted to go out winners.

More likely, it was because many of the players still are smarting from the Hornets’ 21-17 come-from-behind victory last season.

“It felt good to hit them back,” Dozier admitted after Saturday’s game.

Sacramento had a chance to pull out this season’s game in the last minute, too, but the CSUN defense held.

“The last two minutes, I kept thinking about last year,” CSUN defensive tackle Dester Stowers said. “They got a cheap win last year, but we weren’t going to give it up this season.”

The difference, of course, is that there was no title or playoff berth on the line.

Add Dozier: The senior inside linebacker led the Matadors in tackles for the eighth time in 11 games this season. He had 12 tackles and a sack.

Holding court: Cal Lutheran defensive end Earl Bentancourt broke the school single-season record for sacks with 23. The senior had seven sacks in CLU’s season-ending 13-3 win over St. Mary’s on Saturday.

Bentancourt led all WFC tacklers with a total of 135. He averaged 12.3 tackles a game.

Cal Lutheran ended the season with a record of 5-6, but won three of its last four games. In those final four games, the Kingsmen defense gave up a total of 35 points.

CLU offense: This was the first season in Cal Lutheran football history in which the team failed to score 30 points in a game. The highest total by the offense was 27 points against Azusa Pacific. Quarterback Tom Bonds finished third in the WFC in passing. He completed 184 of 323 passes for 1,990 yards and 17 touchdowns. Bonds also ranked third in total offense.

Joe Monarrez led conference receivers with 54 catches for 511 yards and 4 touchdowns. John Bankhead caught 37 passes for 787 yards. Bankhead finished second in punt returns with a 9.3-yard average.

Raiders rewarded: Six Moorpark College football players were selected for the All-Western State Conference first team and six more made the second team.

Mo Loller, a sophomore offensive lineman, and sophomore placekicker Dan Eastman were first-team offense selections. Freshman lineman John Goslin, sophomore linebacker Miller Aupiu, sophomore cornerback Jeff White and freshman punter Todd Rawsthorne made the first-team defense.

Paul Mesa, a sophomore center, Greg Mattes a freshman lineman and sophomore wide receiver Frank Madrid were second-team offense. Lineman Mike Kildee, linebacker Steve Paredes and cornerback Willie Gutierrez--all sophomores--were second-team defense selections.

Crowded house: Those who believe that soccer cannot compete for the spectator dollar in the U. S. might have been surprised last Friday night when Northridge drew a record crowd of 3,841 for its Western region soccer final against two-time defending national champion Seattle Pacific. On that same night, the UCLA basketball team drew just 2,641 to Pauley Pavilion for its season opener against Oral Roberts.

Goin’ South: The University of Tampa soccer team, which plays host to the NCAA Division II Final Four and meets No. 1-ranked CSUN in the semifinals, has two starting midfielders from Southern California. John Clarke, a senior forward from Redondo Beach, has four goals and nine assists. Robert Bent, a sophomore from Buena High in Ventura, has six assists.

Farewell performance: CSUN’s 1-0 win over Seattle Pacific marked the final appearance for seven seniors at North Campus Stadium. The Matadors will be on the road for a playoff game for the first time in the history of the program.

“I don’t feel bad for us, I feel bad for our fans,” senior midfielder Thor Lee said. “It’s really a shame they can’t see us do it all. It’s a bummer.”

Said senior forward Joey Kirk: “I’ve always dreamed of playing at home for the championship in front of our fans. I just realized the other day that the other night was our last game at home. It’s going be a shame when we win it in Tampa.”

Awards time: Kirk, who has 30 goals and 17 assists this season, is one of 22 players who have been nominated for the Missouri Athletic Club’s Collegiate Soccer player-of-the-year award, which will be presented Dec. 11 in St. Louis.

The award, given to the nation’s top American-born player, is voted on by coaches. Last season, John Kerr of Duke won the award in its inaugural year.

Scores and scores: Cal Lutheran guard Steve deLaveaga has scored 20 or more points in 32 of his 59 college games. In Tuesday’s loss at CSUN, in which he scored 23 points, deLaveaga became the 13th player in CLU history to score more than 1,000 points in his career.

Time change: The game time for the Northridge men’s basketball game at home against Westmont on Dec. 5 has been changed from 7:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. to accommodate the NCAA Division II volleyball West regionals.

Transition game: Sherdrick Bonner, second-string quarterback on the Northridge football team, has joined the Matador basketball team.

Bonner, a 6-4 swingman, didn’t play basketball last season as a freshman. At Azusa High he was All-Montview League as a senior.

CSUN Hall of Fame: Four former athletes and a longtime coach and administrator were inducted into the Cal State Northridge Athletic Hall of Fame on Sunday in ceremonies at the Woodland Hills Marriott.

Basketball player George Robnett, swimmer Maggie Sundberg-Negron, swimmer Herbert Bishop II and baseball player Rondal Rollin were honored, along with Sam Winningham, a former football coach and current chairman of the physical education department.

Also receiving awards were Lee Kanon Alpert, CSUN’s athletic booster of the year, and Coach Gary Torgeson. Torgeson, coach of the four-time national champion Lady Matador softball team, was selected as the school’s coach of the year.

Penn pal: Melissa Ingalls, a 1986 Chaminade High graduate, was selected women’s volleyball player of the year in the Ivy League.

A sophomore outside hitter at the University of Pennsylvania, Ingalls led the Quakers to a 25-10 record and a second-place finish. She led the team in kills, digs and serving percentage.

Monica Tomkus, a Penn junior who is also from Chaminade, was voted to the second team.

Record setter: Senior Angela Brinton made All-American as a junior setter on the Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team in 1986 and was named to the All-California Collegiate Athletic Assn. first team.

Her best season was yet to come, however.

Brinton capped another record-setting year for CSUN by being named the conference’s most-valuable player. She also was selected to the All-CCAA first team for the second consecutive season.

“It was a very deserved honor,” CSUN Coach Walt Ker said. “She had a great season in ’86 and this year was much better. She had more consistent and productive matches on a regular basis.”

Six CSUN players received All-CCAA honors, including Brinton, Sue Darcey, Anna Garcia, Franci Bowman, Alissa Evans and Kathleen Dixon. Ker was also named the CCAA coach of the year for the fifth consecutive season.

Northridge won its fifth CCAA title in as many years and was undefeated in conference play for the third consecutive season.

“I nominated all six because I felt they were all deserving of the honor,” Ker said. “We were exceptionally deep. The most important thing it signifies is that we have a very strong team from top to bottom.”

CSUN (31-7, 12-0) finished the regular season as the top-ranked team in Division II. The Lady Matadors will play host to the NCAA Western regional playoffs Dec. 4-6.

Slow torture: For Debbie Ball and Anna Howland, Moorpark’s only qualifiers to the state junior college cross-country championships, their season came to a slower end than they expected.

Ball placed 31st at the state meet and ran the 3.1-mile course at Woodward Park in Fresno last week in 19 minutes, 17 seconds. Howland finished 57th in 20:02.

Of the 100 runners who started the race, 96 finished.

Staff writers Gary Klein, Ralph Nichols, Mike Hiserman and Gordon Monson contributed to this notebook.