Laufenberg Brings Chargers From 21 Down to 24-21 Victory

The Dallas Cowboys won the battle that was the first half Saturday night at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. The Chargers won the war that was the second.

The Cowboys’ starters beat the Chargers’ starters in the exhibition opener for both teams. The Chargers’ subs beat the odds.

“I told you we’d be exciting,” Charger Coach Al Saunders said after his third-string quarterback, Babe Laufenberg, coaxed three touchdowns from a new offense in the final 7 minutes 30 seconds of a 24-21 Charger victory.

The Chargers trailed, 21-0, with less than 16 minutes to play. But Vince Abbott’s 34-yard field goal made it 21-3 after three quarters.

Enter Laufenberg.

First he saved face by completing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Doug Flutie’s little brother, Darren.

21-10.

Then he made it interesting by handing off to Tim Spencer for a 1-yard touchdown run after a Dallas holding penalty had kept the drive alive.

21-17.

Then Charger lineman Les Miller muscled the ball away from Cowboy running back Mark Higgs at the Cowboy 18. He recovered the fumble. And all of a sudden the Chargers had the ball, 122 more seconds and enough momentum to fill up Mission Valley.

Two plays later. Laufenberg dumped off to running back Lionel James at the 7, and James skittered the remaining distance. And 40,110 people tried to remember the last time their entertainment dollar had gone this far.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve won,” said Saunders, whose 1987 Chargers lost their last six regular-season games. “We certainly had the right rotation of quarterbacks.”

Mark Malone started, played the entire first half and completed 8 of 12 for 70 yards but produced no points. Mark Vlasic was quarterback in the third quarter and completed 11 of 18 for 113 yards.

Laufenberg finished with 13 completions in 23 tries for 149 yards.

“There were guys around me making the plays,” Laufenberg insisted.

Such as Flutie. The free agent rookie from Boston College caught four passes for 66 yards. Timmie Ware, the veteran who is battling Flutie for the fourth wide receiver spot, caught seven passes, all in the third quarter, for 68 yards.

Of course, no Charger victory would be complete without a scare. The Cowboys provided that when they raced to the Charger 18 with 1:04 remaining. But when Demetrious Johnson recovered Michael Irvin’s fumble, Dallas ran out of chances.

“I think we learned a lot about all three quarterbacks,” Saunders said. “And I think we learned about ourselves.”

One of the most encouraging signs for the Chargers occurred on the first play from scrimmage. It was an incomplete pass from Malone to rookie Quinn Early. But it was a long incomplete pass.

It meant the Chargers weren’t paying lip service to their off-season promise to attempt to develop the deep passing game they lacked in retired quarterback Dan Fouts’ last several seasons.

The Chargers shrugged off the incompletion to Early and marched from their 41 to the Dallas 3 as Malone completed 4 of 5 passes for 41 yards. But it produced nothing when Ed (Too Tall) Jones blocked Abbott’s 25-yard field goal try. The snap was high. The kick was low.

Dallas immediately went to work on the Chargers’ secondary. Steve Pelluer, heir apparent to longtime Cowboy quarterback Danny White, burned cornerback Elvis Patterson for a 38-yard completion to wide receiver Kelvin Martin. Two plays earlier, Pelluer (11 of 18, 165 yards) connected with tight end Doug Cosbie for a 27-yarder.

Darryl Clack, the temporary replacement for the resting 1987 NFL rushing leader, Herschel Walker, finished off the Cowboys’ nine-play, 90-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. With 2 minutes 27 seconds remaining in the first period, the Cowboys led, 7-0.

That lead grew to 14-0 late in the half when Dallas defensive end Jim Jeffcoat beat reserve left tackle Joe MacEsker and flattened Malone from his blind side. Malone fumbled, Danny Noonan recovered, and the Cowboys had a first down at the Chargers’ 24-yard line, 72 seconds before intermission.

Pelluer went back to work, this time finding rookie wide receiver Irvin on a short pass that Irvin turned into a spectacular 15-yard touchdown reception.

Irvin, the 11th player selected in the 1988 draft, led all receivers after two quarters with 3 catches for 43 yards.

Anthony Miller, the Chargers’ first pick and the 15th player chosen last April, did not play in the first half and finished with just 2 catches for 18 yards. Early and Jamie Holland, the Chargers’ starters at wide receiver, had one reception each.

The Charger defense, suffering in the absence of holdout starters Chip Banks, Joe Phillips and Lee Williams, allowed 214 yards in the first two periods. The Chargers’ second half defense, composed mostly of reserves, allowed just 117 yards.

John Clay, the tackle acquired from the Raiders in the controversial Jim Lachey deal, looked good on goal-line and short-yardage situations. But he was caught holding on the Chargers’ first offensive series of the second half.

The Cowboys scored their third touchdown on a 31-yard pass from Kevin Sweeney to Ray Alexander early in the third period.

Saunders said he was also “pleased” with the running of Gary Anderson, who led the Chargers with 25 yards in 6 carries.

But the enthusiasm generated by Laufenberg, Flutie, Ware, Les Miller, Johnson and many others were most pleasing to the people who were rooting for the team that won.

“Babe has got some charisma,” Flutie said.

And Flutie knows from charisma.