The Colleges : Goal-Line Stand Might Sideline CLU’s Whitney

Diego Craig, a Sonoma State defensive back, found himself in a precarious position in the third quarter of last Saturday’s game against Cal Lutheran--between 6-foot, 4-inch, 270-pound tight end Ken Whitney and the goal line.

Whitney, however, didn’t see Craig until it was too late. Craig (5-11, 175) stopped Whitney with a jarring tackle on the Sonoma 11-yard line, preventing a touchdown.

The collision even had the mountainous junior wondering what hit him.

“Every defensive back will take a big guy down low and that’s where he hit me,” Whitney said.

Craig’s tackle could prove costly to the Kingsmen as Whitney suffered a hyper-extended right knee. He is listed as probable for today’s game against Cal State Hayward.

O Canada: Whereas Wayne Gretzky is making the transition from Edmonton to Southern California, Steve Benjamin has already made the move in reverse.

The former Cal State Northridge and Van Nuys High standout is in his second season as the starting right cornerback for the Canadian Football League champion Edmonton Eskimos.

With rules designed to emphasize passing--12 players on a team, a wider field and just three downs to make 10 yards--Benjamin’s task is almost impossible.

“You have to cover a lot better,” Benjamin said. “At my position, it’s like being on an island all by yourself. There is a safety in the middle, but he’s so far away, he can’t really help.”

A four-year starter and three-time All-Western Football Conference selection with the Matadors from 1982-1985, Benjamin began his CFL career with the Montreal Alouettes in 1986, playing in all 18 games and making 77 tackles and intercepting 2 passes. After the Alouettes folded at the start of last season, Benjamin was selected by the Eskimos in the dispersal draft.

This season, Benjamin has been a key member of an Edmonton defense that leads the league in fewest points allowed and fewest passing yards allowed.

Benjamin, 24, is in the option year of his contract, and could be heading south under the right circumstances.

“I’m at an age where it’s time to leave and to try the NFL or sign a long-term contract and finish my career in Edmonton,” Benjamin said. “It all depends on what kind of offers I get.”

Add Canada: Benjamin is not the only CSUN representative in the CFL. The Eskimos signed wide receiver Keith Wright last week.

Bruce Lemmerman, an honorable mention All-American quarterback in the late 1960s, is an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Gone but not forgotten: Several Montclair Prep graduates are continuing their success in the college and professional ranks.

Tim Stallworth, a junior at Washington State, caught 9 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown in the Cougars’ 41-9 victory over Minnesota last Saturday. In two games, Stallworth has caught 14 passes for 229 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore teammate Riche Swinton, another Montclair Prep graduate, has rushed for 179 yards in 29 carries in 2 games.

Toi Cook, who played football and baseball at Stanford after graduating Montclair Prep, is in his second year with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints as a defensive back.

Torey Lovullo, another Montclair Prep alumnus who played baseball at UCLA, has been called up by the Detroit Tigers for the pennant stretch and is 2 for 6 with an RBI.

Traveling Man: Former Glendale College and Hoover High quarterback Bob Gagliano has joined his third NFL team of the season.

Gagliano was signed by the Houston Oilers this week after preseason stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Gagliano, 30, entered the NFL in 1981 as the Kansas City Chiefs’ 12th-round draft choice. He played in only two games and threw one pass in three seasons. Gagliano spent the 1984 and 1985 seasons with the United States Football League’s Denver Gold, returning to the NFL with the 49ers in 1986.

Last season, Gagliano saw his most extensive NFL action, starting and helping San Francisco to a win over the New York Giants in a Monday night replacement game and throwing his only NFL touchdown pass in a replacement game against the Atlanta Falcons six days later.

Consolations: As word spread around campus that the Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball team finished fifth in last weekend’s UC Davis tournament, some people wondered if the low finish signaled the end of CSUN’s dominance.

Could the defending Division II champions be in that much trouble?

“It’s funny, a lot of people have come up to me and said, ‘Gee, it’s too bad you finished fifth,’ ” Coach Walt Ker said. “But I feel it was a good weekend.”

The Lady Matadors finished in second place in pool play entering single-elimination play last Saturday. CSUN lost to Cal State Sacramento, 15-13, 15-10, in its first elimination match.

“We played inconsistent, but overall, I’m pleased,” Ker said. “If we’re playing inconsistent at the end of September, then I’ll be worried. But right now, there’s no need for alarm.”

CSUN, the top-ranked team in the nation according to Volleyball Monthly, is No. 3 in this week’s Tachikara coaches’ poll. Sacramento is the poll’s top-ranked team.

A date for eight: The NCAA has expanded the Division II women’s volleyball playoff format to include eight teams.

Instead of a playoff between regional winners to determine four finalists, a representative from each of eight regions will advance to the national tournament.

The NCAA tournament will be held Dec. 9-11 at a site to be determined.

CSUN, which has advanced to eight consecutive Final Fours, is in the Southwest region, which consists of the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. and three independent schools.

CSUN has won 38 consecutive CCAA matches and five consecutive conference titles.

Swan song: Former El Camino Real High offensive lineman Jack Swan, a 1987 Times All-Valley selection, will redshirt this season at Georgia after injuring his right knee during preseason drills last month.

Swan, who was a second-team guard, had minor arthroscopic surgery last month and is currently undergoing rehabilitation. He will have four years of eligibility remaining.

“I guess it’s a blessing in a way,” Swan said. “I’d rather play a year when I’m 22 than when I’m 18.”

Swan injured the knee during the final two-a-day practice 3 1/2 weeks ago.

Steven Herbert and staff writers Ralph Nichols, Gary Klein, Chris J. Parker, Steven Fleischman and Steve Elling contributed to this notebook.