CSUN Escapes as Velasco Kick Thwarts CLU Upset Bid, 24-21

John Bankhead caught 8 passes for 178 yards and scored 2 touchdowns in what might have been the finest game of his Cal Lutheran career.

He found so many seams in the Cal State Northridge defense that he almost unraveled any hopes the Matadors were harboring of a championship season.

Indeed, Bankhead was so elusive that he cost Cal Lutheran what would have been a major upset by, of all things, faking out his own quarterback.

Northridge defeated Cal Lutheran, 24-21, Saturday in a Western Football Conference game witnessed by 2,107 at Mount Clef Stadium in Thousand Oaks. Give the game-winning hit to Matador kicker Abo Velasco, who knocked home a 42-yard field goal with 1:40 remaining.

What was perhaps the game’s key play had taken place 5 minutes earlier, however.

With the score tied, 14-14, Jim Bees, Cal Lutheran’s quarterback, threw a pass intended for Bankhead that was intercepted by cornerback Reggie Williams, who returned it from midfield to the Kingsmen 16.

The pass was so far off it appeared as if Williams was the intended receiver.

“I looked around and didn’t see a receiver,” Williams said. “It looked like he made up his mind to throw it to a spot and that’s what he did.”

There was a reason for that.

“I thought John was going to stop there,” Bees said. “But he kept going.”

And so did Cal Lutheran’s losing streak, which has reached 3 after the Kingsmen had opened by winning 2 in a row.

Northridge (5-1, 1-1 in the WFC) scored on the second play after the turnover when quarterback Rob Huffman hooked up with tight end Richard Ane on a 14-yard pass play. Velasco’s PAT made the score 21-14.

But Cal Lutheran, which actually outgained 12th-ranked CSUN, 331 yards to 325, did not go quietly in its WFC opener.

A 41-yard kickoff return by Jeff Lapinski gave CLU good field position at its own 42, and Bankhead teamed with Bees on a 58-yard scoring pass on the next play. Greg Maw’s kick tied the score, 21-21, with 5:45 remaining.

Northridge had an answer of it own, though, quickly driving 45 yards to the Cal Lutheran 23. Three plays netted a loss of 2 yards, then Velasco responded with his fourth field goal of 40 yards or longer this season.

Cal Lutheran had a chance for a least a tie after moving to the Northridge 29 with 25 seconds left. But the Kingsmen’s bid for their first win against CSUN since 1982 ended there, when Bees fumbled while setting up to pass and Northridge’s Anthony Birts recovered.

CSUN Coach Bob Burt, who last week blasted his team’s effort in a 38-7 loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was more relieved than pleased after the Matadors’ escape.

“It wasn’t necessarily a well-played game, but it was hard-fought, and I’ll take that,” he said.

Huffman completed 14 of 30 passes for 216 yards and all 3 CSUN touchdowns. But he was even less impressed than Burt by the Matadors’ performance.

“We came in too cocky,” he said. “We totally expected to win and blow them out. . . . About the only good thing we did was show we could come back when we had to.”

Cal Lutheran took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 14-yard pass from Bees to Bankhead, and Northridge retaliated with a screen pass from Huffman that Albert Fann turned into a 75-yard touchdown.

The score was tied, 7-7, at the half with CSUN’s scoring play accounting for exactly half of its total yardage.

Northridge took a 14-7 advantage on its first possession of the second half as the Matadors marched 87 yards in 13 plays, Huffman teaming with Fann from 7 yards for the score.

The Kingsmen tied the score later in the same period when Ken Steward intercepted a Huffman pass at the CSUN 42 and weaved his way in for a touchdown.

“It’s disappointing to lose when you play well, but there is no shame,” CLU Coach Bob Shoup said.

Certainly the blame did not lie with Bees--he completed 20 of 36 for 267 yards.