Occidental Hits Jackpot Playing Hunch on Vegas

Tailback Kevin Vegas was a long-shot, at best, to emerge as a hero in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game between Occidental and La Verne at Arnett Field on Saturday.

Vegas, who started in Occidental’s opener but has since been relegated to a backup role, gained 95 yards in 13 carries and scored the winning touchdown in a 19-13 victory. But it might have been his first carry of the afternoon, and not his subsequent 12, that mattered most.

The visiting Tigers, trailing, 13-6, first gave Vegas the ball with 6 minutes left in the third quarter and he ran 46 yards down the left sideline to the La Verne 11-yard line. On the next play, George Conahey scored. Mark Collinsworth added the extra point to tie the score.

Vegas scored on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter to supply the margin of victory.

“We needed something quick,” Vegas said of his long run. “We needed a big turnaround to get back in the game and that was the one. Perfect timing.”

It was just about the only thing Occidental (3-1 overall, 3-0 in SCIAC play) did perfectly all afternoon. The Tigers, who had a bye last week, looked sluggish Saturday.

“We were doing stupid stuff the whole game,” Coach Dale Widolff said. “We looked like a team that was used to losing every time. Every time we needed a break, we screwed it up.”

Occidental almost committed another blunder with 1:02 remaining and the game on the line. Trailing by 6 and facing fourth and 15 from its 32-yard line, La Verne (0-4, 0-2) lined up in punt formation, although it was obvious that a punt was not forthcoming.

The ball was snapped to quarterback Mark Brown, who barely failed to connect on a 30-yard pass to an uncovered Chip Porter streaking down the left sideline.

“They had a seam and I thought we were going to get it,” said Brown, who completed 11 of 32 passes for 178 yards. He threw 3 interceptions.

La Verne scored its touchdown on a 4-yard keeper by Brown in the first quarter. The play culminated a 10-play, 56-yard drive that began after Occidental’s Rob Leinbach fumbled at midfield.