Peaceful New Home : New Mexico St. Kicker Survives War-Torn Youth

To 8-year-old Dat Ly, the bombs that fell behind the plane carrying his family out of South Vietnam looked like so many balloons in the air.

Ly fled Saigon with his parents, 7 sisters and 2 brothers on April 29, 1975--a day before the city fell to the North Vietnamese. It was a narrow escape. The plane behind the one the held the Ly family was shot down.

Too young then to understand the circumstances, Ly remembers Vietnam more for school and naps and playground soccer than war.

“I do remember being at the airport, leaving,” Ly said. “It was hectic, I remember, everybody was running around, unsure of everything.”

Today, Ly, 21, is a kicker--and a fine one--for the New Mexico State football team, which plays Cal State Fullerton at 5:30 p.m. today in Aggie Memorial Stadium.

He has been the most effective kicker in the Big West Conference this season, connecting on 10 of 12 field goal attempts and making all 5 extra-point attempts.

Against Kansas, he kicked 5 field goals, all in the first half, tying the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. record for field goals in a half. What’s more, he accounted for the margin of victory in New Mexico State’s only victory of the season, 42-29.

His current accomplishment: 8 field goals without a miss.

The road from Saigon to football stardom in Las Cruces was meandering, to say the least.

Ly’s family settled first in Morris, Minn., where Ly remembers “good people” who helped the refugee family.

After a few years, the family moved to Wichita, Kan., where Ly starred for the Wichita East High School soccer team, leading the city in scoring for 3 years. His senior year, he tried football for the first time and kicked a 52-yard field goal.

He was drafted in the fourth round by the Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League, and worked out with the team but never signed.

“I wanted to go to college all along,” he said.

Ly enrolled at Wichita State, where he played intramural soccer and intended to walk on to the football team. But before he got his chance, the Shockers dropped football. Ly, intent on playing, followed strength and kicking coach Henry Sroka to New Mexico State, and walked on as a freshman last year.

This season, after pushing aside incumbent kicker Ruben Rubio early in the season, Ly has taken over. And he earned a scholarship this year.

“My education is paid for,” said Ly, who is majoring in secondary education and would like to teach and coach soccer, after playing professional soccer.

New Mexico State, 1-5 this year and with only 6 victories in the past 4 seasons, especially values Ly’s talent.

He is easily the Aggies’ leading scorer, and is responsible for 35 of the 116 points they have scored.

Coach Mike Knoll could hardly be more pleased with Ly.

“Dat has come a long way, as a person and a kicker,” Knoll said.

Ly would like to return to Vietnam, “to see how things really are.” His family no longer speaks about much of its life in Vietnam, he said.

“We all know about it. There isn’t much to talk about. I don’t like wars at all. We didn’t want to leave, but at the time, we had no choice. We didn’t want to be Communist.”

But the experiences of his childhood are seldom foremost in his mind.

“It was just the way it went,” Ly said, a shrug in his voice. “I just took advantage of it, being here in the United States.”

Titan Notes

Cal State Fullerton (2-5) is coming off an embarrassing loss to Cal State Long Beach last week that ended the 49ers’ 9-game losing streak. The Titans hope to avoid repeating a low point in their history today against New Mexico State, which 2 years ago beat Fullerton, 24-21, in a game that remains New Mexico State’s only conference victory since joining the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. in 1984. That game also was the only victory in a 1-10 season. But New Mexico State Coach Mike Knoll said the Aggies won’t be thinking about that victory today. “We’ve learned that you never look back on a game, that every game is an opportunity and every situation is unique. We’re trying to achieve respectability here, and I think we’re closing in.”

For James Noel, Fullerton’s starting tight end, the game today is a homecoming. Noel was a redshirt freshman for New Mexico State in 1986 when the Aggies upset Fullerton here. And yes, he participated in the Aggies’ jubilant victory lap around the stadium, much to the dismay of Tom Gang, a Titan offensive lineman. “You did what?” Gang said when he learned that at practice Friday. “Hey, he ran the victory lap, guys. I can’t believe he did that.” Said Noel: “It felt good then, but that’s in the past. Now I’m a Titan, and it would be nice to do a victory lap on those guys.” Noel left New Mexico State after being declared academically ineligible after that year and enrolled at Laney College, where he earned a degree before transferring to Fullerton this year.

Until this week, Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy had been unequivocal in his support of quarterback Dan Speltz, who has thrown 5 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions, completing 44% of his passes for 920 yards in 7 games. But this week, Murphy said for the first time that he might replace Speltz if he starts cold. Said Speltz: “In every game, you go out and do your best. You don’t worry about anybody else.”

Are Fullerton’s offensive sputterings to continue? Mike Heimerdinger, offensive coordinator, said the Titans reduced the number of running plays this week in an effort to be sure players’ minds are uncluttered. “(The offense is) simple. But it’s been pretty simple all along and it hasn’t made any difference,” Heimerdinger said. “It’s frustrating. . . . You wish you knew why we stop ourselves.”

Injury report: John Bavaro, Fullerton’s starting nose guard, did not make the trip because of illness and personal reasons, assistant coach Gary Spielbuehler said. Backup end Joe Scott is ill and did not make the trip. New Mexico State is without defensive tackle Lance Thompson, who was lost for the season with a knee injury in last week’s 28-20 loss to Nevada Las Vegas.