CS Fullerton Rallies to Edge CS Northridge

Cal State Fullerton, a team that has traversed the country in recent years to play against football powerhouses for big guarantee checks, was on the other end of the deal Saturday.

This time, the check was going to the other team.

Fullerton played host to Cal State Northridge, a Division II team, at Santa Ana Stadium. Accustomed to earning $200,000 against teams such as Louisiana State, Fullerton was paying Northridge $15,000, a big payday for the Matadors.

It might have been momentous.

Northridge took a 13-point halftime lead, and dominated the Titans for a large part of the game before the Titans rallied for a 27-20 victory before 2,909.

Northridge quarterback Sherdrick Bonner, who passed for 303 yards, completing 29 of 44 passes but with three interceptions, kept the Matadors in charge much of the game.

Fullerton didn’t tie the score until the fourth quarter, on freshman Phil Nevin’s 54-yard field goal, which tied the second longest in school history.

The Titans scored the winning touchdown with 7:44 remaining when Mike Pringle scored on a four-yard run, capping a 56-yard drive that was aided by 19 penalty yards against Northridge.

But Northridge drove to the Fullerton 14 on its next possession, before Bonner’s pass was intercepted by Terry Tramble in the end zone.

“We were lucky,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said.

Northridge had thrown a scare into Cal State Long Beach in its opener last week, trailing by only four points in the fourth quarter before losing, 28-9.

Northridge Coach Bob Burt, formerly Murphy’s defensive coordinator at Fullerton, called the Matadors’ performance Saturday their best in his four seasons as coach.

“We had our chance at the end, and I thought we might get it,” Burt said.

Had Northridge won, it would have been its first victory over a Division I team since 1976, when it beat Fullerton.

A loss against Northridge Saturday would have been the first to a Division II team in Gene Murphy’s 10 seasons as coach.

Northridge took a 7-0 lead on its first possession after Bonner’s 11-yard scoring pass to Anthony Harris, but Fullerton tied the score late in the first quarter after a four-yard run by Pringle.

Abo Velasco made field goals of 41 and 37 yards to give the Matadors a 13-7 lead, and Northridge went up 20-7 after Bonner scored on a one-yard run with 34 seconds left in the half, two plays after Daved Benefield intercepted a pass by Dan Speltz at the Fullerton 36 and returned it to the three. Speltz, who had two interceptions, completed nine of 19 passes for 138 yards.

Fullerton started its comeback in the second half when Pringle broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, one of his three touchdowns. Pringle, the centerpiece of a Fullerton running attack that was limited to five yards in a loss to Northern Illinois last week, finished with 164 yards on 28 carries.

Nevin, a first-year freshman who was drafted by the Dodgers but turned down a six-figure signing bonus to play football and baseball at Fullerton, kicked a 42-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the lead to 20-17.