Valley College Football : Comeback Win Doesn’t Revive Coach’s Mood

Bob Burt, Cal State Northridge’s football coach, said he was “ashamed” and “embarrassed” by the Matadors’ performance Saturday night in a 15-10 victory over Sonoma State, a non-scholarship, Division II school.

But after all, the Matadors did win, and out-gained the Cossacks, 330-166, in the process. Sonoma gained but 55 yards in the entire second half.

So had the coach’s perception changed after a day of grading film?

“It’s like we were a dying man,” Burt said Monday. “We just barely kept the respirator going.”

That was a no.

Getting a break: Portland State’s chances of repeating as Western Football Conference champions for the third consecutive season suffered a major blow on Saturday when Curtis Delgardo, the WFC’s top offensive player in 1988, sustained a season-ending injury.

Delgardo, who accounted for 2,074 all-purpose yards last season, broke two bones in his right ankle when he was hit early in the second period of the Vikings’ 30-21 loss to Montana. A plate was inserted into the ankle in a two-hour operation Monday night.

Portland (2-1) was leading 12-7 when Delgardo left the game.

Delgardo’s absence resulted in more pressure being placed on the shoulders of Viking quarterback Darren Del’Andrae, a former Calabasas High standout.

Del’Andrae responded against Montana by completing 25 of 53 passes for a WFC-record 468 yards. The previous record was held by Tom Bonds, the former Cal Lutheran quarterback who threw for 434 yards against St. Mary’s in 1984.

Zero hour: Occidental’s 14-0 loss to Azusa Pacific was the first whitewashing suffered by the Tigers since 1985, when Oxy unexpectedly encountered blizzard conditions and went slip, slidin’ away in a 71-0 defeat to Central College of Iowa in the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division III playoffs.

Saturday’s defeat was the first regular season shutout since 1980 when the Tigers lost to Redlands, 48-0.

The last time Azusa Pacific shut out Occidental was in 1974, 3-0. The last time Occidental (0-2) lost two games in a row was in 1982.

Seeing stars: Jeff Lapinski was well on his way to a 100-yard rushing game--the first by a Cal Lutheran running back in five years--when he sustained a mild concussion late in the second quarter against St. Mary’s.

Lapinski had 71 yards in 11 carries when he got his bell rung, and although he returned briefly in the second half, he gained only six more yards in two carries.

Lapinski, a sophomore, has led Cal Lutheran in rushing each of the first two games. He already has rushed for 125 yards after netting only 21 yards last year.

A shifty inside runner, Lapinski took advantage of the huge holes opened by guards Mike Pezonella and Ken Whitney to rip off four runs of 10 yards or more.

Picture this: The new “Kingsmen Action Guide” was unveiled when Cal Lutheran played host to St. Mary’s, but its color photos feature “Action” from an Ohio State at Iowa game and a Notre Dame player in “Action.” Tucked into the lower right hand corner is a black-and-white photo of Cal Lutheran defensive captain Carl Friedemann.

Cal Lutheran ran full-color shots of Kingsmen last season but the cost was prohibitive. When Cal Lutheran picked up Touchdown Illustrated’s program supplement this year, it also switched to what Touchdown Illustrated calls “generic covers.” About 150 smaller schools put generic covers on their programs.

Action man: Cal State Northridge has four interceptions to its credit and David Benefield, an outside linebacker, has all of them. Benefield leads the Western Football Conference in interceptions and tops the Matadors’ list in tackles with 20.

Resilient defense: Valley’s defense gave up a wealth of 336 yards in a 20-16 loss to Mt. San Antonio Saturday, but the Monarchs turned in several crucial defensive plays in order to stay close.

“We had some great defensive stands,” Valley Coach Chuck Ferrero said. “I was very proud of the way our guys hung in there and didn’t fold.”

Mt. SAC was inside the Valley 20 five times but scored only 13 points on offense. Derek Dewitt accounted for the Mounties’ final touchdown with a 19-yard interception return.

“We’re very young,” Ferrero said, “But I liked what I saw out there tonight. They’re supposed to be one of the best teams in the state and we played them pretty tough.”

Trick plays: Rudy Necoechea usually plays defensive back for Valley College, but he was the Monarchs’ leading rusher Saturday, gaining 21 yards in two carries.

The up-back in Valley’s punt formation, Necoechea twice ran for first downs on fakes.

He picked up 15 yards on a fourth-and-six play from midfield in the second quarter, and he picked up six yards on a fourth-and-four play from the Valley 26 in the third period.

The first run kept alive a seven-play, 54-yard touchdown drive.

No divine intervention: As per custom before the start of Azusa Pacific home games, a prayer was offered over the stadium public address system last Saturday when Azusa Pacific played host to Occidental.

The Azusa Pacific alumnus who did the honors asked for a blessing for the players and to protect them against injury.

He concluded the otherwise nondescript benediction with, “and let there be no bias on the referees’ part.”

The tag line brought a chuckle from the fans.

However, it didn’t stop the officials from penalizing Azusa Pacific six times for 80 yards.

Occidental was penalized once for five yards.

Gary Klein and Times staff writers Mike Hiserman, John Ortega and Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.