Bonner Rallies CS Northridge to a 13-10 Victory

Sure, he could throw a football straight and long. And play basketball. And high jump almost seven feet.

Still, the comparisons seemed so ridiculous. Sherdrick Bonner, a Randall Cunningham clone? Well, that’s what his coaches said.

Few doubted Bonner’s athletic ability, but there were some serious reservations about him being a quarterback.

After all, hadn’t Cal State Northridge scouted Bonner at Azusa High under the impression that he was a receiver?

Before this season, Bonner’s resume as a starting quarterback spanned all of three games.

But, within the span of a few weeks, those Cunninghamesque comparisons have become less implausible.

For the second time in two weeks, Bonner guided Northridge on an improbable game-winning drive in the final minutes.

Bonner’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Billy Nealy with 4:30 left enabled the Matadors to defeat Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 13-10, before an estimated crowd of 4,200 in the Western Football Conference opener for both teams.

The victory was CSUN’s third in a row after nonconference losses to Cal State Long Beach and Cal State Fullerton.

The Matadors have come from behind all three times.

“This is getting scary,” Bonner said afterward. “I don’t know how much more of this my heart can take.”

For San Luis Obispo, it was a heartbreak.

The Mustangs, who couldn’t muster anything resembling an offensive drive in the second half, finally did in the game’s final minutes.

San Luis Obispo (2-2) marched from its 25 to the CSUN 11 with a minute left, but Mustang quarterback David Lafferty was sacked for a nine-yard loss on third and one.

That brought on freshman Tom McCook for a 37-yard field goal try with 45 seconds left, but he missed wide left--his first miss in six attempts this season.

The Mustangs got the ball back one more time with 21 seconds left, but three bombs by Lafferty fell incomplete.

How big was the win for CSUN?

“Huge,” said Bob Burt, the Matadors’ coach. CSUN had been 0-3 in WFC openers in Burt’s tenure.

Northridge was held to less than 300 yards (291) in offense for the first time this season--but that was largely due to Matador mistakes.

CSUN was penalized 10 times for 79 yards. Several of the miscues killed drives.

Even on its game-winning drive, CSUN was hit with a holding penalty that negated a 25-yard gain.

But it didn’t matter. After an offside call on the Mustangs got five yards back, Bonner hit fullback Jason Ferguson for a 17-yard gain and a first down.

Bonner’s other key plays on the march included a six-yard pass to Fann on a fourth-and-two play, a nine-yard scramble on third and 10, and a one-yard sneak on fourth and one from the Mustang 17. He hit Nealy at the goal line on the next play.

“I motioned for (Nealy) to come back and he did, then he fought his way in,” Bonner said.

Northridge shut out San Luis Obispo in the second half after trailing, 10-3, at intermission.

A 34-yard field goal by Abo Velasco cut the Mustangs’ lead to 10-6 as Northridge put together a 12-play drive on its first possession of the second half.

Northridge’s running game was throttled by a Mustang defense that allows an average of 69 yards rushing a game.

The Matadors had 133 yards rushing, including 33 in 13 carries by tailback Albert Fann, who was held to less than 100 yards for only the second time this season.

Bonner completed 16 of 30 passes for 158 yards and, typically, spread the ball around, completing passes to eight different receivers.

Lafferty was 13 of 26 for 162 yards, including a 42-yard swing pass to tight end Steve Miller for the Mustangs’ only touchdown.

San Luis Obispo’s only other score came on a 22-yard field goal by McCook with 51 seconds left in the half.