Occidental Denies La Verne, 24-12

Gary Little figures to spend the next two weeks refining his ballcarrying technique.

However, judging from his performance Saturday night against La Verne, that may be about the only thing the Occidental freshman needs to work on.

Little compensated for four fumbles by rushing for 118 yards in 28 carries and scoring a touchdown as Occidental defeated La Verne, 24-12, in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game at Occidental’s Patterson Field.

Occidental, which has a bye next week before resuming its schedule Oct. 14 against the University of San Diego, improved to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play. La Verne remains winless (0-3, 0-2).

“These guys were tougher and hit harder than the team we played last week,” said Little, who gained 212 yards last Saturday against Pomona-Pitzer. “The fumbles were unusual for me.”

Occidental recovered two of Little’s fumbles, including one that put the game away. The Tigers led, 17-12, with 9:09 left when Little burst toward the end zone on third and goal from the nine. He fumbled at the goal line, but offensive lineman Greg Garcia recovered in the end zone for the score.

The touchdown stymied La Verne’s comeback from a 17-6 halftime deficit. The comeback was directed by senior quarterback Mark Brown, who completed 22 of 45 passes for 212 yards.

“They started to plug up the middle and we couldn’t get it (the ball) to our wideouts,” Brown said. “If we had done that we probably would have had a couple more touchdowns.”

Occidental’s pass defense, which had victimized the Tigers in their first two games of the season, made some key plays against La Verne.

Jason Ramsey, a sophomore linebacker, had two interceptions, and freshman safety Rick Mock had one--all in the first half when the Tigers built their 17-6 lead.

The Tigers’ first break came on the opening kickoff when La Verne’s Prentiss Pryor fumbled on the Leopards’ seven-yard line after he was hit by a mob of Occidental tacklers.

Occidental recovered, and two plays later tailback Kevin Vegas scored on a five-yard run to give Occidental a 7-0 lead.

La Verne also took advantage of a turnover en route to its first touchdown.

The Leopards recovered a second-quarter fumble by Little at the Occidental 36-yard line, then launched a 13-play drive that was capped by Brown’s one-yard dive into the end zone with 7:07 left in the first half. Vince Alamillo’s extra-point attempt was blocked, making the score, 7-6.

Occidental answered with a touchdown on its ensuing possession, which started with Jeremy Dickinson’s 40-yard kickoff return that gave the Tigers a first down at the La Verne 45.

Five plays later, following a 22-yard completion from quarterback Tony Werbelow to David Grossklaus, Little scampered 13 yards for the score, giving Occidental a 14-6 lead with 5:03 left in the half.