Titans Pay High Price to Beat Sonoma State

After starting the previous five seasons with losses, Cal State Fullerton finally won a season opener, defeating Sonoma State, 38-24, Saturday in front of 2,091 at Santa Ana Stadium.

But at what price victory?

The Titans lost their starting tailback, Deon Thomas, who suffered severe ligament damage to his left knee and, according to team trainers, will be out for the season.

They also lost the only returning starter on their offensive line, guard Shannon Illingworth, who suffered a hyperextended elbow and, according to Coach Gene Murphy, will be out at least three weeks.

To compound matters, Murphy will have to take his inexperienced team, which hardly dominated the Division II Cossacks, on a mini-Southeastern Conference tour with stops at third-ranked Auburn on Saturday and Mississippi State Sept. 15.

“We’ll be there, we’ll show up,” Fullerton quarterback Paul Schulte said of the trip to Auburn. “It should be fun.”

For whom? Fans of car wrecks and natural disasters? Unless the Titans shape up quickly, they might discover how Cal State Long Beach felt Saturday in its 59-0 loss to Clemson.

“All aspects of our game have to get better, our running game, our passing game, everything,” Murphy said. “We’re a young football team and we’ll get better.”

Considering 36 of 56 Titans in uniform had never played in a varsity game, Fullerton did show some promise Saturday. The Titan defense, led by linebackers Clarence Siler and Lorenzo Hailey and defensive backs Howard McCrary and Terry Tramble, limited Sonoma State to minus-21 yards rushing, a school record.

Reggie Yarbrough, who replaced Thomas to start the second half, scored on an 80-yard run that gave Fullerton a 24-17 lead in the third quarter. Schulte, a senior making his first varsity start, passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns and receiver J.J. Celestine caught six passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.

But overall, the Titans were inconsistent on offense and defense. Schulte completed 20 of 41 passes, and his one interception was returned 26 yards for a touchdown by Cossack linebacker James Solley in the third quarter.

Take away Yarbrough’s long touchdown run, and the Titans netted 61 yards rushing, not a ringing endorsement for Fullerton’s offensive line. Schulte was also sacked three times.

The secondary was supposed to be Fullerton’s strength, but the Titans proved vulnerable, as three Sonoma State quarterbacks combined for 283 yards passing and two touchdowns. Fullerton also fumbled six times, losing three of them, and was penalized nine times for 75 yards.

“The reason for those mistakes is we’re an inexperienced team and we’re going through the rebuilding process,” Murphy said.

One position Murphy figured he had rebuilt was running back, where he felt Thomas, a quick, elusive runner, and Yarbrough, a bigger back with break-away speed, would ease the loss of Mike Pringle, who is now with the Atlanta Falcons.

But Murphy lost that quality depth late in the second quarter when Thomas, attempting to recover a fumble, had the misfortune of having a lineman fall on his knee.

“I felt a pop, but I was able to walk to the sideline,” Thomas said. “I didn’t know how serious it was.”

It was very serious--the two main ligaments in the knee, the anterior cruciate and the medial collateral, were damaged. Team trainer Chris Mumaw said the injury would require reconstructive surgery and Thomas would be out for the season.

“I’m shocked. I’m hurt,” Thomas said. “But it’s all a part of football. I have a strong heart and determination and will rebuild my leg.”

Titan offensive coordinator Bill Wentworth said Thomas would have carried the ball about 20 times per game and that he was also effective as a receiver.

“I feel badly for him because he worked hard all spring and summer, and we were looking forward to him being the featured guy in the running game,” Wentworth said. “It’s a big disappointment, but it’s something we’ll have to adjust to in the next couple weeks.”

The Titan offense had to do its share of adjusting Saturday against a gambling Sonoma State defense. The Cossacks often blitzed their linebackers and sometimes overplayed receivers, a strategy that had mixed success.

They were able to sack Schulte three times, intercept him once and force many incompletions, but the quarterback was able to burn Sonoma State for several long pass plays, including a 49-yard touchdown pass to Richard Harrison that gave Fullerton a 38-24 lead with 5:12 remaining.

Sonoma State had pulled to within a touchdown when John Spear, the Cossacks’ third quarterback, threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Deangelo Mitchell, younger brother of San Francisco Giants outfielder Kevin Mitchell, to make it 31-24 with 6:19 left.

The score was set up by Solley’s recovery of Nuygen Pendleton’s fumble on a punt return. But on Fullerton’s next possession, Yarbrough’s runs of 25 and 4 yards gave the Titans the ball at the Cossack 49, and Schulte hit Harrison on a post pattern for the touchdown.

Fullerton took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on Thomas’ 4-yard touchdown run and Phil Nevin’s 49-yard field goal. Ed Beaulac kicked a 37-yard field goal for Sonoma State’s first score, but Yarbrough’s 1-yard touchdown run, which capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive, gave the Titans a 17-3 lead with 3:27 left in the first half.

After Schulte fumbled the ball away when he was sacked by Cossack tackle Sam Hernandez, quarterback Les Vanderpool hit Mitchell with a 36-yard pass and a 6-yard touchdown pass 23 seconds before halftime to make it 17-10.

Solley’s interception return for a touchdown tied the score at 17 early in the third quarter, but Fullerton came back with a big play when the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Yarbrough broke off right tackle from his 20-yard line, found an opening and outraced Cossack cornerback Mike Williams to the end zone.

Schulte’s 7-yard scoring pass to Celestine on a slant pattern gave Fullerton a 31-17 with 3:26 left in the third quarter, and the teams exchanged touchdowns in the fourth quarter.