Long Beach Goes for Two and Wins

Cal State Long Beach Coach George Allen had decided two days earlier that he needed to have a two-point conversion play ready because he wasn’t going to settle for a tie with Cal State Northridge.

So with 1:17 left Saturday, after the 49ers had pulled to within 24-23 on a 21-yard pass play from Todd Studer to Jeff Exum, Allen told his team to go for the victory. The play was a bit shaky, but it still worked when Mark Seay caught a tipped pass from Studer to give the 49ers a 25-24 victory before 3,090 in Veterans Stadium.

“I’m sure glad we practiced that play in the dark Thursday afternoon,” Allen said after the 49ers improved to 5-5. “Long Beach hasn’t had a winning season since 1986. This gives us a chance for the winning season.”

The 49ers, 5-0 at home, conclude their first season under Allen next week at home against Nevada Las Vegas.

“I was open,” Seay said. “I was just hoping he could get it up over the cornerback.”

But when Studer’s pass was low enough for Clayton Bamberg to tip, it appeared as if Northridge, a Division II team, would pull off the upset. The ball, though, was deflected and caught by Seay.

The statistics were as close as the score: The 49ers had compiled a 453-440 edge in total yards.

Trailing 10-3 at halftime, Long Beach came back in the third quarter to take the lead, 17-10, on a 15-yard run by Herman Nash and a 32-yard pass play from Studer to Sean Foster.

But on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, Northridge’s Victor DeVaughn, who gained a game-high 131 yards, burst 80 yards up the middle for a touchdown that tied the score at 17-17.

On their next possession early in the fourth quarter, the Matadors (7-3) went 67 yards, a scoring drive kept alive by a 13-yard fourth-and-three pass out of punt formation from Albert Razo to Eric Treibatch.

Three plays later, Jason Ferguson ran 18 yards for a touchdown that gave Northridge a 24-17 lead.

Long Beach came back on a long drive, but was stopped four consecutive times inside the Northridge five-yard line with four minutes left. The Matadors took over, but were forced to punt to Freddie Leslie, who returned the ball 31 yards to set up the touchdown and winning two-point play.