After Their Rough Start, Chargers Tough at Finish : Football: Elder’s interception, Carney’s field goal figure big in 31-29 victory over Houston Oilers.
It took just three offensive plays before the hometown fans began booing the 1991 Chargers.
But before anyone could say “6-10, here we go again,” the Chargers had a contract agreement with first-round pick Stanley Richard and a come-from-behind 31-29 exhibition victory over the Houston Oilers in front of 43,042 fans in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
Defensive back Donnie Elder stepped in front of an errant Reggie Slack pass with less than five minutes to play and returned the ball 52 yards to the Houston 17 to set up John Carney’s 27-yard game winning field goal with 2:04 to play.
The Oilers, who found no resistance in the Chargers’ secondary until Elder’s interception, moved into position to attempt a game-winning field goal of their own, but ran out of time and timeouts.
Placekicker Teddy Garcia, who missed a pair of extra-point attempts earlier, lined up for a 44-yard field-goal try with eight seconds remaining on the clock, but before the ball could be snapped time had expired.
The Chargers opened the game, however, as they finished the 1990 season. They were a disaster on offense in their first series, and the fans in the stands were not pleased.
Quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver and running back Rod Bernstine messed up the handoff exchange on the Chargers’ first offensive play, and Bernstine was forced to fall on the fumble. Tolliver was sacked on the second play for an eight-yard loss and was sent retreating toward his own end zone on third down before unloading a bounce pass in the direction of Ronnie Harmon.
But Tolliver & Company regrouped.
“We developed a little continuity after the game got started,” Tolliver said. “There’s still a lot left for me to learn. You never can reach the expectations of the people; you just do what you can and take it as it comes.”
Warren Moon had made a cameo appearance as the Oilers’ starting quarterback and on the team’s first possession he marched Houston 85 yards in 10 plays for a 7-0 lead. Moon, the trigger man in Houston’s run-and-shoot attack, which features four wide receivers, beat Elder’s coverage with a seven-yard touchdown strike to Ernest Givins.
“We’re still having a little trouble with the run and shoot,” Coach Dan Henning said. “They are the best team in the league at running it. If you hang in there long enough, they will throw one to you and that is what they did.”
While waiting for the Oilers to make a mistake, the Chargers kept pace with third-down specialist Ronnie Harmon.
On third and eight from his own 36, Tolliver bought some time and went looking for Harmon, who has become his favorite receiver in preseason practices. Smart guy that Tolliver.
Harmon had left Oilers’ linebacker Lamar Lathon behind somewhere in Texas and he was all alone at the Houston 43 when he hauled in Tolliver’s pass. He went the remaining distance untouched to complete the 64-yard touchdown.
“I just got the opportunity to get in there,” said Harmon, who caught three passes for 111 yards and ran once for 51 yards. “I saw how hard Rod was working and how hard the line was working and I just didn’t want to let them down.”
In the second quarter Harmon nudged the Chargers ahead 14-7 after accepting a short pass from Tolliver at the Oilers’ 25-yard line. Harmon ran around and through seven different Houston defenders for a 35-yard touchdown.
Moon left the game early in the second quarter after completing eight of 15 passes for 102 yards and was replaced by Cody Carlson, who came to terms on a new contract just a few days ago.
Matched against a Chargers’ secondary that was playing without Sam Seale, Anthony Shelton and Stanley Richard, Carlson needed no practice time. He let Tony Jones race past Donald Frank and then dropped a 34-yard touchdown pass into his arms.
Garcia botched the extra-point attempt, and the Chargers remained ahead, 14-13.
The Chargers extended their lead to 21-13 on an 88-yard drive engineered by Tolliver. Tolliver, who completed eight of 13 passes for 186 yards before taking the second half off, went the final seven yards on a pass to free-agent wide receiver Troy Kyles.
“The key to the game for me was that drive,” Henning said. “Our offense took over the ball (at the Chargers’ 12-yard line) and went the distance of the field with it. That drive gave our guys confidence on both sides of the ball.”
The Oilers’ passing attack continued to befuddle the Chargers’ defense. Carlson closed out the first half by finding Jones again for a 32-yard touchdown. That man Garcia missed the extra point once again.
Garcia, however, returned to the field in the third quarter a changed man. He kicked a 40-yard field goal to push Houston ahead, 22-21.
John Friesz, in relief of Tolliver, failed to move the Chargers on the team’s first possession of the second half, but after Garcia’s field goal, he guided the team 80 yards in 12 plays. Friesz completed six of eight passes on the drive for 76 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown to rookie Yancey Thigpen.
Friesz left in favor of Bob Gagliano after hitting seven of 10 for 84 yards. Gagliano was five for seven in the fourth quarter for 29 yards.
Houston went back to work against the Chargers’ secondary, and Carlson, now looking like Joe Montana, tied the game at 28 with a seven-yard touchdown to Pat Coleman. Garcia steadied himself and added the extra point for a 29-28 Oilers’ advantage with 9:59 to play.
In the past two years the Chargers have gone 4-14 in regular-season games decided by seven or fewer points. And it looked like they were headed for that kind of start to this season until Elder’s interception.
Elder returned the interception to Houston’s 17-yard line, and after a pair of Eric Bieniemy runs for five yards and a Chris Samuels’ plunge for three more yards, Carney got the call.
* RICHARD SIGNS
It took three meetings with General Manager Bobby Beathard before top draft pick Stanley Richard agreed to terms of a contract. C13A