Branch’s Bursts Give USD a Wet, Wild Victory : College football: Torero running back gains 209 yards and scores three times on only nine carries in 38-37 victory over La Verne.

The last time the University of San Diego played a football game in a rainstorm like the one that drenched Torero Stadium Saturday night, the Toreros scored the only seven points in a 1987 victory at UC Santa Barbara.

This one, against a vastly improved La Verne team, was slightly different.

Despite yielding a school-record 559 total yards, including a school-record 454 passing yards, USD managed to pull out a 38-37 victory in front of 2,000 soaked fans to improve to 5-2.

La Verne, which had not beaten USD in five years but gave it a valiant effort here, lost for the first time since its season opener and fell to 5-2.

USD gained 438 yards in 50 plays, including 390 on the ground. Combined, the two had 997 total yards, another record.

USD running back Willie Branch had 209 yards rushing and three touchdowns in only nine carries.

La Verne quarterback Willie Reyna completed 29 of 40 passes for 454 yards.

The 75 combined points missed USD’s school record of 76 set in a 56-20 victory over U.S. International in 1973.

With all the offense produced, however, the game came down to two key defensive plays for the Toreros.

The first, with 5:14 left, came on a fourth and five from the USD 18-yard line. Reyna, out of the shotgun, was sacked by Frank Knafeiz for a loss of 23 yards. Then, with 1:46 left, USD’s Stephen Crandall iced the game with an interception at the Leopard 34.

After La Verne took a 31-24 lead into halftime, USD ran only four plays in the third quarter but took a 38-37 lead.

Branch ran two of those plays for touchdowns, the first was 73 yards, the other 58.

“You don’t have to be too smart to pitch the ball to Willie,” USD Coach Brian Fogarty said.

In 83 games during eight-plus seasons at USD, Fogarty had never experienced a first half like this. In those 83 games, USD had scored more than 24 or more points only 19 times. Opponents had scored 31 or more only eight times.

All this happened in one half . . . one wild half.

Reyna completed 19 of 23 for 359 yards and three touchdowns. Bill Battin caught four of those for 153 yards, Rod Zerbel seven for 98 and one touchdown, Dennis Houlihan four for 45 and a touchdown and David Morales three for 50 and a touchdown.

USD, meanwhile got most of its yardage on the ground, with Branch carrying five times for 76 yards, Scott Sporrer 12 for 57 and Michael Henry two for 50. Each had a touchdown apiece.

It all started innocently enough with USD running five plays and punting in its initial possession. La Verne then got a 30-yard field goal from Noe Lopez and a nine-yard touchdown pass from Reyna to Houlihan to make it 9-0 Leopards near the end of the first quarter.

It was now the Toreros’ turn to get hot, and did they ever--try 16 points in the next 1:06.

On the second play of the second quarter, Branch scored from three yards at the 14:18 mark. On the ensuing kickoff, La Verne’s Houlihan muffed the kick in the end zone and was tackled by USD’s Matt Horeczko for a safety.

After the ensuing free kick gave USD the ball at the Leopard 40, Henry scored three plays later, taking an inside handoff 28 yards into the end zone with 13:12 left in the third quarter.

Just like that, USD had the lead, 16-9.

La Verne pulled to within, 16-15, three minutes later as Phelan Piestrup bulled over from the one to cap a seven-play, 80-yard drive.

Four minutes later, following a La Verne fumble at their own three-yard line and a recovery by USD’s Jim Washam, the Toreros went up 24-15 as fullback Sporrer followed backup fullback Charlie Taumoepeau into the end zone for a two-yard touchdown.

La Verne scored two touchdowns in the final 3:42 of the half, but the thrills still weren’t through.

Taking a pitch at the USD 46 with four seconds left, Branch rambled through tacklers for 49 yards, before being brought down at the five. And finally, it was halftime.