Titans Pull Out a 37-36 Victory in Last Minute

Cal State Fullerton players doused Coach Gene Murphy with water. Athletic Director Bill Shumard hugged Senior Associate Athletic Director Steve DiTolla. For one rare afternoon, things were good in Titanland.

Fullerton won a football game in dramatic fashion Saturday, against a Division I-A opponent, no less. And after Chad May’s 13-yard touchdown pass landed in Frank Davis’ arms with 38 seconds left and Teddy McMillan intercepted a pass with nine seconds remaining to preserve the Titans’ 37-36 victory over Cal State Long Beach, you could almost see the weight of another disappointing season rising from the team’s shoulders.

“The nightmare’s over,” said Tim Drevno, a senior offensive lineman. “It’s great for the guys going into winter conditioning, and it’s great for me, because it’s the last game of my career.”

It was also the last game in Santa Ana Stadium for Fullerton, which moves to a new on-campus stadium in 1992. The Titans gave 2,123 fans reason to remember their last home-away-from home game.

The lead changed hands six times, and the Titans (2-9, 1-6 in the Big West Conference) drove 86 yards in 1 minute 9 seconds for the winning score. They won with their fourth- and fifth-string running backs combining for 142 yards and without six players, including four starters, who were held out because of disciplinary reasons.

Fullerton was ahead, 31-24, early in the fourth quarter but failed to put the game away when Danny Pasquil’s 73-yard touchdown run was called back because of a holding penalty and Phil Nevin missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt.

Long Beach (2-9, 2-5) came back on Todd Studer’s 72-yard touchdown pass to Mark Seay with 2:21 left, but Studer’s two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, and the 49ers trailed, 31-30.

Long Beach’s Darwin Walker then ripped the ball out of the hands of Fullerton’s Michael McGuire on an onside kick, and the 49ers took over at the Titan 49. Dan Early turned a short pass over the middle into a 38-yard gain, and Reggie Webb scored on a six-yard run to make it 36-31 with 1:47 left.

Long Beach again went for two, but Studer’s pass to Seay was broken up by B.B. Hudson. The Titans’ ensuing possession started at their 14 with 1:44 to go.

Surely, these were insurmountable odds for Fullerton and a redshirt freshman quarterback who had struggled all season. But May must have had a brief out-of-body experience, vacating momentarily while Joe Montana moved in.

May passed seven yards to Pasquil and 14 to Kerry Reed. Standing tall and confident in the pocket and with excellent protection, he hit Pat Lynch on a 25-yard pass over the middle and Pasquil on a 12-yarder to the 49er 13.

On second down from the 13, May lofted a pass down the left sideline to Davis, who had somehow wedged himself between Long Beach defensive backs Shawn Lawson and Jason Adams. Davis, who caught a 43-yard pass to set up Fullerton’s other fourth-quarter touchdown, snagged the ball and got both feet down in the end zone before falling out of bounds.

“You watch TV tomorrow (Sunday in the NFL) and see if anyone handles it as well as Chad did,” Murphy said.

Long Beach, which beat Fullerton, 37-35, last season on a field goal with six seconds left, had one final possession and moved to the Fullerton 45 with 10 seconds to go. But McMillan’s interception--Fullerton’s fourth--ended the game and the Titans’ 20-game Division I-A losing streak. Fullerton, which beat Division II Cal State Northridge in September, also stopped a seven-game losing streak.

“It was one of the funnest games I’ve ever been associated with,” said Nevin, who also missed a 19-yard field-goal attempt just before halftime. “I could have missed eight field goals, but as long as we won, it was OK. It was probably my last game as a Titan (he’s a junior but hopes to be playing professional baseball next summer and fall), and it’s great to get a win, especially with the way Long Beach beat us last year.”

Besides May, the stars were Pasquil and the Titan defense, which allowed several big plays but came up with many of its own. Fullerton safety Michael Jones returned an interception 59 yards to set up Pasquil’s five-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Linebacker Chad Lindsay’s interception and 28-yard return set up Pasquil’s two-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and McGuire’s interception and 30-yard return set up Nevin’s 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

Pasquil, who made the team as a walk-on in 1989 and earned a scholarship this season, rushed for 101 yards in 38 carries, scored three touchdowns, caught two passes on the final drive and set up his one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter with a 46-yard kickoff return.