‘Short Yardage’ Adds Up to 144, Helps Pave Way for Flames

While his teammates hooted and hollered during the championship celebration, Southern California Christian’s Dennis Amundson quietly smiled and took it all in.

Sure, Amundson was happy the Flames had just won their first Southern Section football title by defeating Calvary Chapel, 34-14, in the Division X championship game at Santa Ana Stadium.

But Amundson, who gathered with his teammates, wearing a faded blue bandanna around his crew cut, was perfectly happy standing in the background while the Flames received the championship trophy.

In the game, however, Amundson took the spotlight by rushing for 144 yards and a touchdown in 21 carries.

Throughout the ’91 season, the headlines went to teammate Mike Jacot, who broke a single-season county record by scoring 37 touchdowns and also rushed for 2,037 yards in 14 games.

Jacot scored three touchdowns Friday night, but it was Amundson’s tough inside running that set up the first two scores.

On SCC’s first drive, Amundson carried the ball on the first five plays, gaining 35 yards. Two plays later, Jacot put the Flames ahead for good on a 21-yard touchdown run.

On the Flames’ second scoring drive, Amundson found a seam behind pulling left guard Jon Turner, right tackle Jeff Salladin and right guard Jesse Decker and burst through for a 34-yard gain to the Calvary Chapel 23.

Jacot scored four plays later on an 11-yard touchdown run, giving the Flames a 13-0 lead.

“I’m happy for Mike, he’s my best friend,” Amundson said. “I knew I wasn’t going to score as much as Mike because I’m more of a short yardage runner.”

But this short-yardage runner averaged nearly seven yards per carry Friday night and rushed for 1,473 yards this season. SCC Coach Bert Esposito knows Amundson’s value to the Flames.

“Amundson has the biggest heart in the world,” Esposito said. “He’s the heart of our team. He’s just a hard-nosed ballplayer.”

That big heart of Amundson’s also has an irregular heartbeat. Amundson, a senior, said he doesn’t have to take medication to continue to play sports, but the heartbeat has a similar effect as asthma has on an athlete.

“It gets hard to breathe sometimes,” Amundson said. “But I just have to stop and rest for a little while. I was exhausted tonight, but I felt OK.”

Amundson went to the sidelines occasionally to lie down flat on his back to catch his breath.

“I’m surprised at the whole (championship) thing,” Amundson said. “When the season began, I thought we were going to be the ‘Bad News Bears.’ ”

And the Flames were bad news . . . for Calvary Chapel.