Gagliano Just Makes His Points : Chargers: Humphries, Carney also strong in 30-19 win over Rams.

Bob Gagliano and John Carney, two men fighting to erase any doubts about their dependability, ignited a 30-19 rout of the Rams in the exhibition finale for both teams Thursday night.

The Chargers finished the exhibition season 2-2 under new Coach Bobby Ross and will open the regular season Sept. 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs at home, presumably with Gagliano at quarterback.

“Bob did another fine job for us,” Coach Bobby Ross said. “It would be hard to remove Bob Gagliano from that (starting) position. He’s just played so well and and so consistently. I’ll sleep on it, but right now I’d still lean to Bob.”

Gagliano, who refuses to take a back seat to front-office favorite Stan Humphries, led the Chargers 80 yards on the opening drive to set up Rod Bernstine’s one-yard touchdown run.

“I don’t ever take anything for granted,” Gagliano said. “You shouldn’t have a real sense of security. My confidence level is getting better every day. Ninety percent of this game is confidence.”

Gagliano completed six of eight passes for 90 yards and finished the exhibition season with his team scoring on seven of 10 series that he was in control.

Carney, the kicker who might have been a miss away from the recall of Carlos Huerta, was successful on all three field-goal attempts, including a 50-yarder off the San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium infield dirt.

“The operation was great with Sam Anno’s snap and John Kidd’s hold, and you just have to have the faith in your mechanics that you can get it done,” Carney said. “It’s a different type of kick off the dirt, but fortunately I’ve had a lot of practice off of it in the off-season.”

The Chargers kept Carney at Huerta’s expense last week because of his strong leg, and Carney was convincing as he dropped the ball in the end zone on three of the five kickoffs that he was asked to boot deep.

“I always felt confident, but in a competitive situation like we had this year, you have to come out and prove yourself every day,” Carney said. “(Huerta’s release) allowed me to concentrate on my job this week without the distractions.”

After a depressing start to the exhibition season with John Friesz’ knee injury, the Chargers wrapped it up with a good night in front of 46,949 fans, which included a 20,000-ticket giveaway on “Salute the Military” night.

Anthony Miller caught five passes for 69 yards, Nate Lewis made a strong showing as the team’s No. 2 receiver, Marion Butts ran nine times for 59 yards, and Ronnie Harmon put on show.

Harmon, the players’ choice as most valuable player last season, toyed with the Rams in the third quarter. After the Chargers took possession at their 46 with a 16-13 lead, Harmon performed the “Twist” on the way to running for a five-yard gain.

On second down, he ran around right end for no gain, but was sent flying into the Rams’ bench by a frustrated Rickey Jones, who drew a 15-yard personal foul. With the ball now on the Rams’ 34, Harmon caught an 11-yard pass from Humphries and advanced the ball to the Rams’ 23.

Humphries, who improved as the game progressed, went right back to Harmon with a short swing pass to the left, and Harmon danced past the Rams’ defense for a 23-yard touchdown.

Harmon also played a role in Gagliano’s opening drive of the game. He took a short pass from Gagliano and left the Rams dizzy on the way to gaining 21 yards. Gagliano then continued his impressive play moments later with consecutive passes to Miller.

Miller broke wide open for a 28-yard gain, and then maneuvered himself free at the Rams’ two-yard line for a 14-yard reception. It took two leaps by Bernstine to cover the final two yards, but with 9:25 remaining in the first quarter, the Chargers were ahead 7-0.

Two penalties sabotaged the Chargers’ next offensive opportunity, but on his third and final series of the night, Gagliano marched his team 71 yards to the Rams’ nine-yard line before giving way to Carney and his successful 27-yard field-goal attempt.

Humphries, began his job interview with a Billy Joe Tolliver imitation. He overthrew Lewis on a scoring try just before the half and then really overthrew Lewis, prompting Carney to come on for a 38-yard field goal and a 13-3 Charger lead.

That appeared as if it was going to be the halftime score until Mike Pagel’s Hail Mary pass on the final play of the second quarter found Todd Kinchen in the end zone. Kinchen outleaped a quartet of Charger defenders, and Steve Domingos’ extra point cut the Chargers’ lead to 13-10.

Ross said before the game that it was important for his team to mount a better second-half effort. They apparently got the message.

“I think we played well overall except for that one play at the end of the half,” Ross said.

Take away that prayer before the half and the Chargers’ first-string defensive unit allowed the opposition to score just nine points in the last three weeks.

“Going into the locker room at half after that Hail Mary was actually a good thing for us,” Ross said. “That’s a good time to measure your team in terms of adversity. I was pleased we were able to come back out and play well.”

After the Rams pulled even on Domingos’ 31-yard field goal to open the third quarter, the Chargers replied with Carney’s 50-yarder for a 16-13 advantage.

Harmon’s antics accounted for the game-winning points, and then in the fourth quarter Humphries continued to make his pitch for the starting job by throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to a leaping Walter Stanley.

“I think extra work I got in practice this week has paid off,” said Humphries, who completed 11 of 16 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. “I felt we had a good night and I got a little more rust off.”

Humphries has not played since mid-1990 and received very little practice time while with the Redskins. The Chargers acquired Humphries on Aug. 13th, and although the newcomer was expected to become the starter, no one anticipated Gagliano’s consistently impressive play.

“They haven’t told me anything (about who will start),” Humphries said. “I’m not worrying about it. Bob’s been doing great and he’s had a great game three weeks in a row . . . I’m all for whatever is best for the team.”

The Rams, 3-1 in exhibition play, came back to make the final score respectable with a Pagel 12-yard touchdown pass to Kinchen with 41 seconds to play.

“I feel pretty good about us right now,” Ross said. “We’ve come back from as adverse a situation as you probably could come back from. We went into Phoenix and lost our quarterback and played poorly.

“We’ve shown an awful lot of character. I’m pleased where we are right now. Now I am very, very anxious to get on with the regular season.”