Cal Lutheran Gets Kick Out of Overtime : College football: SCIAC tiebreaking procedure enables Kingsmen to win, 17-14, on Schuldheisz field goal.

Cal Lutheran kicker Ben Schuldheisz was the hero in a game he and nearly all of the homecoming crowd of 2,351 at Mt. Clef Stadium believed only moments earlier was over.

Schuldheisz booted a 34-yard field goal in overtime to give Cal Lutheran a 17-14 victory over Occidental in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game Saturday. It was the Kingsmen’s second consecutive victory after starting the season with three losses by a total of eight points.

Schuldheisz’s kick was made possible because since 1985 the SCIAC has utilized the tiebreaker employed in NCAA playoff games.

Cal Lutheran won the overtime coin flip and opted to defend. Occidental was given the ball on the Kingsmen’s 25-yard line. David Smith gained two yards, Erik Messal threw an incomplete pass and Brian Madlangbayan ran for six yards, giving the Tigers a fourth-and-two-situation on the Cal Lutheran 17. Coach Dale Widolff elected to try for a field goal, but David Glassmire’s 34-yard attempt was wide.

The Kingsmen then took their turn, starting at Occidental’s 25. Cassidy O’Sullivan ran for five yards, Ivan Moreno for one and O’Sullivan for three. Schuldheisz ended the game with his kick. (Had he missed, the procedure would have continued with each team taking possession on its opponent’s 25-yard line until one team outscored the other.)

“I was ready to go the locker room when (special-teams) Coach (Rich) Dispenza told me to take a few kicks and keep my leg warm,” Schuldheisz said.

Cal Lutheran (2-3, 2-1) is in its first season as an SCIAC member. Coach Joe Harper said the game was the first in his 29-year career to go into overtime.

Interceptions enabled the Kingsmen to survive two fourth-quarter threats.

With three minutes to play, Occidental (3-2, 2-1) drove to the Cal Lutheran 23 before Cory Undlin ended the drive with an interception. With 15 seconds to play, Chris Sestito intercepted a pass at the Cal Lutheran 25.

The Kingsmen opened the game with a 14-play, 72-yard drive, capped by O’Sullivan’s one-yard touchdown.

Occidental scored on its first two possessions and took a 14-7 lead. Smith registered both touchdowns, on 16- and four-yard runs.

O’Sullivan, who finished with 128 yards in 33 carries, tied the score with 3:43 left in the third quarter on a 20-yard run. The touchdown came two plays after quarterback Adam Hacker (21 of 33 for 185 yards) connected with Len Bradley on a 35-yard pass that Bradley caught between two defenders.