A Battle to the End for Pierce : College football: Coach Norton, assistant clash on sideline; on field, Brahmas stave off West L.A., 31-29.

Bill Norton abandoned his usual perch in the press box Saturday and took up a position along the sidelines at West Los Angeles College in an effort to inject some emotion into his team.

Pierce’s excitable football coach not only fired up his charges, he apparently fired an assistant coach during an emotion- and action-packed Western State Conference South Division game won by Pierce, 31-29.

The Brahmas had lost two consecutive games and were in danger of dropping out of the division race.

Early in the first quarter, Norton got into a shouting match with outside linebackers coach Chris Setterberg, yanking off the latter’s headset and dressing him down in front of the team. Setterberg responded with profanity but cooled off and quietly watched the remainder of the half from the sideline.

When the second half began, with Pierce leading, 17-7, Norton ordered Setterberg off the sideline, and Setterberg told reporters and players he had been fired.

“He insulted one of my players, and I told (Norton) it wasn’t (the player’s) responsibility,” Setterberg said. “(Norton) asked me to take my head phones off, and I said ‘No.’ So he took them off for me.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. . . . He embarrassed me in front of my mom. He’s a crazy man, in my opinion.”

Norton refused comment on the incident and would not confirm Setterberg had been fired.

The game was even wilder than the sideline show.

The Brahmas (4-4, 4-3 in conference play), ranked second in the WSC in defense, had to find a way to slow the conference’s top offense, second-leading rusher Michael Black and third-leading pass receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

Black, the former Camp Kilpatrick standout who had rushed for nearly 500 yards in his last two games, was held to 76 yards in 21 carries and was outgained by Pierce’s Michael Justin, who recorded a season-high 92 yards in 28 carries.

Justin scored what proved to be the decisive touchdown on a one-yard dive with 3 minutes 39 seconds remaining, giving the Brahmas (1-2 in division play) a 31-14 lead.

West Los Angeles (3-4-1, 3-3-1) cut its deficit to 10 on an 11-yard scramble by quarterback Damon Williams, then recovered an onside kick. Five plays later, Williams passed 17 yards to Demilo Bynum for a touchdown, and followed that with a pass to Marcus Bonds for a two-point conversion with 1:57 left.

Jim Rose recovered the ensuing onside kick to end the Oilers’ rally.

Quarterback Davis Delmatoff scored for Pierce on runs of one and six yards and completed 14 of 31 passes for 198 yards, with one interception. David Doyle, the WSC’s leading receiver, had eight catches for 143 yards.