Northridge Backs Into Rout : College football: Trio of ballcarriers hit their stride in rotation as Matadors defeat Sonoma State, 40-14.

Shaun Coleman is the living, breathing--and for a moment, stumbling--embodiment of what the Cal State Northridge backfield will look like the rest of the season.

With the clock winding down in the fourth quarter Saturday, Coleman took a handoff, almost fell before he took his second step, then bounced outside.

A moment later, Coleman surprised everybody by bolting down the left sideline for a 49-yard touchdown, one of three scores he managed in the game. All thanks to fresh legs, he said.

This from a burly fullback, one of three players in the Matadors’ reborn backfield rotation that hit its stride in a 40-14 nonconference rout of Sonoma State before 936 at Cossack Stadium.

The prevailing theory about the backfield, after three games of treading water, is that Mark Harper, Darren Walton and Coleman are better collectively than individually. It’s hard to argue. Northridge (3-2) rushed for 280 yards after rolling up 302 a week earlier.

“I almost fell down, but I had the strength to pull away,” Coleman said of his final scoring run. “We have three good running backs that can run effectively out of both (backfield) positions.”

The trio effectively ran Sonoma State out of its shoes. Each carried between seven and 17 times, ensuring that nobody was too beat up in the fourth quarter, as evidenced by Coleman’s speedy jaunt around the corner.

“We’ll rotate all three the rest of the year as long as all three are healthy,” Northridge Coach Bob Burt said.

For the first time this season, senior quarterback J.J. O’Laughlin wasn’t much of a factor. He completed seven of 16 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown. He had one pass intercepted.

“We needed that,” said Coleman, who finished with a career-high 94 yards in 10 carries and also scored on runs of 21 and two yards. “J.J. had a little bit of an off-day.

“It was nice for us, because J.J. picked up the slack when we struggled the first three games.”

Harper finished with a career-high 129 yards in 17 carries, marking his second consecutive 100-yard game. For the sake of perspective, Harper had a team-high 99 yards on the ground after the first three games.

Coleman, a 5-foot-10, 225-pound senior, set the tone when he ran over a pair of would-be tacklers for a 21-yard score in the first quarter.

Northridge held a 34-0 lead before Sonoma State (1-5) opened up on the Matador reserves. Another gauge of the lopsidedness: All 48 players on the road trip played for Northridge.

As much as the running game was responsible for the victory--the backfield averaged 7.0 yards a carry--the secondary was a close second.

In what’s become the Matadors’ weekly ho-hum development, senior safety Joseph Vaughn intercepted another pass and returned it for a touchdown, his fourth in five games. Vaughn has six interceptions. Danny Garrett holds the school single-season record with nine interceptions in 1975.

Vaughn picked off a first-quarter pass by besieged junior Grant Parr and cruised down the sideline for a 38-yard score and a 14-0 lead. He ran within a few feet of the Northridge bench, which was either shocked or desensitized by the sight of Vaughn scoring yet again. Hardly anybody moved.

Senior cornerback Vinnie Johnson, however, came off the field shaking his head in disbelief and said to Burt: “I can’t believe that guy.”

Johnson, a four-year starter, has one interception, and for that, cornerback Jim Rose can be thankful. Few quarterbacks throw in Johnson’s area, which meant plenty of business for Rose, who took over as a starter in the second week.

Rose, a junior from Pierce College and Monroe High, tied a school single-game record with three interceptions--one for each earring he wears. Rose showed up for post-game interviews with a bandanna over his closely-cropped hair and a can of snuff tucked in his waistband.

“I just picked that up,” he said of the latter.

After Vaughn’s score, the Matadors chewed on the Cossacks some more, then spit ‘em out.

Walton, who carried seven times for 59 yards, gave Northridge a 21-0 lead on a 27-yard run with 10 minutes 23 seconds left in the first half.

Coleman followed with a two-yard blast for a 28-0 lead.

By halftime Parr, playing because of an injury to starter Ryan Merrill, completed five of 14 passes and had three intercepted. He finished six of 20 for 45 yards and had four picked off.

Northridge outgained Sonoma State, 399-278.

Burt had to search long and hard to come up with something negative to say about the blowout.

“If there’s one thing I’m a little concerned about, it’s the play of the back-up guys,” he said.

Heck, if there’s only one thing to be concerned about, he’s in darn good shape.