Northridge Gets Snowed Under in 45-20 Loss to Southern Utah

Maybe this is why Ron Lindberg carries an extra shoe.

The Southern Utah punter, who kicks with a bare right foot, would have risked hypothermia under chilly conditions Saturday had he not worn a second shoe for insulation. But then again, the Canyon High graduate wasn’t called on too much.

Cal State Northridge surrendered a season-high 482 yards and didn’t force a punt in the first half as Southern Utah rolled to a 45-20 victory in an American West Conference game before 4,012 at the Coliseum of Southern Utah.

Southern Utah gave Northridge (3-5, 0-2 in the conference) the swiftest of boots. Lindberg didn’t punt until there were 2 minutes 47 seconds left in the third quarter with the Thunderbirds leading, 35-14.

“All in all, I thought this was our best game of the year,” Southern Utah Coach Jack Bishop said.

All in all, it was a near-whitewash in the white stuff for Northridge. Six inches of snow had fallen Thursday night.

For the Matadors, who lost their third consecutive game, it was an equal-opportunity rout. The offense stumbled, the defense backpedaled and the team was charged with 12 penalties for 105 yards.

“Everything you could name,” Northridge receiver David Romines said.

Romines put together the team’s best individual effort, finishing with six receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns. But even his performance should include an asterisk, he said.

Romines dropped a sure touchdown pass on the game’s first play from scrimmage, though he scored later in the same series.

“It isn’t any one thing,” Romines said. “We had a lot of three-and-outs on offense, which puts a lot of pressure on the defense.”

The snow left the field looking like partially thawed tundra. The Northridge offense, for whatever reason, remained in a permafrost state for the third week in a row. The Matadors gained 335 yards, 89 of them on the ground.

“We both played on the same turf,” Northridge quarterback J.J. O’Laughlin said. “I can’t explain why it was so lopsided.”

O’Laughlin completed 14 of 33 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns, but threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.

It started and ended on positive notes. After Southern Utah fumbled away the opening kickoff, Romines scored on a 28-yard pass play from O’Laughlin a scant 22 seconds into the game.

Three hours later, Duc Ngo caught a seven-yard scoring pass from reserve quarterback Clayton Millis on the game’s final play. The span in between was mostly forgettable.

The Northridge defense seemed positively mystified. Southern Utah scored three touchdowns on plays of 38 yards or longer. Four Thunderbirds rushed for 53 yards or better and quarterback Rick Robins passed for 210 yards and two touchdowns.

Southern Utah (4-5, 1-1) averaged 6.5 yards per play.

“Guys just are not making the plays they’re supposed to make,” Northridge Coach Bob Burt said.

Southern Utah has won four consecutive games over Northridge, by a combined score of 170-85.

And the blowout might have been worse. Southern Utah drove inside the Northridge 30-yard line on its first three possessions and came away with nothing but a handful of slush.

It didn’t matter, because the Northridge offense by that time had practically flat-lined. The Matadors managed only four first downs and 98 yards in the first half.

Southern Utah defensive back Marlan Bacon, who played at Antelope Valley College, turned the tide late in the first quarter when he intercepted a pass by O’Laughlin and raced 21 yards to the Northridge 12-yard line. Curtis Lindsey scored on the next play to tie the score, 7-7.

Southern Utah scored on three of its next four possessions to take a 28-7 lead at the half. During the deluge, Northridge gave up a 38-yard scoring run to Robins and a 58-yard touchdown run by Shawn Jones.

Northridge righted itself briefly in the third quarter, when on the Matadors’ first possession, O’Laughlin hit Romines on a 55-yard scoring pass play to cut the lead to 28-14.

The defense again failed, however. Southern Utah moved 61 yards in 10 plays and scored on a 12-yard pass from Robins to Micah Deckart to put Northridge in a 35-14 hole with 9:33 left in the quarter.

“We move downfield and score in about a minute and they come right back at us,” Burt said. “That drive hurt us a lot.”

Plenty of things hurt on a larger scope. Three consecutive losses by a combined score of 95-36 are enough to make anybody wonder what’s gone amiss.

“We played tough against Boise State and Southwest Texas, now we can’t get it together,” Romines said. “It’s getting tough to swallow.”

Northridge Notes

The defeat ensured that Northridge can finish in no better than a tie for last place in the four-team AWC. The Matadors, the only team in the AWC without a conference victory, finished tied for last in 1993. . . . Senior tailback Mark Harper, the Matadors’ leading rusher, left the game in the third quarter with a possible broken rib. He will have X-rays taken Monday.