Not Losing Hope, CSUN Just Loses

Quarterback J.J. O’Laughlin struggled to find the words to describe his senior season at Cal State Northridge.

He pushed his baseball cap back on his head and searched for the appropriate terms.

“It was a bunch of great guys who had to deal with a lot of frustration,” he said.

Add another log to the fire. Northridge had a chance to win down the stretch but lost to Cal State Sacramento, 23-22, Saturday night in an American West Conference football game before 1,628 at Hornet Stadium.

Northridge (3-7, 0-3 in the conference) lost its fifth game in a row, the longest losing streak in Coach Bob Burt’s nine-year tenure.

The Matadors had the ball in the closing minutes and a chance to end the skid.

However, cornerback Marvin Brown intercepted O’Laughlin’s pass at the Sacramento 45 with 2:45 remaining and the Matadors were dealt a final, crushing blow.

“The way we were playing, I was so confident we’d make it happen,” Burt said. “We didn’t.”

Northridge held a 19-16 lead entering the fourth quarter, but it didn’t stand up long. Sacramento’s ground attack, slowed to a halt in the first half, lumbered into gear just in time.

Fullback Jesse Klinge scored on a 12-yard rumble up the middle with 12:29 remaining to hand the Hornets (5-5, 2-1) a 23-19 lead.

Northridge didn’t cave in. The Matadors drove to the Sacramento eight and Matt Ornelaz kicked a 26-yard field goal--his third of the game--to bring Northridge to within a point with 7:06 left.

The Matadors’ defense, which allowed 290 yards, made a huge stand on Sacramento’s next possession. Faced with fourth and two at the Northridge 23, Sacramento pulled its field-goal unit off the field and elected to go for the first down. However, quarterback Joe Garofalo scrambled and was knocked out of bounds for a one-yard loss by linebacker Joe Pierro.

O’Laughlin’s 17-yard completion to Duc Ngo moved the Matadors to their 41, but Brown made the play of the game.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t drop it,” Brown said. “I didn’t look it into my hands.”

More than a few Northridge players, seniors and underclassmen alike, shed tears afterward.

“It’s disappointing, extremely disappointing,” tight end Travis Hall said. “Going into the season, there was no doubt in my mind that we’d win the league.”

Instead, the Matadors finished dead last. But in comparison with the four previous losses, the game was definitely “a moral victory,” Hall said.

“I don’t see it as another kick in the pants,” Burt said. “We had every reason on God’s earth to fold and we didn’t.”

Northridge played its best overall game in at least a month. O’Laughlin completed 27 of 45 passes for 278 yards and a touchdown. The defense held Sacramento to 120 yards in the air.

“It’s just been a tough year,” O’Laughlin said. “We made the best of what we could.”

Sacramento took a 16-13 lead when Jake Hoffart caught a screen pass and ran 27 yards for a touchdown with 6:24 left in the third quarter.

O’Laughlin connected with David Romines (eight catches, 95 yards) from 18 yards as Northridge reclaimed the lead, 19-16, with 45 seconds left in the quarter. But Ornelaz missed only his second extra point of the season.

Northridge seemingly had taken control in the final moments of the first half, but a special-teams letdown killed the momentum.

Tailback Mark Harper (18 carries, 57 yards) scored from two yards to finish off one of the Matadors’ best series in weeks, a 17-play, 72-yard drive. The score gave Northridge a 13-3 lead with 2:58 left in the half.

However, Demetryst Cornish returned the kickoff 49 yards to the Northridge 39-yard line. Cornish scored six plays later on a five-yard run to bring Sacramento to within 13-9. The extra-point attempt was blocked by lineman Oscar Wilson.

The Matadors crossed midfield on their first four possessions of the game, two of which were converted into field goals of 43 and 31 yards by Ornelaz.

Sacramento closed to within 6-3 on a 27-yard field goal by Tyson Becker with 10:14 remaining in the half.

Matador Notes

In a game that decided the AWC title, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo defeated Southern Utah, 35-21. Cal Poly finished 3-0. Had Southern Utah won, there would have been a three-way tie for the title.