Bad Signs in Plane View Early for La Verne

Maybe it was a sign of things to come.

Actually, it was a red light on the dashboard.

When La Verne’s football team flew to Minneapolis for its NCAA Division III football game Friday, the pilot had to abort the landing twice.

The plane landed safely and the players had plenty of rest, but they lost to St. John’s of Collegeville, Minn., 51-12, on Saturday.

“I don’t think it affected the players in terms of the game--although about a half-dozen of the players got sick on the plane,” La Verne Coach Rex Huigens said. “Believe me, they weren’t the only ones. Lots of other passengers were reaching for those little bags.”

The plane was close to landing when a wind-shear warning light came on, and the pilot pulled up.

On the second try, the plane in line ahead of the La Verne team’s plane aborted its landing when winds caused it to suddenly drop 20 feet. So, again, the pilot on the plane carrying the players decided to abort.

They finally landed on a strip at the far side of the airport without a problem.

“The pilot came on (the public address system) and told us everything that was going on, but it was still a pretty difficult ride,” Huigens said.

Things were just as bumpy the next day.

La Verne was invited to play in its first postseason game after going 9-0 and winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title. It was the first time the school had an undefeated season, and the Leopards had won 12 consecutive games going back to last season.

But injuries from the last game of the regular season, a 30-6 victory over Occidental, were a factor.

Running back Darren MacLellan, who led the conference in rushing with 1,379 yards--153.2 a game--played only one series before it was obvious that his knee injury would not allow him to be effective.

Defensively, strong safety Keith White’s knee injury hampered his play.

Huigens had planned to offset St. John’s aggressive linebackers by going to wide receiver Anthony Rice if it appeared that they were attacking MacLellan. Then, they would go back to MacLellan if St. John’s dropped back into pass defense.

“But the bottom line is that we got beat by a better team,” Huigens said. “Their team speed was faster than we thought from our two rolls of game film. They would have beat us anyway, but not by that much (were it not for the injuries).”

*

La Verne’s loss was the sixth in seven playoff games by SCIAC teams. Does that mean the SCIAC has no business going to the playoffs?

Not necessarily.

There are reasons SCIAC teams have had trouble in the playoffs. They do not have an automatic bid into the playoffs, and so they usually have to travel.

The last time a Division III football playoff game was played in Southern California was 1983. In that game, Wisconsin La Crosse beat Occidental, 43-42.

“I think the trip (to the Midwest) is worth seven or 10 points--I really do,” Huigens said. “The longest trip we made this season was an hour and a half.”

Then, when they get where they are going--usually Wisconsin or Minnesota because they are in the same region--SCIAC teams can expect blustery weather. That’s not an excuse that coaches like to make, but cold, wind and rain have a way of disturbing the passing offenses that dominate the conference.

The last time a SCIAC team won a playoff game was nine years ago when Occidental beat St. John’s, 28-10.

Occidental then lost to Central of Iowa, 70-0, in the quarterfinals.

College Division Notes

In Division II women’s volleyball, Cal State Bakersfield advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament by defeating Cal State L.A. in five games. Bakersfield, the top-ranked team in the nation, will play host to the third round this Saturday. . . . In the NAIA women’s volleyball West Regional final, Fresno Pacific defeated Azusa Pacific in four games.

In Division men’s II soccer, Cal State Bakersfield lost in the NCAA quarterfinals to Seattle Pacific. The game finished with a score tied, 2-2, but Seattle Pacific won on penalty kicks, 3-1.

Azusa Pacific’s men’s cross-country team finished fourth at the NAIA championship meet at Kenosha, Wis. In the women’s competition, Westmont finished 14th and Azusa Pacific 16th. . . . Cal State Los Angeles’ women’s cross-country team finished seventh at the NCAA championship meet in Kearney, Neb., Saturday. On the men’s side, Cal Poly Pomona finished 11th and UC Riverside was 16th. . . . In the Division III men’s cross-country meet at Lehigh, Pa., UC San Diego finished 12th and Occidental 19th. In the women’s competition, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished 19th and Whittier was 21st.