Stepping Down in Class, Northridge Gets Outclassed Anyway, 27-8

The Cal State Northridge football team lost again, which is not that shocking. The Matadors have lost four in a row.

But this defeat was different. On Saturday night the Matadors’ loss was not against an established Division I-AA program with three times the scholarships Northridge has, as were the previous three.

This time it was to a Division II team, and the Matadors have no excuses other than six turnovers.

Western New Mexico beat Northridge, 27-8, on Saturday night in a nonconference game played before 1,431 fans at North Campus Stadium.

Northridge (1-4) moved the ball well. Clayton Millis completed 20 of 41 passes for 318 yards, but the problem was his four interceptions.

“It’s frustrating because it seemed like we had opportunities, but a lot of turnovers,” Millis said. “I think I made some bad reads and it hurt us. And I take full blame for that.”

By contrast, Western New Mexico’s Alfred Montez, one of the highest-rated small-college quarterbacks in the nation, completed 20 of 33 passes for 177 yards and no interceptions. The Mustangs had 325 yards of offense.

Western New Mexico, enrollment 2,500, took control at the outset. Northridge trailed, 7-0, before it touched the ball.

The Mustangs (3-3) returned the opening kickoff to the Northridge 49, then took four plays and 42 seconds to score on Marcus Dickson’s three-yard run.

The Matadors helped out Western New Mexico for the rest of the half by turning the ball over three times. The first was Chad Marsalek’s fumble at the Mustang 18.

Millis threw interceptions on two of the Matadors’ next three possessions. Each interception set up a touchdown, giving the Mustangs a 21-0 lead at the half.

“We came out flat,” Northridge Coach Dave Baldwin said. “We were just stunned in the first half.”

In the second half, Millis threw his third interception on Northridge’s first possession, setting up a Mustang field goal.

“We have to quit turning the . . . ball over,” Baldwin said. “I don’t have the answer to turnovers.”

The Matadors’ next two drives each penetrated Western New Mexico territory, but one ended on an incomplete fourth-and-10 pass at the 39 and the other on interception No. 4, at the 21.

The Matadors scored early in the fourth quarter, when Millis hit Tim Hilton with a 55-yard bomb, which set up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Jones.

Northridge had two late opportunities, but Darren Walton lost a fumble at the Mustang 40 and Millis threw incomplete on fourth and goal from the eight.