Bailey Has Big Bash in Debut

Lafayette Bailey didn’t waste any time making up for lost time.

Bailey, a sophomore running back for Antelope Valley College, rushed for a school-record 305 yards and three touchdowns in 34 carries Saturday in a 35-31 Foothill Conference victory over Southwestern.

Not a bad start. In fact, good enough for Bailey, who sat out the first two games because of academic and disciplinary reasons, to leapfrog into the lead among conference rushers.

“It was hard sitting out,” Bailey said. “I practiced, but I had to sit through the games and be a cheerleader. I tried to keep everybody’s heads up high.”

Bailey was held out of the Marauders’ season-opener Sept. 13 against Moorpark for precautionary reasons because of a discrepancy regarding a transcript. The following week, Bailey missed a practice and was levied a one-week suspension by Coach Brent Carder.

Last week, Bailey suited up and blasted off.

“It was like being in a cage for those two weeks and then they finally let me out,” Bailey said. “I knew I was going to run hard, but I didn’t think I would end up with 305 yards.”

Bailey scored on runs of eight, 77 and 18 yards while eclipsing the previous record of 291 yards set by Tony Reed against Redwoods in 1974. Reed also set the school single-season rushing record that season with 1,886 yards.

Bailey, who rushed for 864 yards as a part-time starter last season, needs to average 226 yards over the remaining seven games to reach Reed’s season record.

Bailey doesn’t know if he can break the record. But he said he knows one thing.

“No more missing out for me,” he said.

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Through four games, Cal State Northridge running back Norman Clarke hasn’t scored a touchdown, a surprising turnabout after scoring 11 last season.

But the senior says it’s just a matter of time.

“We have eight games left,” Clarke said. “I know I’ll get in the end zone.”

Clarke is not getting as many chances to score as last year.

The Matadors rotate Clarke, senior Jahi Arnold and junior Marcus Harvey in the backfield after each possession. Clarke, the starter, has dropped from 12.5 carries per game in 1996 to 8.2 attempts.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Clarke said. “It doesn’t feel good not being able to score, but I like the way we are rotating. . . . Last year we had a lot of problems with the depth in the backfield.”

Clarke, from Hesperia High and San Bernardino Valley College, came into his own with the Matadors halfway through last season after replacing the injured Chad Marsalek.

He led Northridge with 690 yards rushing and was second in touchdowns to wide receiver David Romines, who had 12.

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Northridge’s rotation at running back has produced four different rushing leaders: Arnold, 50 yards at Boise State on Aug. 30; Clarke, 36 yards at Hawaii on Sept. 6; junior Geoff Snowden, 46 yards at New Mexico State on Sept. 13; and Harvey, 53 yards against Azusa Pacific.

Coach Jim Fenwick said he will continue rotating the trio.

“They all offer something a little different,” Fenwick said.

Snowden has played sparingly and started at New Mexico State because Fenwick suspended Arnold, Clarke and Harvey for the first half of the game for violating curfew.

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The open date last Saturday helped several Matadors heal from injuries that kept some out for several games.

Expected back for the Big Sky Conference opener at Portland State on Saturday are strong safety Vito Clemente, defensive tackle Ronald Aumua and offensive guard Toma Popescu.

Clemente hasn’t played since the opener at Boise State on Aug. 30 because of strained knee ligaments, Aumua missed the Azusa Pacific game on Sept. 20 because of a strained right triceps and Popescu sat out the same game because of nerve problem in a shoulder.

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Injuries continue to hobble the Glendale football team, which fell to 0-3 Saturday with a 44-32 loss to Harbor.

The Vaqueros lost their fifth starter to injury in the game. Defensive end Mboya Greene suffered a dislocated shoulder and is expected to miss the game Saturday against visiting Southwest.

Glendale has been without linebackers Jin Hur and defensive back Clifton Butts since both suffered sprained ankles in the opener against Santa Monica. Last week, Marlon Calloway, an all-Western State Conference linebacker and Glendale’s best defensive player, suffered a sprained ankle and will not play this week, Coach John Cicuto said.

Sophomore quarterback John Carnevali remains sidelined because of a bruised shoulder suffered two weeks ago.

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Two of the state’s best junior college football teams will square off when Valley plays host to Bakersfield in a Western State Conference interdivision game Saturday night at Valley.

Bakersfield (3-0), which defeated Moorpark, 41-14, last Saturday, is ranked second in the state and first in Southern California. Valley (2-0), coming off a bye week, is ranked fourth in the state and fourth in Southern California. The Monarchs have the WSC’s top-ranked offense and defense.

Valley has defeated Bakersfield in each of the past two seasons. Previously, Bakersfield had defeated Valley 13 consecutive times.

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Cal Lutheran’s 22-point halftime deficit Saturday against the University of San Diego was the largest the Kingsmen have ever overcome to win a game.

Before rallying to beat the Toreros, 39-32, Cal Lutheran’s greatest comebacks had been from 14 points down. The Kingsmen accomplished that feat several times, most recently in 1977.

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Turnovers again played a key role for the Cal Lutheran football team. Only this time, the Kingsmen didn’t have any, after committing 11 in their first two games.

“See what happens when you don’t turn the ball over?” Coach Scott Squires said.

Another key factor was Cal Lutheran’s rushing attack.

The Kingsmen have sorely missed injured Fredrik Nanhed, the team’s leading rusher the past two seasons, but they got a big boost from freshman Dorian Stitt.

Stitt, a Royal High graduate who attended St. Mary’s College for a semester last year but did not play football, rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns.

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Jack Kocur, a fifth-year senior driver from Royal High, has scored a team-high 22 points to pace the Pepperdine men’s water polo team to a 9-0 record and the No. 1 ranking in the nation by the American Water Polo Coaches Assn.

The Waves, who won the USC tournament two weeks ago, are top-ranked for the first time since 1984. They opened Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with an 11-4 victory over fourth-ranked UC Irvine last Saturday as Kocur scored two goals.

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Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Vince Kowalick and correspondent Lauren Peterson contributed to this notes column.