Matadors Blow Past Weber State

The rain wasn’t kind to Cal State Northridge last week in Portland but the wind Saturday at home?

Well, that’s a whole other matter.

Northridge, catching fire on spine-chilling night at North Campus Stadium, defeated Weber State, 30-20, in a Big Sky Conference football game in front of 3,856.

“Everything came out real great,” Northridge quarterback Josh Fiske said. “The offense worked great and the defense stepped it up. Everything clicked.”

The clicking business, especially on defense, was a long-time coming for the Matadors (3-3, 1-1 in the Big Sky), who find themselves back in the scramble for the conference title.

Northridge was extremely generous the past few games, giving up large chunks of yardage on the ground, including 276 to Portland State last week. The Matadors tightened up, limiting Weber State (3-3, 1-2) to 156 yards rushing.

“Our goal this week was to stop the run,” said Northridge defensive end Brett Nordyke, who was in on seven tackles. “We were hitting gaps and we penetrated.”

Fiske showed tremendous poise, hanging tough in the pocket under heavy pressure several times, but stepping away from trouble to find receivers.

The sophomore, playing in place of injured Aaron Flowers, completed 29 of 43 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown. He outgunned Weber State’s Steve Buck, who was 17 of 42 for 248 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 94 yards.

He was particularly cool during Northridge’s last two scoring drives, capping the 18-play, 98-yard clincher with a six-yard run with 54 seconds to play.

“Josh won the game,” Flowers said. “He just stands in there and guys are falling off of him but he makes the plays.”

On the series before, Fiske guided the Matadors on a 63-yard, eight-play scoring drive that gave the Matadors a 23-20 lead with 9:55 to play. Norman Clarke scored on a one-yard run.

“I felt more of a leader tonight,” Fiske said. “My confidence was up.”

The Matadors capitalized on short punts by Weber State that got caught in the wind to take a 14-0 lead. Clarke scored on a one-yard run with 6:14 left in the first quarter and Fiske hit Mike Ogas with a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:56 to go in the quarter.

Weber State responded on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Buck to Richard Clarke and sliced the deficit to 14-13 at the half on field goals of 47 and 30 yards by Scott Shields.

The Matadors added a 32-yard field goal by Manny Marquez with 1:44 to play in the third quarter but Weber State pulled ahead, 20-17, on Buck’s two-yard toss to 6-foot-7 tight end Cam Quayle 2:02 into the fourth quarter.

Jerome Henry had 13 catches for 156 yards and Jahi Arnold carried 17 times for 83 yards.

On the Agenda

CSUN Task Force on Intercollegiate Athletics

Next meeting: Monday

When: 7 p.m.

Where: University Student Union, grand salon, on east side of campus, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge

Topics: Doug Fullerton, commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, is scheduled to speak. Also, Associate Athletic Director Judith Brame on Title IX and CSU/CAL-NOW issues; subcommittee reports.