Cal Lutheran’s Numbers Add Up to Bright Outlook

Coach Scott Squires says more is better for the Cal Lutheran football team, which has more players executing more plays than last season.

“We are significantly better this year,” said Squires, entering his second season as coach. “Things that took us to the fifth week of the season to learn last year are already being done. We’re much farther along at this point. We’ve improved all over the field.”

The Kingsmen get the first chance to back up their coach’s optimism in a nonconference season opener Saturday at Menlo College.

With a roster of 97 players--about 30 more than last year--and better speed and strength, Cal Lutheran hopes to improve on last season’s 3-6 record and third-place tie in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

“We want to win the conference,” Squires said. “That’s the goal we’ve set, and it’s something that we think is very possible with the players that we have.

“Last year, I felt like we didn’t have anybody at practices sometimes. Now we’ve got more people and we do more things, and we’ll be in better shape if somebody goes down.”

The Kingsmen’s depth already is being tested. Junior running back Fredrik Nanhed, who set a Division III freshman record with 1,380 yards rushing in 1995 and led the team with 709 yards and five touchdowns last season, may miss the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Nanhed missed all or part of five games last season because of a hamstring injury.

Two freshmen--Dorian Stitt and Troy Tucker--are contending for Nanhed’s spot and will play alongside returning fullback Bill Busch, who rushed for 383 yards in 1996.

Three players are locked in a close battle for the quarterback job. Junior Zack Hernandez, an L.A. Baptist High graduate who split time with graduated Ryan Huisenga last season, is competing with transfers Eric Jensen and Derek Brown. Jensen is a junior from Pacific Lutheran University, Brown a senior from Cal State Northridge.

“They’re making it tough to pick one guy,” Squires said. “We can’t start three guys, unfortunately.”

Hernandez is expected to start against Menlo.

The offensive line is the only unit lacking depth. Two projected starters--tackle Ryan McCann and center Artie Mattes--are injured. For the opener, tackle Tony Weak (6 feet 2, 258 pounds) and guard Paul Yerman (6-6, 280) will start on the left side, with tackle Brian Vincent (6-2, 283) and guard Will Plemons (6-0, 230) on the right, and Justin Berensen (5-10, 230) at center.

Although the Kingsmen lost Aaron Hehe and Dwight McNaughton, their top two receivers last season, there are ample replacements in returners Jermaine Dixon, Tom Herman and Ernie Foli. Also contending is junior transfer Tim Kirksey, a Westlake High graduate who spent two seasons at Moorpark College but did not play last season.

Defense is expected to be a strength thanks to strong safety Mattias Wikstrom and a new, more athletic linebacking corps. Wikstrom led the Kingsmen last season with 88 tackles, including 44 solos, and had two interceptions.

Freshman Jeran Van Alfen, Boise State transfer Ryan Cooper and Victor Valley College transfer Jake Halas are the linebackers.

Joining Wikstrom in the secondary are free safety Ryan Babcock, who led the team with three interceptions in 1996, and cornerbacks Tony Sullivan and Kevin Lyon.

Senior Jeff Shea was the top punter in Division III each of the past two years, averaging 45.3 yards last season and drawing attention from the NFL.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Schedule

*--*

Date Opponent Time Saturday at Menlo College 1 p.m. Sept. 13 Pacific Lutheran 1 p.m. Sept. 27 San Diego 1 p.m. Oct. 4 *Redlands 1 p.m. Oct. 11 *at La Verne 1 p.m. Oct. 18 *Whittier 1 p.m. Oct. 25 *at Occidental 7 p.m. Nov. 8 *at Chapman 7 p.m. Nov. 15 *Claremont-Mudd 1 p.m.

*--*

*Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game