Nanhed Rushes Into CLU Record Book

The rush was on for a Cal Lutheran career record, and Fredrik Nanhed got it.

Nanhed rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns, including a 27-yard scoring run that made him the school career rushing leader in Cal Lutheran’s 40-7 victory over Occidental in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game Saturday at Cal Lutheran.

Nanhed, with 2,666 yards, broke the mark of 2,659 set by Hank Bauer from 1972 to 1975. Nanhed has rushed for 584 yards this season.

Nanhed’s record-setting score came on his last carry of the game with 6:31 to play in the third quarter and gave the Kingsmen a 34-7 lead.

The touchdown capped not only a seven-play, 73-yard drive, but a remarkable comeback by Nanhed.

The native of Malmo, Sweden, set a Division III freshman rushing record with 1,380 yards in 1995. But he missed all or parts of five games in 1996 because of a bad hamstring and sat out last season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

“This was kind of the big one,” Nanhed said. “It means a lot to me. For a while there, I didn’t think it was gonna happen.”

A new rushing record was appropriate for a game in which the Kingsmen (4-3, 1-2) racked up 467 yards of offense, including 379 on the ground.

Because of his record effort, the spotlight was on Nanhed, and the senior was given the game ball.

However, sophomore Dorian Stitt, who shares playing time with Nanhed, led the Kingsmen with 131 yards rushing. And eight other players rushed for yardage, four chipping in with 26 or more.

“That’s what works for us,” Nanhed said.

The ground game was less effective for Occidental (1-6, 1-3), which came in averaging 139.7 yards rushing but was limited to 74.

Kamron Jones led the Tigers with 34 yards in 11 carries. Quarterback Steve Bowman completed seven of 12 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown.