Oval Office in Ragsdale’s Game Plan

Leading a college football team is easy for Danny Ragsdale. He wants someday to lead this country.

“I want to be president of the United States,” the Redlands quarterback said.

Ragsdale, a senior, has a 3.7 grade-point average and is applying for a Rhodes scholarship, which would allow him to study politics at Oxford University in England.

According to Graeme Auton, Ragsdale’s advisor and a professor at Redlands, a Rhodes scholarship is given to exceptional student athletes.

It’s the same way Bill Clinton got into politics.

“I want to do something with my leadership skills to help people out,” Ragsdale said. “People have listened to my ideas and I have always been a leader.”

And he’s a leader on the football field too.

After starting the season as a wide receiver and catching a Division III-best 12 passes for 170 yards in a season-opening loss, Ragsdale moved to quarterback and has led the Bulldogs (2-1) to consecutive victories.

Starting quarterback Marty Rincon was lost for the season because of a knee injury in the final preseason scrimmage. Backup John Anderson struggled against Linfield in the opener, so Ragsdale, a preseason All-American who caught a school-record 63 passes in 1997, was under center at the next practice.

It’s a return to the position Ragsdale played when he started at Redlands.

“The move to receiver two years ago was supposed to be final,” Coach Mike Maynard said. “But [after Rincon’s injury] we didn’t want to change our offense to suit one person.”

Instead, Maynard changed quarterbacks.

In Ragsdale’s two starts, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents, 68-13, beating Division I-AA San Diego, 19-13.

With Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play beginning Saturday against Occidental, Ragsdale said his team deserves to be a favorite.

“La Verne, Cal Lutheran and Whittier are always tough,” he said. “But if you wouldn’t have us on top, you’d be stupid.”

The road to the title won’t be easy. The teams that tied Redlands for the conference title in 1997, Cal Lutheran and Whittier, look strong again.

But while the Bulldogs tuned up with nonconference games, the Kingsmen and Poets have already faced each other. On Sept. 19, Whittier defeated Cal Lutheran, 16-13. And Whittier Coach Bob Owens thinks his team is in the driver’s seat.

“I said whoever wins that game gets a leg-up on the conference championship,” he said. “But this conference is balanced enough that anyone can beat you.”

A key for Whittier (2-1, 1-0 SCIAC) will be how quarterback Steve Luce can work with a new group of receivers.

As for Cal Lutheran (2-2, 0-1), hope is not lost. The Kingsmen also defeated San Diego last weekend, and if they win the rest of their games, the season finale against Redlands could have title implications.

The other contender in the SCIAC is La Verne. The Leopards (1-1, 1-0) held Occidental to 32 total yards in their only conference game.

Coach Don Morel also relies on a running game led by senior Ordell Williams, who had 130 yards against Occidental. Oct. 24 could be a big day for the conference, as the Leopards play host to the Redlands. The winner of that game has won at least a share of the conference title every year since 1990.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Occidental are the youngest teams in the conference and both are off to 0-2 starts.

The other area Division III team, independent Pomona-Pitzer, is off to a 3-0 start, thanks to the running of senior Jim Regan. In the fourth quarter against Whitworth of Spokane, Wash., on Saturday, Regan became the Sagehens’ all-time leading rusher with 2,328 yards. He then kicked the game-winning field goal with four seconds left.

Another independent, Azusa Pacific of the NAIA, is having an up-and-down season. After starting 2-0 and jumping up to No. 15 in the NAIA, the Cougars lost at Central Washington and dropped to 24th in the rankings. Last weekend, they lost at Hardin-Simmons, damaging their chances to make the playoffs.