Southland Roundup : Azusa Pacific Rallies, Ties San Francisco State, 38-38

Azusa Pacific rallied behind senior quarterback Dave Russell, who completed 27 of 40 passes for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns, to tie San Francisco State, 38-38, in a nonconference game at Azusa Saturday.

San Francisco (3-4-1) scored 24 straight points to turn a 17-14 deficit into a 38-17 third-period lead.

Russell brought Azusa (7-0-1) within 14 points at 38-24 just before the end of the third quarter by throwing an eight-yard touchdown pass to Scott Greene. Azusa scored again with 10 1/2 minutes left on Russell’s five-yard pass to Kimball Chase.

With time running out, Azusa Pacific safety Mark Bittetti recovered a San Francisco fumble at the Gator 39, leading to a one-yard touchdown run by Russell. Mike Guipe added the tying extra point, as the Cougars chose not to go for two points and the win because a loss would have all but ended their playoff chances.

Christian Okoye set an Azusa Pacific season-rushing record, running for 156 yards in 27 carries to give him 1,216 yards. The old mark of 1,132 was set in 1973 by Jim Farmer.

Occidental 38, Redlands 6--Running back Vance Mueller had 124 yards and 3 touchdowns, all on 3-yard runs to lead the Tigers in a Southern California Intercollegiate Conference game at Redlands.

Quarterback Pat Guthrie added 213 yards on 11 of 16 passing for the Tigers, 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference. The Bulldogs are 3-6 and 2-2.

La Verne 28, Pomona-Pitzer 14--Quarterback Mark Van Allen threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead La Verne to an SCIAC win at La Verne.

La Verne is 4-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference. Pomona-Pitzer is 1-7 and 1-5.

Claremont-Mudd 40, Whittier 14--Sophomore running back Chris Dabrow ran for three touchdowns, and Larry O’Brien had a 71-yard punt return to lead the Stags to their first victory of the season before a Homecoming crowd at Claremont-Mudd.

The win gave the two teams a split in SCIAC play this season, so it counts as a tie. Claremont-Mudd (1-7 overall, 0-3-1 in the SCIAC) rolled to a 40-0 lead behind quarterback Steve Olson, who completed 9 of 18 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown. Whittier is 6-3 and 2-1-1.

Cal State Sacramento 38, Cal Lutheran 7--Freshman Don Hair, the leading rusher in the Western Football Conference, scored on three short runs and quarterback Greg Knapp threw for two touchdowns to lead the Hornets to an easy WFC victory at Cal Lutheran.

Sacramento is 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the WFC. Cal Lutheran is 0-4 and 4-5.

The Hornets held Cal Lutheran to 22 yards rushing, leaving the offense to quarterback Tom Bonds, who was 22 of 33 for 205 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions.

Santa Clara 21, CS Northridge 19--Quarterback Greg Calcagno completed 13 of 23 passes for 185 yards and 1 touchdown, and Mike Lee carried 18 times for 108 yards as Santa Clara defeated Cal State Northridge in a Western Football Conference game at Northridge. Santa Clara is 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the WFC. Northridge is 4-5 and 1-2.