Titans Survive a Scare by Rallying to Beat Division II Northridge

It was, theoretically, the big-time against the not-so-big-time.

A Division I college football team and a Division II team played at Santa Ana Stadium on Saturday. One team seemed to have more players on the sidelines, more cheerleaders to cheer it on and a real marching band in real marching band uniforms. That team led by 13 points at halftime.

To the displeasure of almost everyone wearing orange and/or blue, that team was not Cal State Fullerton.

That team was Cal State Northridge, which hasn’t beaten a Division I opponent since 1976, and it will have to wait a while longer after Fullerton’s 27-20 victory before 2,909 spectators.

Can you hear the Titan sighs of relief?

“That was a scary one,” said Fullerton quarterback Dan Speltz.

Fullerton, a team that has traversed the country in recent years to play against powerhouses for big guarantee checks, was on the other end of the deal Saturday.

Accustomed to earning $200,000 against teams such as Louisiana State, Fullerton was paying Northridge $15,000, a big payday for the Matadors.

It might have been monumental.

“We had our chance at the end, and I thought we might get it,” Northridge Coach Bob Burt said. “Our kids showed a lot of heart.”

Fullerton merely averted disaster. It’s one thing to get a $200,000 check for playing a Southeastern Conference team, another entirely to give Northridge $15,000 and still end up with a loss.

Fullerton owes its victory in large part to a freshman, kicker Phil Nevin, whose second field goal of the game--a 54-yarder that tied the second-longest in school history--tied the score, 20-20.

“We were lucky,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. “If we didn’t have a good kicker, we’re done.”

The Titans took their only lead of the game with 7:44 left, scoring what proved to be the winning touchdown on Mike Pringle’s two-yard plunge. It capped a 56-yard drive that was aided by 19 yards in penalties against Northridge.

Easy breathing still was a ways off, however.

Northridge drove to the Fullerton 14 on its next possession before quarterback Sherdrick Bonner’s hurried pass was intercepted by Terry Tramble in the end zone with about three minutes left.

The Matadors didn’t get the ball again until 25 seconds remained, and didn’t threaten.

Fullerton, which trailed 20-7 at halftime, started its comeback when Pringle broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the second of three he scored.

Pringle, the centerpiece of a Fullerton running attack that was limited to five yards in a loss to Northern Illinois last week, finished with 164 yards on 28 carries. Fullerton finished with 189 yards rushing, but Speltz was less effective. After passing for more than 300 yards on 50 attempts last week, he completed nine of 19 for 138 yards Saturday.

With Fullerton still trailing, 20-14, Northridge was driving again on its next possession, but Darrell Bruce thwarted the threat with an interception at the Fullerton 4.

Early in the fourth quarter, Nevin, a freshman who was drafted by the Dodgers but turned down a six-figure signing bonus to play football and baseball at Fullerton, kicked a 42-yard field goal that cut the lead to 20-17.

The Titans had driven to a first and goal at the one on the possession, but stopped themselves with penalties and had to settle for the field goal, even forcing Nevin to make it twice--the first, from 32 yards, was negated by a holding call.

Later came Nevin’s chance at a 54-yarder. As a senior at El Dorado last season, he kicked a 57-yarder that set an Orange County record.

He had practiced only sparingly during the week after injuring the Achilles’ tendon of his nonkicking foot on Tuesday. When the Titan drive stalled, Murphy looked his way.

“I just looked at him, and he shook his head yes,” Murphy said.

Burt, formerly Murphy’s defensive coordinator at Fullerton, called the Matadors’ performance on Saturday their best in his four seasons as coach.

Northridge threw a scare into Cal State Long Beach in its opener last week, trailing by only four points in the fourth quarter before losing, 28-9. This time it was Fullerton’s turn.

Bonner, who passed for 303 yards, completing 29 of 44 attempts with three interceptions, kept the Matadors in charge in the first half.

Northridge took a 7-0 lead on its first possession after Bonner’s 11-yard scoring pass to Anthony Harris, but Fullerton tied the score late in the first quarter after Pringle’s four-yard run.

Then Abo Velasco made field goals of 41 and 37 yards to give the Matadors a 13-7 lead, and Northridge went up 20-7 after Bonner scored on a one-yard run with 34 seconds left in the half. That came two plays after Daved Benefield intercepted a pass from Speltz at the Fullerton 36 and returned it to the 3.

That left Fullerton with a lot of worries at halftime.

“You just have to take one play at a time and not worry about it,” Speltz said.