Football racks Cossacks in 33-23 win
Campus Times
October 4, 1996
La Verne's Jeff Parness (#40) slams a Sonoma State Cossack while Kelli
Gouveia (#32) blocks for Fred Coffee (#11). Parness said he is "happy"
when his blocking helps the team gain yardage. Coffee finished the game
with 20 carries for 88 yards. La Verne finished with a 33- 23 victory over
Sonoma State.
Filling two charter buses, driving for 12 hours one way, spending two days
eating, sleeping, and eventually playing was exactly what the University
of La Verne football team needed to come together and beat Sonoma State
University last Saturday in a 33-23 victory.
Friday was not spent in classes, working out plays or reviewing scout tapes
but instead it was spent in the back of a bus driving north to play against
the Division II Cossacks.
"The game topped off the whole trip. We had a good bus ride up here
the scenery was beautiful then all we had to do was win the game,"
said freshman defensive end Richard McCullagh.
Sonoma State, armed in its navy blue uniforms, warmed up in unison, appearing
to be quite a large team and who came into Saturday's game already 0-3 but
yet to play any Division II school was surprised when Division III ULV came
to Rohnert Park and stole the show.
"At first they looked big, but all we did is stick together as a team
and that's all we needed. If we played APU like this there would have been
no contest," said senior defensive back Carl Caston.
"We had camp that started late so we weren't as a team, and now that
we had this road trip and everybody stuck together and hung as a team that's
all we needed," said Caston.
It was late in the first half when SSU's wide receiver Coco Grayer scored
from quarterback Mike Nelson's 3-yard pass with 4:38 remaining. The Cossacks
executed a two point conversion pass as tight end Todd Whitehurst had plenty
of time to find Grayer while the offensive line held tight giving Sonoma
an 8-0 lead.
Heading into the second quarter already down, La Verne's junior quarterback
Ryan Hawkins quickly handed it to junior wide receiver Fred Coffee for a
1-yard touchdown run at 13:18. The two point conversion failed as Hawkins'
pass to junior wide receiver Ervie Barns came up short. ULV trailed Sonoma,
8-6.
Sonoma, feeling the fire in the hole managed to move the ball across the
field and scored when Nelson hammered a 9-yard pass to Brayer and with a
good kick, the Cossacks increased their lead to 15-6 with 11:26 remaining.
With less than five minutes remaining in the second quarter, Sonoma had
control of the ball, but La Verne was unwilling to let the Cossacks keep
the lead. Caston intercepted the ball and returned it for a 19-yard touchdown
run.
"All I did was be in the right place at the right time. It was nothing
spectacular. We have a long season, they'll be more," said Caston.
Freshman kicker Armando Hernandez's kick pulled the score to a close 15-13.
Continual action by both teams kept the score untouched until 7:44 in the
third quarter when La Verne booted a 23-yard field goal by Hernandez giving
ULV its first lead of the game, 16-15.
Not excepting ULV's lead, Sonoma plowed through the field, and with 3:58
left in the quarter, Stephens found Nelson for a Cossack 1-yard touchdown
pass, a successful two-point conversion play bumped La Verne right out of
lead and left Sonoma gripping a 23-16 advantage.
Moments later, with revenge in their hearts, the Leopards offense took the
field, knowing that just one more play could tie it all up. Senior running
back Anthony Rice stepped up and at 2:12 Rice flew down the field for a
58-yard touchdown run. Hernandez's PAT tied the score at 23-23.
In the forth quarter, the score was tied with both teams looking for a big
play. With carries rotated between Rice and Coffee, Hawkins pulled a fast
one and handed it off to senior offensive linemen Scott Poskitt who ran
it 6 yards for a touchdown to give La Verne the lead, 30-23, with 12:37
left in the quarter.
Pressure built up by both sides, the crowd living it up, and the Leopards
moved close enough at 6:41 for a 27-yard field goal booted by Hernandez
ending the game with La Verne enjoying a 33-23 win.
"We knew it was going to be a physical football game coming in and
it was. The team just hung in there the whole game and never quit so it
was a good win," said head coach Don Morel.
"I think they're a pretty good Division II team. They've been playing
Division I schools, so they've been a little over their head in who they
have been playing and I think they underestimated us," said Morel.