Blahy, Leopards run over Oxy, 35-3
Campus Times
September 17, 1999
Football season officially got underway Saturday with the opening
game against Occidental College. Senior quarterback Dan Blahy (7) and junior
running back Cameron Hurst (29) execute a play action pass. The Leopards
dominated the Tigers winning 35-3.
After two consecutive losing seasons, La Verne head football coach Don
Morel did not know what to expect in his team's season-opening game against
conference foe Occidental College.
"I wasn't sure what we had or didn't have," said Morel. "Our
goal was to come out and not turn the ball over."
The Leopards did better than that, dominating on both sides of the ball
and beginning their season on a positive note with a one-sided 35-3 victory
over the Tigers at Occidental's Patterson Field Saturday.
La Verne's defense, led by senior linebacker Mike Barreiro's 13 1/2
tackles, including seven for losses, limited the Tigers' offense to 71 yards.
They also held Occidental to 0-for-13 on third-down conversion attempts.
Complementing that was the Leopard's offensive performance. La Verne,
led by a pair of running backs, outrushed the Tigers 274-38.
Junior Cameron Hurst rushed for 99 yards and senior Rickey Allen averaged
seven yards-per-carry while totaling 77 yards on 11 attempts.
Morel credited the offensive line for the ability to seemingly run at
will against the Tigers.
"We feel pretty good about our offensive line right now,"
he said, "and I think they'll get better with time."
Senior quarterback Dan Blahy accounted for 224 of La Verne's 450 total
yards on offense, as well as three of the Leopards' five touchdowns. He
completed 13 of 20 passes for 176 yards and ran for another 48 yards on
11 attempts.
Blahy's 5-yard TD pass to freshman wideout Jason Purvis in the second
quarter opened the scoring.
The Leopards took a 14-0 lead into halftime after Blahy's 1-yard quarterback
keeper ended a six-play drive that spanned 86 yards.
Occidental's only score came on a field goal after La Verne was flagged
for a 15-yard penalty allowing the Tigers to start on their own 42-yard
line.
After Occidental quarterback Steven Bowman carried the ball to La Verne's
16-yard line, Tigers' kicker Fuzz Rasmussen banged one in off the left goalpost
to bring the score to 21-3.
The number of penalties called against his team was one thing that concerned
Morel. La Verne was flagged 10 times for 102 yards and four of those penalties
resulted in first downs for Occidental.
"We need to eliminate penalties, not beat ourselves, and we'll
be a pretty solid football team," said Morel.
An injury to senior fullback Damien Alarcon also worried Morel, but
La Verne dominated.
"The loss of Damien Alarcon in the third quarter dramatically took
us out of our offense," said Morel. "It's a struggle when you
lose a player of Damien's caliber. Somehow we just had to find a way to
win."
