College Notebook : Feeding Frenzy by CSUN's 'Jaws' Precludes Dessert of Wind Sprints

L.A. Times Archives

Aug. 31, 1989 12 AM PT

Times staff writers Mike Hiserman, Brendan Healey and John Ortega contributed to this notebook

Members of the Cal State Northridge football team did their best during the team’s annual feast at Rosie’s Barbecue and Grillery on Tuesday to replenish whatever weight was lost in twice-a-day practices.

More than 350 pounds of beef ribs, two gallons of baked beans, two gallons of coleslaw and 15 gallons of lemonade were consumed by Matadors players as they made the most of the restaurant’s hospitality.

The highlight of the afternoon’s meal--which took place less than three hours before a scheduled night workout--was a rib-eating contest between selected players and assistant coaches.

Mark Whitley, a 6-foot-4, 265-pound offensive guard, was the winner, scarfing 19 ribs in 10 minutes. Whitley’s nickname is, appropriately, “Jaws.”

But the judging caused some controversy. Scott Norton, CSUN’s first-year running backs coach, claimed he had eaten 22 ribs. He was credited with only 12.

“I got short-bucketed,” Norton said. “I was too busy pounding to notice, but they took some of my ribs and put them in Jaws’ pile so they didn’t have to run.”

Had either Norton or Doug Block, another assistant, won the contest, the players would have been given additional wind sprints after Tuesday’s practice.

Norton, a hefty former Olympic wrestler, was adamant that the extra legwork should be added anyway, but he seemed even more concerned that his reputation as a chow hound had been damaged.

“I didn’t get to be 270 (pounds) by sucking on 12 ribs,” he grumbled afterward.

Tee time: A new NCAA rule prohibiting tees for field-goal attempts places college kickers in the same situation as their professional counterparts. This means that the number of long field goals will decrease, correct?

Not so, according to Abo Velasco, a junior in his third season as Northridge’s kicker. “The distance is a mental thing,” Velasco said. “I think it’s because of the fact your foot drags a little in the follow-through.”

Velasco reports little change in the distance the ball travels, and only a moderate change in accuracy. If anything, Velasco says, without a tee he is more accurate from short range and only slightly worse outside 40 yards.

Kicking off: The first-year women’s soccer team at Cal Lutheran will hold its first practice Friday, and the Regals will play host Sept. 14 to Claremont-Mudd College in their opener. The Regals’ schedule includes 16 games and a tournament at Cal State San Bernardino.

George Kuntz, the Cal Lutheran men’s soccer coach, also will coach the women’s team. Teri Rockhold will assist him. Kuntz said that he expects about 25 women to try out for the team--about one-third of them freshman recruits.

“We have not done a lot of recruiting,” Kuntz said. “We made a big push on campus, and there was a lot of interest.”

Kuntz will put his new team through a crash course in soccer skills and conditioning. The Regals will work out three times a day and also do a morning run.

Cal Lutheran will compete as a National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics Division I independent, but Kuntz does not expect the Regals to be a playoff team in their first year.

“I’m not looking at wins and losses the first season,” Kuntz said. “The main thing is that they feel good about themselves.”

Fast Freddie: Moorpark College has one tailback returning and another transferring from another college, but the most impressive of all may be an incoming freshman.

Jim Bittner, coach of the Raiders, says that Freddie Bradley, a 6-1, 205-pound running back from Hueneme High, has been a standout in early workouts. “Either he’s very good, or we’re very bad,” Bittner said, “because we can’t tackle the guy in practice. He’s running right through us.”

Moorpark already had Johnny Brown, who as a freshman rushed for 445 yards and four touchdowns during the regular season. Then, Marc Monestime, who set a Ventura County career rushing record while at Thousand Oaks High, transferred from Montana.

Now, with the addition of Bradley, who rushed for 1,067 yards and scored 13 touchdowns at Hueneme last season, Bittner has been able to move Tony Kerr from running back to the defensive backfield.

“We were a little short in that area,” Bittner said of the secondary. “And that’s a more natural position for Tony. That’s where he’ll play if he goes on to major college ball.”

The Raiders also have been helped by the addition of 6-4, 270-pound Vince Plymire on the defensive line.

Plymire, who won the heavyweight division in the state junior college wresting championships last season, has exhausted his junior college eligibility in that sport but not in football.

“He decided he wanted to play football this year and I’m delighted,” Bittner said. “He hasn’t played since high school because the two seasons overlap, but he’s a great athlete who should definitely help us at that position. He’s very quick for his size.”

Bird’s eye: A quartet of Northridge football players worked out Tuesday under the watchful eye of a scout from the Atlanta Falcons.

Being considered as possible draft choices or free agents by the Falcons are offensive tackle Jim Matthews, guard Barry Voorhees, defensive tackle Mike Meehan and cornerback Willie James.

Also getting a look, in an informal pre-practice workout, was former Matador punter Trent Morgan.

Totally tubular: KADY, an independent television station in Oxnard, has agreed to televise two Cal Lutheran football games this fall.

KADY will carry Kingsmen home games against Hayward (Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.) and Southern Utah (Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m.).

Cal Lutheran football has a bit of history in playing before the cameras. The Kingsmen’s 1971 NAIA championship victory over Westminster (Pa.) College is the only NAIA game ever to be nationally televised. It was shown on NBC.

KADY carried two Cal Lutheran games last year and has been televising Kingsmen games for several years.

Great Scott: Curtis Scott, who rushed for 1,943 yards and 18 touchdowns for Monroe High last season, will attend Ricks Junior College in Rexburg, Ida., this fall.

Pierce College Coach Bob Enger had hoped to land Scott at the Woodland Hills campus, but he is resigned to the outcome.

“Unless an incredible snow storm hits Idaho real soon, I don’t expect Curtis back,” Enger quipped.