Clerical Error Gives Occidental Forfeit Win

The Occidental College football team has improved its record to 2-1 as the result of a clerical error by Azusa Pacific.

Occidental, which lost to Azusa Pacific, 14-0, two weeks ago, was awarded a 2-0 forfeit win because Azusa Pacific used a player who was ineligible because of a transcript discrepancy.

Cliff Hamlow, athletic director at Azusa Pacific, declined to identify the player who played in two series against Occidental.

At the time, the school was awaiting an official transcript from the player’s previous school. The player’s eligibility has since been cleared and he was available for Azusa Pacific’s 34-27 victory over Redlands last week.

Occidental Coach Dale Widolff said that he does not expect the forfeit win to have much of an impact on his team’s chances for a bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division III playoffs, even if the Tigers win the rest of their games.

Last season, Occidental finished 8-1 after gaining a forfeit win when it was discovered that Menlo College--which defeated Occidental, 17-6, in the seventh week of the season--had used ineligible players in all of its games.

Occidental was still passed over by the NCAA selection committee, which issues invitations to 16 teams--four from each of the division’s four regions.

“It’s really just a technicality and I don’t see it having a big impact on anything,” Widolff said of the Azusa Pacific forfeit.