No cigar

The Thunderbirds stage late charge but fall just short, 27-21 to Cal Poly

By DAVID DeMILLE
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

Unable to complete a furious comeback effort staged in the final period, SUU fell to Cal Poly 27-21 Saturday,
Quarterback Charles Henderson, who had led the Thunderbirds back from a 21-3 first-half deficit, had a pass intercepted deep in Cal Poly territory by Mustangs’ defensive back Aaron Williams with 55 seconds left in the game.
With no timeouts remaining for SUU, the Mustangs were able to run out the clock and end the game.
The outcome could have been different, with SUU outgaining Cal Poly 376-184 in total yards, including a 259-73 edge in rushing yardage.
Henderson led the way with 121 yards on the ground on 26 rushes, while Chris Williams and Jay Gaynor came out of the backfield for 55 and 52 yards.
Wes Patterson led the receiving corps with 88 yards on three catches, all in the fourth quarter, playing a huge role in SUU’s late charge.
SUU didn’t complete a pass until Patterson’s 39-yard grab with 8:27 left in the game, but the passing game was awesome in the fourth quarter as Henderson went 4-7 with 117 yards in the period.
Nick Ervin’s 29-yard reception set up a Dave Pretzer field goal to cut it to 27-19 and give SUU a solid chance to pull out the victory.
With the defense playing well, holding Cal Poly to only 44 yards in the entire second half, the offense had the opportunity to make the charge.
Senior defensive tackle Tonga Mounga headed the defensive effort with two sacks and five tackles for a loss, while Adam McClellan added a sack and two tackles for a loss.
With secondary players Travis Armitstead and Robert Corea blanketing the Cal Poly secondary the Thunderbirds put Mustangs’ quarterback Chris Peterson through a tough half.
“The defense was pumped up,” Mounga said. “We’re really coming closer together and we’ve improved a lot. In the next couple of weeks we’ll look to wrap it up and really put everything together.”
Cal Poly’s starting quarterback Kevin Cooper left in the second quarter with an injury, and Peterson found himself in trouble against the aggressive SUU front.
He finished with 47 yards on 11 carries while completing only 5-17 through the air for 54 yards, and was sacked four times.
The ’Birds had pulled to within 21-16 after Henderson ran in a touchdown from one yard out, but Cal Poly’s Darrell Jones ran back the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for the score to give the Mustangs a two-score cushion.
The game nearly took another swing in momentum as SUU kick returner Armitstead appeared to have scored on the next kickoff, but the play was called back for an illegal block.
SUU head coach C. Ray Gregory disagreed with the call, and was especially upset when the referee
was unable to tell which SUU player the penalty was on. The call came late, as Armitstead ran past the Cal Poly kicker, and not as he ran through the mix of players.
“That really hurt us, and he couldn’t even give me a number on it,” Gregory said. “He couldn’t even tell me who did it. We went through that momentum swing of them returning one on us and then us coming right back. He just can’t make that call.”