by Danny Eckardt
Special to the Times
After losing its conference championship and potential playoff berth by a combined total of three points, the University of La Verne football team seemingly had nothing to play for when it traveled to Menlo College in Atherton, Calif., but it pulled out a dramatic season finale win Saturday, 47-41.
“We wanted to show that this team never lets down even though we had a tough two losses on the season,” said senior receiver Andrew Woolsey.
The Menlo finale marked the end of 20 seniors’ careers for La Verne, 17 of whom are starters.
To those seniors, the game meant everything, despite enduring the heartbreaking 22-21 loss against Redlands and the possible playoff killer against Azusa Pacific the prior week that ended 47-45 on a 19-yard field goal in the last two seconds of the game.
“We have a group of seniors and it’s wonderful that they all went out with a win,” said head coach Don Morel.
Trailing 31-21, the Leopards came out of the locker room after halftime and scorched Menlo’s defense for three touchdowns before the Oaks offense managed any production.
The first score came halfway through the third quarter as the offense drove down the field on six plays for 71 yards, and capped it off on a 20-yard strike from senior quarterback Dan Blahy to Woolsey.
The Leopards took the lead, 34-31, seven minutes and four seconds later as Blahy finished the short drive on a 2-yard scamper to the endzone.
The third score happened courtesy of a Blahy to senior receiver Kenny Fredieu connection for 52 yards, which marked Fredieu’s third and final aerial TD of the matchup.
Fredieu finished among the elite in La Verne’s all-time leaders for receiving touchdowns in a game (tied for second with eight other players).
“We attacked their weak points when, early in the game, they were running stunts and blitzes hard,” said Woolsey.
La Verne had not called junior running back Ricky Allen’s number to run the ball in two quarters, but after a Menlo field goal made it 41-34, he went to work averaging nearly 5 yards a pop.
“Ricky did a great job running the clock down and balanced the attack,” said Morel.
Blahy and Woolsey put the game out of reach when they hooked-up on a 61-yard bomb for the Leopards’ final score.
Menlo junior quarterback Zamir Amin managed one more touchdown as he found junior receiver Marvin Hopkins on an 18-yard pass.
Blahy finished the game with 455 yards and five touchdowns on 24 completions.
The 455 yards put him into second place all-time for yards in a game, behind Willie Reyna’s 456 yards.
In fact, Blahy’s 2,555 yards set a school record for passing yards in a season, over Reyna’s 2,543 yards in 1991.
“I am happy with my performance, I thought I played fairly well,” said Blahy.
“Dan Blahy is an outstanding quarterback and his numbers show that,” said Morel.
Blahy’s receiving corps of Fredieu, Woolsey, and senior Rashard Magee each pulled in 100 or more receiving yards on the day.
The matchup started off as an aerial fireworks show when Blahy and Amin hit touchdowns of 42 and 70 yards, respectively, on their first possessions.
Both defenses were nearly non-existent the entire game against the pass.
“Guys made plays for me, so the whole team made it possible for me to have a good day,” said Blahy.
The running game for both squads was as non-existent as the pass defense.
Toward the end of the first quarter, the wild and wacky took place as Menlo blocked a field goal attempt from junior Daniel Lindner, which the Oaks picked-up and returned to the La Verne 30-yard line.
Menlo sophomore kicker Brad Stein capitalized with a 30-yard field goal after the offense failed to score.
A few possessions later, the Oaks punted and Fredieu returned it 60 yards for ULV’s second score and a 14-10 lead.
The second quarter opened much like the first, as Amin hit his 6’5”, 210-pound junior receiver Gabe Amey on a 50-yard touchdown strike.
Amin finished the day with an impressive 469 passing yards and four touchdowns on La Verne’s defense, ranked No. 1 in the SCIAC.
The Oaks scored shortly thereafter when junior running back Tino Elisara scored on a 1-yard dive for a 23-14 lead.
The Leopards countered through the air with a 9-yard bullet from Blahy to Fredieu.
The coaches then called for Blahy to kick the extra point, since Lindner proved inconsistent on field goal attempts by hitting 4-of-12 on the season.
The Oaks managed the last score of the first half as Menlo senior tight end Kevin August demonstrated good hands as he out-leaped Leopards senior safety Ryan Turner in the end zone for a 14-yard reception from Amin, making the score 31-21.
That is when the seniors took over in the locker room by firing-up their teammates to play with focus and determination.
“We became so much more focused at halftime,” said Blahy. “I think everyone realized what was at stake, and that for all the seniors it was our last game.
“We came back from adversity as we did all year, as we came back from a 10-point deficit at halftime. We dug deep to pull it out.”
