AVERAGE TAFT SURVIVES : TAFT 27 CHATSWORTH 25.

Byline: Brian Dalziel Daily News Staff Writer

A mediocre performance Friday night was still good enough to keep Taft undefeated in the Northwest Valley Conference.

Running back Marquis Brignac provided the necessary push for the Toreadors, rushing for 164 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-25 victory at Chatsworth.

It was Brignac's third touchdown, a 70-yarder early in the third quarter, that made the difference for Taft, which won its seventh straight and improved to 7-1 overall and 5-0 in conference.

``He made some good plays,'' said Taft coach Troy Starr of Brignac. ``And we made some plays offensively, but we didn't play all that well. The thing with our kids is they answer adversity all (during a) game, and that's the sign of champions.

``A lot of things went wrong and we kept answering.''

Trailing 27-25 late in the fourth quarter, Chatsworth (5-3, 2-3) had its chances to score. With 5:30 left, the Chancellors drove to the Taft 32, but turned the ball over on downs.

Then on its final drive of the game, Chatsworth fumbled on fourth down - the Chancellors' fourth turnover of the game - at around midfield, and the Toreadors took five plays to run the final 49 seconds off the clock.

``They might have scored 27 points,'' said Chatsworth first-year coach Bill Coan. ``But our defense did a pretty good job. Taft made fewer mistakes and they were the better team tonight. In this conference, the team that makes the fewest mistakes win.''

Chatsworth trailed 14-10 to start the second half, but Lee Marks returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown to increase Taft's lead to 21-10.

On the ensuing possession, though, the Chancellors answered when quarterback Matt Cassel, who completed 17 of 38 for 228 yards, tossed his only touchdown of the night - a 51-yarder to Eric Harris.

Cassel ran in the two-point conversion to trim the margin to 21-18.

Brignac, though, quickly increased the deficit on Taft's next drive by going 70 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Kicker Richard Pleosch's point-after was wide, but with 10:48 left, the Toreadors bumped their lead to 27-18.

Chatsworth didn't respond until midway through fourth quarter, when Harris scored his third touchdown with a 1-yard dive to cap a 12-play drive, 27-25.

``They are a good team,'' Starr said of Chatsworth. ``We won a tough football game. We didn't play particularly well. But we won and we'll take it.''

Chatsworth did hold a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter before Brignac's 21-yard touchdown closed the gap to 10-7 with a minute left. But Taft defensive lineman Chris Garlington recovered a fumble with eight minutes left in the second, and the Toreadors took the lead for good on Brigac's 32-yard touchdown.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: The Taft defense takes down Chatsworth's Eric Harris as the Toreadors improved to 7-1 overall, 5-0 in conference.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News