CLU AIMING FOR WINNER OVER AZUSA PACIFIC : KINGSMEN COACH HOPES FOR MORE PRODUCTION FROM YOUNGER PLAYERS.Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Daily News Staff Writer Cal Lutheran University football coach Scott Squires considers tonight's nonconference game against Azusa Pacific one of great opportunity. A number of young Kingsmen - including back-up quarterback Zack Hernandez - will get a chance to prove that maybe they deserve even more playing time. The Cal Lutheran defense will be challenged to contain Cougars' playmakers Playmakers is a TV series on ESPN that depicted the lives of the players on a fictional professional football team. The show starred Omar Gooding, Marcello Thedford, Christopher Wiehl, Jason Matthew Smith, Russell Hornsby and Tony Denison. Darryl Nolan (wide receiver) and Elijah Raphael (running back) while the offense tries to put the ball in the end zone more than it has in the two losses that opened the season. ``We have an excellent opportunity this week,'' Squires said. ``There's no doubt about that in my mind.'' Game time is slated for 6 p.m. at Azusa Pacific. Squires doesn't see tonight's game as a must-win situation by any means. He's seen enough progress since taking over the program to know that Cal Lutheran (0-2) is headed in the right direction no matter what the scoreboard has shown so far. ``That's a losing proposition,'' Squires said of judging the Kingsmen strictly on the final score. ``We're not going to do that. The important thing is that we show progress on a week-to-week basis.'' At this stage of turning around the Cal Lutheran program, Squires judges growth on a scale that includes, but isn't determined by, how many wins the Kingsmen accumulate. Cal Lutheran is coming off a 34-10 Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Intercollegiate in·ter·col·le·giate adj. Involving or representing two or more colleges. Adj. 1. intercollegiate - used of competition between colleges or universities; "intercollegiate basketball" Conference loss to the University of La Verne The University of La Verne is a private university in La Verne, California (about 35 miles east of Los Angeles) with a main campus, seven satellite campuses throughout central and southern California, a law school, and two military regional campuses at Point Mugu Naval Air Station two weeks ago. The Kingsmen had a bye last week, which granted them time to nurse some bumps and bruises and concentrate on the positives and negatives during the first two games. Unfortunately it didn't allow tailback tail·back n. Football The back on an offensive team who lines up farthest from the line of scrimmage. tailback Noun Brit a queue of traffic stretching back from an obstruction Fredrik Nanhed enough time to recover from the hamstring injury hamstring injury Sports medicine A muscle injury of biceps femoris, seen in sprinters and runners, when a contracted muscle meets a lengthening force, overpowering intrinsic muscle resiliency Management RICE, NSAIDs, gradual ↑ of pain-free activity–eg, he suffered against the University of San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. in the first game of the year. Nanhed will sit out tonight's game and hopefully be ready in time for next week's home game against Chapman. Wide receiver Tom Herman
tr.v. dis·lo·cat·ed, dis·lo·cat·ing, dis·lo·cates 1. To put out of usual or proper place, position, or relationship. 2. kneecap kneecap (patella), saucer-shaped bone at the front of the knee joint; it protects the ends of the femur, or thighbone, and the tibia, the large bone of the foreleg. The kneecap is embedded in the tendon tissue of the quadriceps femoris, a large thigh muscle. . His return is more uncertain. Squires anticipates production from his offense, although he can only hope that that will translate into points. The Kingsmen have had trouble capitalizing on long drives and have a bad habit bad habit Unhealthy habit Clinical medicine A patterned behavior regarded as detrimental to physical or mental health, which is often linked to a lack of self-control. Cf Good habit. of bogging down once in scoring range. ``We definitely need to be more productive,'' Squires said. ``But I feel we have a real opportunity this week to move the ball on (Azusa Pacific). That will be based largely on how we run the ball on them, but I think we can do that.'' With Nanhed sidelined, Cal Lutheran needs big games from Billy Busch (34 carries, 94 yards) and Jason Chang (13 carries, 27 yards). Ryan Huisenga will start at quarterback for Cal Lutheran, and though Squires is happy with the way the senior has played, he also wants to get Hernandez some early playing time. Hernandez played a bit in the loss to San Diego three weeks ago, completing 8 of 12 passes for 68 yards, but Squires would like to see how he performs when the game is still undecided. ``Once again it goes back to opportunity,'' Squires said. ``Zack has been playing well, as has Ryan, but we just want to get Zack out there early and give him a chance to show what he can do.'' One player who has capitalized on an opportunity to play is receiver Aaron Hehe, who in Herman's absence caught 12 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. Last week he had seven receptions for 102 yards and a 31-yard touchdown. Hehe didn't play much last year, so he feels he's just now beginning to get a feel for starting and playing consistently. ``It's definitely a lot more fun this year,'' he said. ``It's just nice to get out on the field and play.'' Defensively Squires considers it critical that Cal Lutheran limit the chances for Nolan, Dexter Davis and Raphael to make big plays. His goal is to force the Cougars to look elsewhere for production. ``We'd like to make them throw the ball to their tight end and take away some of the other things they like to do,'' Squires said. ``If they can beat us with their tight end, then my hat's off to them.'' |
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