CSUN SOARS TO 7-4 : FLOWERS' 5 TDS, 500 YARDS SPARK DECISIVE VICTORY CSUN 49, E. WASH. 27.

Byline: Kevin Acee Daily News Staff Writer

Cal State Northridge senior Scoody Woods, who endured three losing football seasons, each one worse than the one before, almost cried before his final game Saturday.

Matadors coach Dave Baldwin did break down after the game, after his players had doused him with water, after his players did what no one thought they could.

A season, a turnaround, like the one Northridge completed with a 49-27 victory over No. 24 Eastern Washington at North Campus Stadium, will make a football coach cry. And more.

``I'm lost for words,'' Baldwin said.

That never happens.

``It still hasn't hit me,'' Woods said. ``If you had told me in 1993 that we'd be in the Big Sky, finish third and have a winning season here, I'd have said you were lying. I didn't see no way we could build.''

Northridge finished 4-6 in '93, Woods' freshman year, 3-7 in '94 and 2-8 in '95, Baldwin's first year as coach at his alma mater.

But with 56 new players, 20 new scholarships, a new attitude and a coach who thought nothing was impossible, the Matadors did build.

On the way to a 7-4 overall record and a third-place finish in its first year in the prestigious Big Sky Conference (4-3 record), Northridge beat a Division I-A team and two teams ranked in the I-AA top 25. The Matadors almost beat a defending national champion, scared the heck out of a team that last year handed them the worst loss in school history, and did beat a team (last week, in fact) that in 1995 spanked them 52-0.

Wasn't Baldwin even a tiny bit surprised by all this?

``To be honest,'' said the ultra-optimistic Baldwin, ``. . . you bet.''

Added linebacker Marc Goodson, who transferred in and instantly made himself the undeniable leader of the team: ``Yeah, we surprised ourselves. But once we found out we were good, we had all the expectations in the world.''

Already guaranteed a winning season after winning at Idaho State a week ago, Northridge vowed not to be content with that.

``We weren't thinking 6-5. We thought about 7-4 all week,'' said quarterback Aaron Flowers, who broke his own school record with 500 yards on 30-of-48 passing. He also tied a school record with five touchdowns before being pulled midway through the fourth quarter. Flowers did this with a shoulder injury that required his brief removal from the game in the first half.

It was the third straight game he threw for more than 400 yards and the second time in that span that he broke the school record.

Without record-setting senior receiver David Romines, whose career was ended last week when he aggravated a hamstring injury, Flowers relied almost entirely on underclassmen.

Junior Jerome Henry, a transfer from Iowa State, caught 11 passes for 212 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Aaron Arnold, a converted quarterback, caught six balls for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Cameron Perry had nine receptions for 78 yards and a score.

Northridge had 595 total yards, just 77 of them on the ground.

Eastern Washington, which scored on a 70-yard fumble return as time expired in the first quarter and on a 44-yard Hail Mary reception as time ran out in the second quarter, had 280 yards, just 71 of them in a scoreless second half. The Eagles finished 6-5 and 3-4.

``To end it on a note where we outplayed a good football team is nice,'' Baldwin said.

The emotion of the night was enough to make Baldwin reconsider earlier sentiments that his team had no chance of making the playoffs.

``I don't know if we're out of it,'' he said. ``We're third in the conference. If they take three. . . . We can just hope. I believe we can make it.''

Hey, nothing is impossible.

BIG SKY STANDINGS

Conf. Overall

W-L W-L

Montana 6-0 10-0

N. Arizona 6-1 9-2

CS Northridge 4-3 7-4

Weber St. 3-3 6-4

E. Washington 3-4 6-5

Idaho St. 1-5 3-6

Portland St. 1-6 3-7

CS Sacramento 0-7 1-9

HERO

Northridge receiver junior Jerome Henry, in the shadow of senior David Romines all season, showed Northridge is in good hands next season. Henry caught 11 passes for 212 yards.

GOAT 

Eastern Washington safety Aaron Woods. He bounced off Northridge receiver Tim Hilton like a basketball on the second play of the second half. Hilton ran 40 yards after dropping Woods and made it to the Eagles 5. The Matadors scored three plays later and never looked back.

STAT OF THE GAME

Northridge quarterback Aaron Flowers passed for more than 400 yards for the third straight week and broke the single-game passing record for the second time, completing 30 of 48 passes for 500 yards and five touchdowns.

QUOTE OF THE GAME

``If you had told me in 1993 that we'd be in the Big Sky, finish third and have a winning season here, I'd have said you were lying. I didn't see no way we could build.''

Linebacker Scoody Woods, one of just three players to endure a full four years at Northridge.

NOTEBOOK

Bob Burt, who coached the Cal State Northridge football team from 1986 to 1994, amassing a 49-46 record and taking the team into Division I-AA in 1993, said earlier this week he hasn't ``paid much attention'' to Northridge's success.

``I follow them a little bit,'' he said. ``I see the scores.''

Burt's Temescal Canyon High School team lost 28-7 to Elsinore on Friday to finish the regular season 4-5-1 and miss the playoffs. Last season, Burt's team went 13-1 and won the Division VIII championship.

Knowing what he said might come across as ``sour grapes,'' Burt spoke mostly off the record about his feelings toward Northridge. Suffice it to say he is unimpressed with the Matadors' turnaround.

``I like (Northridge coach) Dave Baldwin, and I think he's a good guy,'' Burt said. ``(But) it doesn't impress me they are doing what they're doing with 40 full rides. We were doing the same thing with 17.''

David who?: David Romines broke every school receiving record this seson and might have set a Big Sky mark for receptions in a season if not for a season-ending hamstring injury suffered last week at Idaho State. He will be missed.

But Saturday was proof the Matadors will survive.

Freshman Aaron Arnold, a converted quarterback from Monroe High School, and junior Jerome Henry both made numerous catches and were even more impressive with their runs after the reception.

For the second straight week, Henry was Northridge's leading receiver.

Also returning will be junior Cameron Perry. The trio should be one of the most-feared catch-and-run crews in the nation next season.

Hold on: Northridge has hurt itself plenty with penalties this season. Numerous pass-interference infractions and an unsportsmanlike-conduct call in the fourth quarter perhaps cost the Matadors the game against Montana two weeks ago. And three dead-ball personal fouls gave Idaho State a chance to win last week.

But one series of blunders Saturday takes top prize.

Midway through the third quarter, the Matadors had first-and-10 just outside the Eastern Washington 10-yard line. On the first play, Northridge was called for holding and moved back to the 18-yard line. On the following play, Flowers found Perry in the end zone. But Northridge was called for holding and the first down was played over at the 34.

After a 5-yard gain, Flowers passed to Jimmy Greninger for a touchdown. Oops. Holding again. So Northridge had second down at the 42. Two incompletions later, the Matadors punted.

Coming back: It's considered a given around Northridge that the Matadors will soon be a team to beat in the Big Sky. If so, a team they might be battling with for supremacy is Eastern Washington.

The Eagles, who finished the season 6-5 overall and 3-4 in conference, return 14 starters next season, including their quarterback, four offensive linemen and their leading receiver.

Northridge (7-4, 4-3) returns 15 starters, including their quarterback, all five offensive linemen and almost everyone except their leading receiver.

Extra points: Greninger's 21-yard reception in the first half was his eighth of the season and third for a touchdown. . . . Northridge did not score on its first possession of the game for just the fourth time this season.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 2 Boxes

Photo: CSUN's Jerome Henry angles for more yards in the second quarter against Eastern Washington.

Tina Gerson / Daily News