VALLEY-AREA COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Bargeman Turns Tables on CSUN at Homecoming

It was homecoming at North Campus Stadium Saturday night, but someone forgot to tell Travis Bargeman that Cal State Northridge was supposed to do the celebrating.

Bargeman, a former Alemany High standout in football and track, pulled the plug on Northridge’s party plans by catching two touchdown passes for Santa Clara in the Broncos’ 21-20 victory.

“I get up to do good against the home team,� he said afterward.

Bargeman did much of the same playing for Alemany, but at 5-9, 160 pounds, he simply didn’t measure up to the physical standards of major college recruiters.

Terry Malley, Santa Clara’s coach, is thankful for that. Had Division I scouts graded Bargeman strictly on performance as opposed to his physical attributes, Malley would be minus one of the Western Football Conference’s most explosive offensive players.

Against Northridge, Bargeman had only two catches, but they went for scores covering 63 and 47 yards.

“He’s as competitive and intelligent a receiver as we’ve had here,� said Malley, who is in his fifth season as coach of the Broncos after five as an assistant.

“He knows how to find the open holes and he catches in a crowd. Even if he knows he’s going to get hit, he’ll go up for it.�

Bargeman is in his third season as a starter for Santa Clara. He is among the WFC leaders with 34 receptions for 798 yards (23.5 yards per catch) and nine touchdowns.

Against Cal Lutheran two weeks ago, he caught four passes for 127 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown.

Bargeman started to assert himself near the end of last season. In Santa Clara’s final three games, he caught 13 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns. Included was a game against Northridge in which he made four catches for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

Catching attention: Bargeman wasn’t the only receiver from a Valley-area high school to burn a local team on Saturday.

Walter Brooks, a sophomore from Monroe High, led Santa Barbara City College with seven catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Brooks was interfered with on his touchdown but still managed to catch a 25-yard scoring pass from quarterback Sam Levitz. It was only the fourth passing touchdown the Moorpark defense has surrendered all season.

Nighthawks: Moorpark’s 34-10 victory over Santa Barbara was its third win at night. In night games this season the Raiders have outscored opponents, 104-20.

That might be taken as an argument for lights, which were expected to have been installed at Moorpark stadium this fall but probably won’t be ready for the remainder of the season.

Paul Dunham, Moorpark’s athletic director, reports that the light standards are ready and waiting to be installed. “We’re trying to get volunteers from companies to put them up,� Dunham said.

The lights, like the rest of the stadium’s construction materials, were purchased with donated funds. “When you depend on donations sometimes it takes longer, but otherwise we wouldn’t have them at all,� Dunham said.

No hurry. The Raiders have been just as impressive in daylight, outscoring opponents, 157-35, in afternoon games.

On the run: For the first time in school history, three Glendale College running backs each rushed for more than 100 yards in the same game.

In the Vaqueros’ 62-26 win over Harbor, sophomore tailback Sean Hampton had a game-high 146 yards while sophomore tailback Doug Dragomer rushed for 110 yards and freshman fullback Wes Bender added 103 yards and four touchdowns.

Bender has 13 touchdowns this season, tying the school-record set by Henry Longoria in 1975.

Maimed Marauders: Antelope Valley was in third place in the Foothill Conference standings three weeks ago, but after consecutive losses to East Los Angeles (31-20) and San Bernardino Valley (44-14), the Marauders are in fifth and falling fast.

Antelope Valley has been hurt by two key injuries--only one of which was sustained by a player.

Quarterback Mike Dalley’s season ended Oct. 7 when he sustained torn ligaments in his left knee during a 24-9 victory over Chaffey.

The following week the Marauders lost Dick Curtis, their defensive coordinator, to a back injury.

Antelope Valley is 0-2-1 since Dalley went down, and the once-proud Marauder defense been pounded in the last two games without Curtis on the sidelines.

“We’ve definitely missed Mike’s leadership and physical abilities,� Antelope Valley Coach Brent Carder said. “He was a starter last year and gave this year’s team--which is young--some needed experience.�

Although Antelope Valley has called the defensive signals by committee the last two weeks, Carder said that fundamental mistakes have done more damage to the Marauders than coaching miscues.

“We’re missing tackles and assignments,� Carder said. “We’re just making a lot of mistakes.�

Third time is a charm: Although Pierce’s 24-13 victory against Santa Monica on Saturday was the Brahmas’ second win in a row, Coach Bob Enger said that consecutive win No. 3 would be a real charm.

“There are two milestones I still have left to achieve,� Enger quipped. “The first one is a victory against Valley and the second one is death.�

Enger has a 0-2 lifetime record against the Monarchs, having lost to them once as coach at East L. A., and again last season at Pierce.

Still in limbo: Pierce quarterback Jamie Grossman missed Saturday’s game with a knee injury and is expected to be out of action again this week against Valley.

However, he may not be lost for the season, as Enger once feared.

“We’re still not sure how badly the knee is hurt,� Enger said. “It’s improved, but we won’t know until next week what condition it is in.�

Grossman’s knee was initially examined last week, and will be tested again next week before a decision is made about possible surgery.

Gary Klein and staff writers Mike Hiserman, John Ortega and Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.