Oates Remembers the Way to End Zone--49ers Win

Paul Oates, who hadn’t been a starting quarterback in seven years, showed Saturday that he can still lead a team.

“It was definitely worth the wait,” the Cal State Long Beach senior said after completing 19 of 27 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown as the 49ers defeated Cal State Northridge, 28-9, in a nonconference opener before 3,102 fans at Veterans Stadium.

Oates, 24, last started a game as a senior at Alemany High School in Mission Hills in 1982. He spent three seasons as a minor league baseball player and the last three years was Jeff Graham’s backup at Long Beach. Until Saturday, he had thrown only 23 collegiate passes.

“I had a little bit of the shakes at first,” Oates said. “Northridge was a lot better than we thought.”

After throwing an interception in the first quarter, Oates began to settle down. He completed three passes in a row in the second quarter to set up a 20-yard run by Freddie Leslie and a 10-yard scoring run by Herman Nash.

The 49ers were clinging to a 7-3 lead against the Division II Matadors when Oates hit Sean Foster on a 22-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter. Then Oates guided two successive touchdown drives, capped by short runs by Jim Bittner and Jeff Fassett.

Three of the 49ers’ four scoring drives featured long passes from Oates to wide receiver Derek Washington, who had seven catches for 164 yards.

Northridge depended on tailback Albert Fann to stay close. Fann ran for 110 yards but was held to 25 in the second half. The Matadors, who got a 48-yard field goal from Abo Velasco for an early 3-0 lead, had a chance to go ahead in the third quarter, but a fourth-and-three pass by quarterback Sherdrick Bonner was incomplete in the end zone.

“Our special teams and defense hung in there, and all of a sudden our offense lit up and away we went,” Long Beach Coach Larry Reisbig said.

Northridge scored its only touchdown on a 34-yard pass play from Bonner to Joe Rice with 36 seconds left in the game.