Fenwick to Pull Welcome Wagon

With the start of football practice four days away, Jim Fenwick is temporarily turning into a scout master.

Fenwick, Cal State Northridge’s first-year coach, is heading an orientation camp today through Saturday for about 35 new Matadors.

The sessions are meant to help acquaint the players with the campus and the program in time for the opening of two-a-day workouts Monday.

They could even use those “Hello, my name is . . . “ stickers on their shirts--Fenwick included.

Excluding six of his former players and two former assistants at Valley College, where he coached the past six seasons, Fenwick will be surrounded mostly by unfamiliar faces.

Although Fenwick worked with veterans and some newcomers during spring practice, many players are just now joining the team, while others might still be added.

“We pretty well have our team set,” Fenwick said. “But I guess there’s a little bit of history here of people transferring in late.”

Fenwick is counting on several recruits to fill key spots and keep the Matadors competitive during their second season in the Big Sky Conference, arguably the premier Division I-AA league in the nation.

Under Dave Baldwin, now coach at San Jose State, the Matadors finished 5-3 and tied for third place in the Big Sky last season. Northridge’s 7-4 overall record was one victory shy of the school’s single-season record accomplished in 1976 and 1986.

“One of my concerns is trying to continue the momentum,” Fenwick said. “We feel we have overall a good group of athletes.”

That group includes several safeties, one of Fenwick’s primary areas of concern along with receivers and the offensive line.

The top candidate at free safety is Vito Clemente, a junior transfer from UCLA who played at Crespi High. A battle at strong safety features three junior college transfers: Kenny Knoop from Glendale, Angelo Garza from Laney in Oakland and Chris Chandler from San Diego Mesa.

Fenwick’s worries about his receiving corps intensified the past few days when senior Cameron Perry was declared academically ineligible. Perry had 57 receptions last season. David Romines, who led the team with 87 catches, was a senior last season.

Several new Matadors are vying to replace Perry, led by Cal transfers Brian Comer and Jason Sharp; junior college transfers Eric Carpenter from Valley and Mike Ogas from Rancho Santiago, and freshman Ethan Beck from Highland High in Bakersfield.

Comer, who played at Cal in 1995 and sat out last season, played for Fenwick at Valley in 1993-94 and holds the school’s career record with 139 receptions. Sharp played on special teams at Cal in 1995.

Perhaps the strongest nucleus of incoming players is at running back, where transfers Jahi Arnold, Tyrone Crenshaw and Marcus Harvey will challenge for playing time in Northridge’s run-and-shoot scheme.

Arnold, a senior, sat out last season at Iowa State and played sparingly the two seasons before. Crenshaw, the City Section 4-A Division player of the year in 1992 and ’93 at Sylmar High, is a transfer from Michigan State. Harvey rushed for 2,262 yards the past two seasons at Valley, a school career record.

“We’ve got to find ways to keep them in the game and happy,” Fenwick said.

Other newcomers who could figure prominently for the Matadors are offensive tackle Julio Alcala, a 6-foot-4, 268-pound transfer from Colorado State, and kicker Brian Walker, a transfer from Bakersfield College.