Golden Boys Have Hair to Dye For at Northridge

It’s a lab project gone bonkers. It’s a religious cult. It’s Dennis Rodman’s hairdresser.

It’s the bleach brigade, that’s what.

Several football players at Cal State Northridge have dyed their hair blond, following the lead of, who else, free safety Jeremy Golden, the original chemically produced towhead.

The group includes quarterback Josh Fiske, defensive back James Maldonado, tight end Ryan Schatz, and kickers Derek Brown and Manny Marquez.

“I just felt it was a change of pace for myself,” said Maldonado, a transfer from Kent State.

“I’m just glad everyone is joining me in the crusade.”

Golden, a sophomore from Westlake High, says his teammates need to refine the process.

“It’s all sloppy,” said Golden, who wears a tongue stud, of the bleach jobs of his teammates. “They’ve got to use the right dye.”

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From the now it can be told department comes this story about quarterback Brian Ah Yat of Montana.

The senior from Honolulu, who ranks second in total offense in NCAA Division I-AA at 295.6 yards per game, leads the Grizzlies into Northridge for a crucial Big Sky Conference football game on Saturday.

But before Ah Yat became Montana’s offensive cornerstone, he apparently contemplated transferring, possibly to Valley College.

“Back when Brian was a redshirt freshman, Brent Pease [offensive coordinator at Montana] came through Valley on a recruiting trip and said they had a freshman quarterback who might want to transfer if he wasn’t the No. 1 or No. 2 guy [at Montana],” said Rob Phenicie, offensive coordinator at Northridge and a former assistant at Valley.

“That turned out to be Ah Yat.”

Ah Yat stayed in Missoula and became a starter as a redshirt freshman. He ranks second on Montana’s all-time passing list with 7,816 yards.

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Even bigger than some of the holes Jim Ghezzi opened for Glendale College running backs last season is the one he created by his departure.

Ghezzi, 6 feet 6 and 300 pounds, who started at right tackle for Glendale last season, is starting as a junior for UCLA.

Ghezzi’s move to Westwood surprised few. A graduate of Loyola High, he transferred to Glendale after a disappointing season at Villanova and immediately established himself as one of the best lineman in the state.

Last season, Darrell Durham of Glendale rushed for 1,600 yards, with Ghezzi running interference more often than not.

This season, the yards are coming with more difficulty for Durham and the Vaqueros (1-3), who play Saturday night at Ventura in a Western State Conference Northern Division opener.

“Ghezzi, as good as he was, came to practice hard every day and was a dominating player who had a lot of pride in his play,” Glendale Coach John Cicuto said. “How do you replace a guy like that?”

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Freshman Laura Woiemberghe continues to impress with her play for the Northridge women’s volleyball team.

Woiemberghe, a freshman setter from Cypress High, on Saturday established a school match record with 84 assists in Northridge’s 3-2 defeat at Montana State.

Beth Welch set the previous record of 76 against BYU-Hawaii in 1990.

Woiemberghe leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks fourth in the nation with 14.43 assists per game.

The Matadors (6-5, 2-2 in Big Sky play) host Cal State Sacramento (10-7, 5-1) on Friday.

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Although basketball practice has yet to start, forward Mark Hull, from Hoover High, has caught the eye of Bob Williams, new coach at UC Santa Barbara.

“Mark has made a tremendous impression,” Williams said. “He has a chance to be a great player in our program.”

Hull averaged 27.9 points and 13.9 rebounds and was co-most valuable player of the Pacific League last season.

Williams, whose UC Davis team won the Division II national championship last season, replaced longtime coach Jerry Pimm.

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Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Steve Henson and Vince Kowalick contributed to this notes column.