Occidental Making Impressive Inroads

College football at a small liberal arts college that competes in NCAA Division III often is out of the spotlight, especially when that school is in greater Los Angeles.

Occidental College, just north of downtown in the community of Eagle Rock, will never experience the athletic fanfare that USC or UCLA gets daily. But the Tigers’ football team is making a little history of its own.

After winning consecutive playoff games for the first time since it moved to Division III in 1973, Occidental will play Linfield in the West Regional final of the Division III tournament today at McMinnville, Ore. Game time is noon at Linfield’s Maxwell Field.

Dale Widolff has been Occidental’s coach for 20 years and has guided seven teams to Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Conference championships. This, however, is a new experience.

“It’s definitely a new territory for us,” Widolff said. “I think we’ve done a really great job. The best thing about this is, you’re always trying to convince a group of people to commit to a common cause.

“Sometimes, losing teams make that kind of commitment and don’t have anything to show for it. We’ve been rewarded for it this year.”

Occidental (10-1) has won 10 consecutive games after losing its season opener to Chapman. The Tigers became the first SCIAC team to win a playoff game since 1985 when they defeated Willamette of Oregon in the first round.

The breakthrough occurred last weekend against Concordia of Moorhead, Minn. Occidental junior quarterback Andy Collins, a transfer from Oregon, completed 25 of 34 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Ryan Gonzales scored four touchdowns in a 42-40 upset.

Linfield (10-0) presents the most challenging test to date, the Wildcats averaging 51.3 points a game.

“They’re clearly the best team we will have played and the fastest team we will play,” Widolff said.

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In the NAIA, Azusa Pacific (11-2) will have a second chance to defeat Carroll College of Montana, with a berth in the national championship game on the line today at Nelson Stadium in Helena, Mont.

In the teams’ first meeting, Carroll (10-2) traveled to Azusa on Oct. 2 and dealt the Cougars a 12-0 setback on four field goals by Marcus Miller. Carroll has won the last two NAIA titles.

Azusa has given up only three points in its two playoff games and only two touchdowns in its last four games. In last week’s 24-3 win over Sioux Falls, the Cougars gave up only 20 yards rushing in 29 carries -- 222 yards below Sioux Falls’ season average.

Temperatures for today’s game are expected to be in the 40s. The winner will play for the national title Dec. 18 in Savannah, Tenn.