Box Score: vs Cal Poly

As a senior at Corning High School Garrett White was the big man on campus, earning all-league honors in four different sports.

Five years, four positions, and multiple injuries later, the Sacramento State senior proved in Saturday’s home opener that he is still capable of being the go-to man.

White rushed for 183 yards on 25 carries in the Hornets 27-17 victory over the Mustangs (0-4), helping Sac State (1-2) snap a 10-game losing streak which dated back to early last season.

“I think the offensive line did a great job tonight,” White said. “They were knocking (Cal Poly) off the ball, and making great holes for me.”

White, who has started at quarterback, wide receiver and holder throughout his five-year career with the Hornets, received his first start at running back in the season opener versus the University of Texas, El Paso.

On Saturday’s opening drive, White accounted for 46 total yards before fumbling the ball away on the Mustang’s 10-yard line.

The Hornets would get in the end zone minutes later when quarterback Ryan Leadingham hooked up with fellow sophomore Fred Amey on a 52-yard touchdown. Leadingham found Amey streaking over the middle for the tandem’s ninth-career touchdown connection.

“He hit me with a nice pass on the line,” Amey said. “I saw the safety wasn’t there so I knew I had a chance to score.”

Kicker Brett LeVier connected on the extra-point to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead. LeVier, who was 0-for-2 on extra-points coming into the game, nailed both of his opportunities on Saturday, and also connected on 2-of-3 field goals.

Midway through the second quarter, with the Hornets leading 10-0 after a 27-yard LeVier field goal, Mustang coach Rich Ellerson put in back-up quarterback Chris Peterson to try and light a spark under the Cal Poly offense.

Peterson responded by taking the Mustangs on a nine-play, 62-yard drive in which the junior passed for 27 yards and ran for 22, including a 1-yard touchdown. Navid Niakan’s extra-point attempt sailed wide, keeping the Hornet lead at 10-6.

On the ensuing possession, the Mustang defense stopped the Hornet offense short on a fourth-down play, giving their rejuvenated offense a chance to take the lead late in the first half.

Linebacker Kelly Micco and the Hornet defense would quickly corral the Mustang offense however, as the sophomore intercepted a Peterson pass, and returned it six yards for a touchdown. LeVier’s kick made the score 17-6 with 4:33 remaining in the second quarter.

On the play, defensive lineman Ben Fox hit Peterson from the blindside as he was releasing his throw, which sent the ball fluttering into the hands of Micco. The touchdown marked the first time since Oct. 2, 1999 that a Hornet defense has returned an interception for a touchdown.

“Scoring on defense was kind of like a shot in the face to them,” Hornet linebacker Ryan Kroeker said.

Tyronne Gross scored three minutes later to give the Hornets an 18-point lead. With the Hornets at the Mustang 2-yard line, the redshirt freshman took the handoff and leaped over a Cal Poly defender to score the first rushing touchdown of his Hornet career.

Gross, a highly-touted running back out of Lincoln High School in Stockton, Calif., proved throughout the game that he was willing to do anything needed to pick up an extra yard.

This included leaping defenders, speeding past them, flat-out plowing them over, and using just about every juke-move in the book to come away with 65 yards rushing on 13 carries. Gross also returned two kickoffs for 94 yards.

Nakian connected on a 32-yard field goal with one-second remaining in the half to close the Hornet lead to 24-9. The score would remain that way until a LeVier connected on a 32-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to make the score 27-9.

Peterson rushed for his second 1-yard touchdown with just over nine minutes remaining in the game. Jeremy Konaris ran in the two-point conversion to cut the Hornets lead to 10 points.

Cal Poly had a chance to cut into the Hornets lead even more with over three minutes remaining, but a Niakan 31-yard field goal attempt fell short.

Leadingham led the Hornet aerial attack in Saturday’s win, throwing for 263 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. The Sac State quarterback has thrown only one interception on 81 pass-attempts this season.

“We executed on offense,” said Leadingham, who is eighth all-time in school history with 21 career touchdown passes.

Leadingham’s main target on the night was Amey, who pulled in five catches for 139 yards and one touchdown.

Ramon Payne and Kroeker led the Hornet defense with seven tackles apiece. Cornerback Jeremy Johnson and Micco each pulled down an interception.

“I think defensively they were really well prepared, whereas a year ago I felt we were able to get on them early,” Ellerson said. “This is a much more physical team this year than I felt we faced last year.”

The Hornet victory comes a year after losing 55-21 at Cal Poly.

The Mustangs have already ran into two Div. 1-A schools this year — Toledo and Kent State, but Ellerson feels the Hornets have been their most physical opponent.

“I’d rather play Toledo and Kent State again (rather than the Hornets),” Ellerson said. “They didn’t beat us up half as bad as Sac State did.”

Hornet coach John Volek was pleased with his teams performance, coming off a blowout loss in El Paso, and a close loss at Saint Mary’s College.

“I think this was the first time our offense and defense played together,” Volek said.