Northridge Comes From Ahead to Lose : College football: Matadors lead by two touchdowns twice in first half, but Garcia rallies Sacramento to 31-30 victory.

NORTHRIDGE —  Something about Cal State Northridge and North Campus Stadium brings out the best in Aaron Garcia.

Garcia, Cal State Sacramento’s senior quarterback, completed 28 of 50 passes for a career-high 348 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Hornets past the Matadors, 31-30, before a crowd of 3,512 Saturday night.

Although Sacramento trailed nearly the entire game, Garcia rallied the Hornets late in the fourth quarter, exactly as he did last season on the same grounds. Only this time they made it all the way back.

Garcia connected with Jermaine Hollie on a 35-yard touchdown pass play with 3 minutes 47 seconds remaining to pull Sacramento even, and Bob Bell’s conversion was the difference.

Bell made sure of it.

Ivy Calvin returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the Northridge 45, where he fumbled.

And who should emerge from the arms and legs at the bottom of the pile with the football?

Bell, the kicker.

Sacramento was forced to punt after three downs, but the recovery allowed the Hornets to chew up precious seconds.

As it was, Northridge (2-4) had a final chance at a victory. With 58 seconds left, a 44-yard field-goal try by Matt Ornelaz had plenty of distance--but went wide right.

“It should never come down to one play,” Northridge Coach Bob Burt said. “If it does, it’s a hit or miss thing.” For the Matadors, on a high after upsetting Nevada Las Vegas last week, it was a miss.

Ornelaz earlier was good on field-goal attempts from 26, 36 and 27 yards.

Six plays before Ornelaz’s final attempt, Robert Trice almost salvaged a victory for Northridge.

Trice took a swing pass from quarterback J.J. O’Laughlin and bolted down the right sideline until he was collared--literally--by Sacramento’s Lee Petit-Phar.

Whatever happened to the old tearaway jerseys?

If Trice is wearing one, Northridge wins. Instead, Sacramento (3-3) is, after two weeks, the only American West Conference team without a loss in league play.

The Hornets are 1-0 in conference, the Matadors 0-1, and the other three teams 1-1.

“That was so close,” Trice said.

Trice, coming off rushing performances of 261 and 278 yards, was held to 61 yards in 24 carries by the Hornets.

Most of Northridge’s damage was inflicted by O’Laughlin, who completed 21 of 42 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns.

But he was no match for Garcia, who came off the bench in the fourth quarter last season to rally Sacramento with two touchdown passes. In that one, however, Northridge held on to win when Garcia had a pass intercepted on the Hornets’ final possession.

Trailing, 30-17, after three quarters, the Hornets came back on the Garcia to Hollie combination.

With eight minutes to go, Garcia and Hollie hooked up on a 19-yard pass that brought to ball to the Northridge one. Sancho Eskridge scored from there and it was 30-24.

About four minutes later, Garcia connected with Hollie again on a fourth-and-five play for the deciding touchdown.

As he did on the 19-yard gain, Hollie beat Northridge cornerback Ralph Henderson and Garcia delivered the ball on the money.

Henderson said he thought he had Hollie covered on both plays. “Evidently it wasn’t good enough,” Henderson said.

Sacramento’s comeback overshadowed a career night for Northridge receiver Saadite Green.

Green scored the first two touchdowns of his collegiate career--the first coming on a nine-yard pass from O’Laughlin in the second quarter. Later in the quarter, Green scooped up a blocked punt and raced 24 yards for a score.

“Good night, bad night,” Green said. “They fought back. We shot ourselves with too many mistakes. They were hungry.”

Northridge’s biggest mistake took place with 9:56 remaining.

Fullback Mark Harper ran 20 yards for a touchdown only to have the play nullified by a holding penalty. A touchdown would have put the Matadors up, 37-17, but Northridge was forced to punt.

Twice in the first half, Northridge led by two touchdowns, but each time Garcia kept Sacramento in the game with touchdown passes.

Matador notes

Defensive tackle Oscar Wilson, who spent most of the first half in Aaron Garcia’s face on passing attempts, stayed in the Northridge locker room for most of the third quarter because of an upset stomach. He was replaced by freshman Chris Smith. . . . Robert Crosby, Northridge’s nickel back in passing situations, did not suit up. He sprained his right ankle in practice on Thursday. Crosby was a starter at cornerback against Nevada Las Vegas and intercepted a pass. Vincent Johnson reclaimed his starting spot at corner after serving a one-game suspension against UNLV. Ennis Howard took Crosby’s place as the nickel back.... Jon Beauregard started at right guard for the Matadors, replacing Eric Thomas, who has been hobbled by knee and ankle injuries. Thomas also played. . . . As expected, Charlie Williams was the starter at right tackle for Northridge. Williams missed the UNLV game after breaking his left hand during pregame warmup drills. . . . Security forces at North Campus Stadium reported no disturbances during the game.

* COMPLAINTS RENEWED: Students are protesting again the treatment of black athletes at Cal State Northridge. B1