Going All Out to Get in the Way : Northridge Trio of Henderson, Johnson, Brown Learn Trick to Blocking Kicks Under Ex-Ram Irvin

In preseason camp, while Cal State Northridge assistant LeRoy Irvin was instructing scout-team members how to block a kick, newcomer Ralph Henderson sidled up and said: “I can block that.”

Irvin put Henderson in the drill and on the next play he blocked a field-goal attempt. During the same drill, he blocked another.

“And then I said, ‘Oh, boy, we’re gonna block a lot,’ ” Irvin said.

True to his prediction, the Matadors have done just that: Henderson has blocked two field-goal attempts and Vinnie Johnson has blocked one. Mike Brown has blocked an extra-point try.

Through five games, Northridge (2-3) has given up only one field goal. Idaho’s Mike Hollis kicked one of 21 yards but missed two others partly because of pressure applied by the Matadors. “Usually, I feel, ‘Why even go in?,’ ” Johnson said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time they make it. But not this season.”

Brown, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, credits Irvin for teaching him, Henderson and Johnson how to slip blockers by staying low. Irvin spent 11 years in the NFL, including 10 with the Rams.

“You know a high level was expected of him,” Brown said. “You know he’s been there.”

Irvin, whose primary responsibility is coaching defensive backs, said he is merely passing on wisdom from special-teams coaches who have advised him.

“The players make the plays,” Irvin said. “They executed the right technique and they have the athletic ability.

“Ralph Henderson is such an exceptional athlete, I knew I had a guy who could do it. And with Vinnie and Mike, it was just showing them how to use their athletic ability.”

Henderson lines up on the outside and breaks around the line at the most acute angle possible. Johnson lines up inside next to Henderson and Brown’s positioning varies.

As teammate Eric Treibatch describes Henderson’s burst: “Ralph is cutting grass. He’s like a lawn mower.”

With a shrug that says, “What’s the big deal?” Henderson reluctantly reveals what he perceives to be his secret.

“Just watching the center,” said Henderson, a junior cornerback from Rancho Santiago College. “It’s basically reflexes. . . . As soon as the ball moves, I take off. It’s just instinct. ‘Go get the ball.’ ”

Henderson got it in the third game of the season against San Francisco State, blowing past a former junior college teammate, Kendrick Isles, to block David Knorr’s 24-yard attempt.

“I knew that Kendrick doesn’t like to block,” Henderson said. “Maybe he doesn’t like special teams. I watched film on him (not blocking). But I was surprised. I thought he would try to get me. It was real easy to get through.”

In the fourth quarter, Brown lined up inside and burst through the line to block Knorr’s point-after attempt. “It was a tight squeeze,” Brown said. “The blocker stepped out to block Ralph and I stepped over his leg, jumped, and got my left hand on it.”

In some cases, such as Johnson’s block of a 47-yard attempt by Central Oklahoma, one player’s ability can help another.

“Ralph gets in there fast, and if they pay attention to him then I can get in there,” said Johnson, a sophomore from Cleveland High.

On another Central Oklahoma field-goal attempt, this from 43 yards, Johnson was stopped inside but Henderson swooped in around Johnson to make the block. Another key was linebacker Ivy Calvin, who serves as a decoy and ties up opposing blockers.

“It all starts with Ivy Calvin,” Irvin said. “When people have success there’s always an unsung hero, and in this case it’s Ivy.”

Irvin’s challenge over the second half of the season is to devise new schemes that will confuse opponents who have seen the Matadors on film. “We want teams to spend a lot of time worrying about the block,” Irvin said.