Mike Thomas (38), John Pettas (15) and Walter Mead (80) were some of the stars of Cal Poly's 1972 football team, which qualified for the Camellia Bowl in Sacramento 50 years ago this season.
Reunion of Cal Poly's 1972 Camellia Bowl Team Set for This Weekend
9/8/2022 9:26:00 PM | Football
On a chilly Saturday afternoon inside Hughes Stadium in the state capital, Cal Poly played its first postseason game in football. The Camellia Bowl essentially was the NCAA Division II West Region championship.
North Dakota, then known as the Fighting Sioux and ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II, upset the No. 3 Mustangs 38-21 in front of a record Camellia Bowl crowd of 17,194 and a regional television audience.
This weekend, about 30 members of that Mustang squad, coached by Joe Harper, return to San Luis Obispo for a reunion. Friday's dinner at SLO Public Market upstairs in the Event Center on South Higuera Street, and the team also will be recognized at halftime of Cal Poly's football game against San Diego inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
In the Dec. 11, 1972, game, there was a 60-yard pick six by 240-pound defensive tackle Dave Quirk as he decimated a designed screen pass play, stepped in front of the receiver six yards deep in North Dakota's backfield and rumbled the other way for the touchdown. Minus three starters for various reasons, Cal Poly also was sparked by defensive back Mike Amos' 65-yard punt that was downed at the Fighting Sioux 1-yard line as well as a 47-yard punt return that set up the Mustangs' final score.
North Dakota, however, scored the first 17 points of the game and jumped to a 31-7 lead before giving up a pair of late scores in the final four minutes in a 38-21 victory.
Quirk's 60-yard interception return made it 17-7 just before halftime.
Held to just one first down in the opening half of play and trailing by 24 points, Cal Poly got back on the scoreboard in the final four minutes thanks to Walter Mead and Mike Thomas.
John Pettas hit Mead with a 29-yard touchdown pass with 3:35 to play and Thomas, who played many prep games for Sacramento High School in Hughes Stadium, plunged one yard and also ran for the two-point conversion with 1:58 remaining. The latter drive was set up by a 47-yard Amos punt return and a 25-yard pass from Pettas to Mead.
The Mustangs were held to seven first downs and 174 yards in total offense and slowed by 10 penalties for 119 yards and a pair of turnovers.
Under Harper, in his fifth of 14 seasons as head coach at Cal Poly, the Mustangs finished the year 8-1-1 with wins over Nevada and Boise State plus a 24-24 tie with Fresno State.
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