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A chance at glory was the only thing lost Paul Sokoloski Opinion

Tuesday December 02, 2008 | 06:54 AM

Paul Sokoloski psokoloski@timesleader.com

Like a bolt of lightning, Dan Latorre flashed down the Redman Stadium football field and cut a path toward the goal line.

He had no idea what was waiting for him at the end.

One moment, Latorre was full of zip and streaking toward the end zone in an attempt to win the NCAA Division II quarterfinal round playoff game for Bloomsburg University. The next instant, he was motionless on the ground, after taking a hellacious hit from California’s defense that instantly changed Latorre’s plans.

“I didn’t see the defensive players at all,” Latorre said. “All I saw was the end zone.”

He nearly made it there.

Trailing by three points to heavily-favored and highly-touted California (Pa.), Latorre and Bloomsburg got the ball back at their own 10-yard line with 7:11 to play Saturday.

Latorre, who is not a big passing quarterback, fired a 20-yard completion for a first down. He connected on a seven-yarder for another first down, and ran for two yards on third down to keep the march moving.

With just over two minutes left on the clock, the Huskies were at Cal’s 34-yard line, facing a third-and-nine play. So they sent Latorre up the middle on a quarterback draw, hoping he could keep their playoff dreams alive.

“We kind of anticipated it,” Cal coach John Luckhardt said. “Latorre’s got tremendous speed.”

For the first 26 yards, it didn’t matter what the California Vulcans thought. Because Latorre blazed by everyone, weaving and whisking his way toward a touchdown that would have put Bloomsburg on top.

Then it happened.

A defender pushed Latorre from behind. His path to glory was redirected, straight into an oncoming missile named Darren Burns, a 230-pound Vulcan linebacker who secured a 27-24 victory for the Vulcans. The shivering collision knocked out both the ball and Latorre. Cal recovered.

By Monday, so did Latorre.

“What can you do?” said Latorre, sounding upbeat two days after suffering a concussion on his last play of this season. “The game’s over with. Things happen on a football field.”

He doesn’t remember the end of the play, or how a cheering Redman Stadium went silent at the sight of Latorre motionless on the field. All Latorre knows is he went from seeing a touchdown to seeing black. And when he opened his eyes, Cal’s players were the only ones cheering.

“I blacked out momentarily,” Latorre said. “I heard the screaming. I said, ‘I probably lost the ball.’ ”

He never lost his spirit, or his grit.

Even if Latorre had seen the oncoming collision, he wasn’t likely to shy away from it.

“I’m a kid who’s not going to go for a first down,” Latorre said, “if I can see the end zone,”

Latorre isn’t stupid. In fact, he’s a triple-major who carries a 3.6 GPA while juggling studies in business, French and finance. He piled a school load of 21 credits on top of this football season, and he’s on target to graduate in the spring. He’s just as feisty in the classroom as he is on the field.

“I’m hoping one day this will pay off,” Latorre said. “With the way the economy’s going, I’m hoping just to get a job after I graduate.”

He’ll keep playing to win when things look bleak, even as he’s blindsided by something he never saw coming.