Leopards Roar To 52-7 Triumph Over Sagehens
Matt Biggers ran for a career-high 235 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Thomas Arguello passed for four scores to lead the University of La Verne to a 52-7 rout over Pomona-Pitzer in SCIAC football action Saturday evening at Merritt Field in Claremont.
The Leopard offense was dominant throughout the night in amassing 517 yards against the Sagehens. Biggers had 24 carries for the game to average 9.8 yards per rush to lead a La Verne rushing attack that accumulated 285 yards on the ground. Arguello enjoyed another a big day passing for the Leos, completing 16-of-21 attempts for 232 yards and four touchdowns.
La Verne took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when an eight-play, 64-yard drive ended on an Arguello pass to Cedric Ho covering 9 yards for the touchdown with 7:13 remaining.
Biggers had both on his touchdown runs in the first half. The first came on a 37-yarder with 1:10 left in the first quarter, which made it 14-0. The second score for Biggers went for 28 yards as he avoided a pair of would-be tacklers and then finished out the run to make it 21-0 with 4:01 left in the half.
Just before halftime, the Leopards added three points with a 5-play, 39-yard drive to set up a 33-yard field goal from Alex Miller with 21 seconds remaining to give La Verne a 24-0 cushion at intermission.
The Leopards resumed its assault in the third quarter as Biggers continued to pile up yardage en route to three more scoring drives. On their first possession to start the second half, the Leopards drove the length of the field off the kickoff and eventually scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Arguello to Matt Griffin for a 31-0 advantage.
La Verne (3-5, 2-3 SCIAC) added another score when Christian Winnewisser hauled in an 11-yard pass from Arguello with 8:38 left in the third quarter. The Leos would later complete a five-play, 63-yard drive then receiver Ho leaped for a one-handed grab in the end zone with 5:10 left in the third to stretch its lead to 45-0.
The Leopards would add a final touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Dylan Keith sacked Ferguson and recovered the subsequent fumble at the Sagehen 16. Four plays later, Felipe Valdez scored from 3 yards out to push the La Verne lead to 52-0.
Pomona-Pitzer (0-8, 0-5 SCIAC) finally got on the board when Luke Sweeney capped a long drive with a 2-yard scoring run to avoid the shutout.
Sweeney, who came into the contest averaging a Division III-leading 185.3 rushing yards per contest, finished his night with 162 yards on 42 carries. The Leopard defense limited the Sagehens to 88 passing yards for the evening.
Winnewisser caught 7 passes for a game-high 112 yards while Ho totaled 63 yards on 4 receptions. Defensively, Arsian Erdinc posted 8 tackles for the Leopards while collecting an interception.
La Verne produced its largest margin of victory over Pomona-Pitzer since a 69-14 triumph against the Sagehens in 1995. The win also marked the Leopards' first season with at least three wins since the 2006 campaign when they finished 4-5.
The Leos play their season finale next Saturday against Whittier College in conference action at Ortmayer Stadium in a 1:00 pm kickoff.
