Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
OCCIDENTAL 23, WHITTIER 17
LOS ANGELES — All week Occidental head football coach Doug Semones coached practice and walked around Oxy's athletic facility barefoot.
"We don't have our shoes and this week we're going to get them back," said Semones, referring to the rivalry game trophy the Occidental and Whittier football teams have played for since the 1940s.
Semones and the Tigers made good on their promise as Kwame Do rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Tigers past the Poets 23-17 at Jack Kemp Stadium on Saturday.
It's one of the most historic and quirky rivalries in NCAA Division III college football. As the legend has it, members of the Occidental football team stole Whittier running back Myron Claxton's cleats before the 1939 meeting. Claxton and the Poets won that year and after the game, Claxton walked over to the Oxy sideline and took his shoes back. A few years later, some Whittier students had the shoes bronzed and the rivalry was born.
The 2014 edition also featured a running back, but this time he was wearing Oxy black.
Do, who broke Oxy's single-season rushing record last season at Whittier last year and totaled 1,325 yards on the year, hit his stride in the second quarter and ran with speed and power until putting the game away with a first down run late in the fourth quarter. He took the handoff off the right tackle, gained 12 yards and ruined any chance the Poets had of getting the ball back with no time outs left.
As Oxy quarterback Bryan Scott kneeled on the ball out of the victory formation, chants of "the shoes" could be hear throughout the stadium.
Scott finished with 224 yards and a touchdown on 21-37 passing.
Turning Point: After giving up an early touchdown, Nicholas McHugh sacked Whittier quarterback Steven Rivera in the end zone for a safety. The Tigers scored 23 unanswered points after that.
McHugh finished with 8.5 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for a loss.
Play of the Game: Freshman Marcus McDuffie picked off a wobbly floating pass by Rivera after he was hit hard by Adam Goltche on the throw. The interception was Whittier's last offensive play of the game with 3:10 left.
Players of the Game: After rushing for just 24 yards against La Verne last week, Do returned to form against the Poets, running as if he were going to get a first down on every carry.
Samuel Stekol led the Tigers wide receivers with four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown.
Kaleb Mitchell had five catches for 74 yards.
Season Impact: Oxy stays undefeated in SCIAC, setting up a first-place showdown at Chapman next week.
The Tigers improve to 3-1 overall.
Next Game: The Tigers play the Panthers on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. Oxy returns to Jack Kemp Stadium on Oct. 25 for its homecoming game against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Watch Live Follow Oxy Athletics on Twitter Like us on Facebook Sign Up for Newsletters Watch on Youtube Follow us on Instagram