CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team took an early lead over Cal Lutheran and never looked back for the 37-30 win. Before the game, CMS had a 7-35-1 all-time record against the Kingsmen. This is the first victory over Cal Lu for the Stags since Oct. 14, 2006 when CMS won 30-27 on Zinda Field.
CMS scored two points quickly when Cal Lu went three and out on their first possession and then Nick Nasse blocked Jack MacFarland's punt. The football rolled through the end zone for a safety before CMS could secure possession.
The Stags were forced to punt in their next two possessions but the Kingsmen had to start their drives from the two and six yard lines after the Tyler Stanek's stellar punts.
CMS picked up their first touchdown when Victor Bunce intercepted a Nick Isham pass on the CLU 15 yard line and returned it to the end zone. Matthew Aven kicked the point after to give the Stags the 9-0 lead.
The second touchdown came after a 2:18 drive in which quarterback Trey Reynolds was 3-4 in completions including a 23 yard pass to Lucas Owan. Shane Pico finished the drive with a 16 yard run for the TD. Reynolds then found Nick Gott in the end zone for a successful two point conversion.
CMS scored again just five minutes later on a 67 yard reception by Stanek.
The Kingsmen answered back with two scores on catches by Andrew Worthley.
Each time Cal Lutheran came within a touchdown of CMS, the Stags came up with a big play to regain a substantial lead. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, a pass originally intended for Stanek in the middle of the field was tipped by Stanek and then a defender before being snagged by Trey Smith who took it to the house.
The Kingsmen capitalized on a fumbled punt return by the Stags on CMS' 21 yard line. The Stag defense held Cal Lu's run game to just six yards on two carries and forced CLU to settle for a field goal.
After another successful punt by Stanek, Cal Lu started a drive on their own 25 yard line. Backed up by a holding penalty, the Kingsmen went to the pass game only to have Geno Quaid intercept one of Isham's pass attempts. Quaid returned it for a touchdown and the 37-23 CMS advantage.
As the clock wound down, CLU tacked on another score but due to excellent clock management by the Stags, were unable to have another opportunity. CMS finished the game with the ball and the 37-30 victory.
All aspects of the CMS game performed during the Saturday afternoon game. The defense made big stops against the fast Cal Lu team, holding them to only 92 rushing yards in comparison to their 169 yard average in conference games. Max Winsberg met his 10 tackles per game average and added his first two sacks of the season, the largest for a loss of 12 yards at the first half. Tiger Brown was involved in 12 tackles, a career best. The defense was responsible for 16 of the Stags' 37 points with the safety and two interceptions.
Reynolds was 13-19 in passing including two touchdowns and without an interception. Reynolds connected with four receivers for 234 yards in the game.
CMS improves to 3-4 overall, 2-3 in SCIAC, bringing them into the top four in conference. The Stags next face Whittier (2-5, 1-4 SCIAC) at 1 p.m. on Nov. 8 before the 2014 CMS Hall of Fame Induction Night at the CMC Athenaeum.
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