NEWBURG, Ore. - With the CMS football team trailing 21-20 and just over one minute remaining, George Kruger forced a fumble inside the CMS five-yard line that was recovered by Xzavier Sablan, and two plays later, Robert Litscher threw a 96-yard touchdown to Jaden Rattay, the longest play from scrimmage in CMS history, to give the Stags a wild 28-21 win over George Fox on Saturday.
With the win, CMS improves to 2-0 on the year, while George Fox, which seemed like they had just stolen a win from the Stags with a late touchdown of its own, slips to 0-3 with the loss.
The Bruins were down 20-14 in the closing minutes, and overcame a 2nd-and-30 after two straight holding penalties. They faced a 4th-and-14 at the CMS 40-yard line with less than two minutes left, when JJ Leman then threw a 40-yard touchdown to Karsen Denault in the back of the end zone to stun the Stags and give the Bruins a 21-20 lead.
George Fox then seemed to have the game won after CMS turned the ball over on downs at their own 13-yard line, following back-to-back quarterback sacks on third and fourth down. The Stags did have two timeouts left, and after using their first, Leman ran to his left and was tracked down by Kruger, who stripped the ball from behind, and it was recovered at the four-yard line by Sablan with 1:06 left, giving CMS new life.
The Stags still had a lot of work to do deep in their own end, and Litscher was nearly brought down for a sack in end zone for a safety, but he was able to escape the pressure and roll out to his left, finding Rattay leaking behind the defense at the 30-yard line.
Rattay, who was part of the CMS 4x400 relay team in track and field season that qualified for nationals in the spring, took care of a much shorter 70-yard sprint, racing past the George Fox defense and down the sideline for the go-ahead touchdown with 51 seconds remaining. Litscher then added a two-point conversion on a quarterback keeper to make it a seven-point lead.
The 96 yards broke the previous CMS record for longest pass play of 92 yards which had held since 1978, when Bob Farra completed a pass to Don Chester against US International (a school in San Diego which no longer exists). The longest running play from scrimmage is also 92 yards, set by Bob Ellis against Redlands in 1963.
George Fox still had time to add another twist to the wild ending, taking the ensuing kickoff and moving the ball over midfield with 11 seconds left with a chance to try a Hail Mary, but Michael Houk had a sack on third down to take away the first try. He then pressured Leman out of the pocket to the sideline, where his final pass into the end zone was batted down, as the Stags earned the win.
Noah Macapulay scored two touchdowns to help the Stags build a 20-14 halftime lead. He scored his first one with 1:48 left in the third on a 68-yard catch-and-run from Litscher, as he caught the ball near midfield, and spun past a would-be tackler before breaking free.
Litscher then gave CMS its first lead at 13-7 when he threw a short pass to Owen Walz near the right sideline, who broke a tackle and plunged in from six yard out with 9:00 left in the second quarter. After George Fox took the lead back at 14-13, Maculapay hauled in his second touchdown from Litscher in the back-right corner of the end zone with 35 seconds left in the half to make the score 20-14.
Litscher finished the game 9-of-17 passing for 264 yards and three touchdowns, while Luke Gildred added six completions on seven attempts. Rattay finished with two catches for 105 yards and a touchdown, while Macapulay amassed 82 yards on his two touchdown receptions.
Andrew Carrasquillo and Nick Wilde each had 10 tackles for the CMS defense, while Kruger had nine tackles, including the one that forced the pivotal fumble. Houk added seven tackles, including 1.5 sacks, while Harry Zhou had three quarterback hurries.
CMS will be back in action next weekend when it opens SCIAC play with the Sixth Street Rivalry game against Pomona-Pitzer at 7 p.m.