CLAREMONT, Calif. - For the second year in a row, the Chapman football team was able to withstand a potential last-minute scoring drive from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to hold off the Stags for the Surf Division title in the SCIAC, winning 9-7 on Saturday evening at Chapman Stadium.
A year ago, CMS was one yard shy of winning the division, as Chapman stopped the Stags at the one-yard line on fourth and goal to win 14-10. This time around, CMS trailed 9-7 and had a first down at the Chapman 40-yard line, but could only advance the ball two more yards, and a game-winning 56-yard field goal attempt from
Rich Brutto (whose career long is 52) missed to enable the Panthers to hang on.
CMS is now 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the SCIAC with the loss, and has compiled a 14-4 record in the last two seasons with all four losses to Chapman. The Panthers move to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in the SCIAC with the win. The two teams could still end up tied after next weekend's finale, but Chapman would have the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head sweep.
The Stags got their lone score on a 32-yard touchdown pass from
Walter Kuhlenkamp to
Daniel Rosenberg with 1:36 left in the third quarter. Kuhlenkamp kept the drive going on a 3rd-and-12 when he found
Anderson Cynkar for a 21-yard gain to midfield, and then rushed for six yards on 4th-and-1 to put the ball on the Chapman 35.
CMS got a stop on the next Chapman possession, with Thano Bright stuffing a run for no goal on 3rd-and-1. Kuhlenkamp then connected with
Quintin Craig on a 28-yard pass to Chapman 12, but a fumbled snap resulted in a turnover as Renick Martin made a diving interception in the end zone to give the ball back to the Panthers with 9:19 left.
Chapman tried to seal the win by going for it on 4th-and-7 at the CMS 16-yard line, but turned it over on downs, and Kuhlenkamp found Rosenberg for a 16-yard gain to push it out to the 32.
Enzo Benzan kept the drive going by recovering a fumble, and Kuhlenkamp found
Mason Cotton for a 20-yard pass to the Chapman 40-yard line on 4th-and-2, but CMS could only gain two more yards on a
Justin Edwards rush, leaving a very difficult field goal attempt for the win.
Kuhlenkamp finished 7-13 passing for 135 yards and a touchdown, and added 25 yards rushing, while Edwards carried 23 times for 68 yards in the defensive battle.
Joey Asta led CMS with six tackles, while
Austin Andersen had five (all solo), and
Jacob O'Connell had two of his four tackles for losses.
CMS will host Cal Lutheran on Saturday in the final regularly scheduled game of the year, which will also be Senior Day for the program's 21 seniors. The Stags will then host Redlands on championship weekend (Nov. 16) in a battle of the league's second-place teams.
