NEWBURG, Ore. – Mason Cotton caught a 74-yard touchdown pass and Jacob O'Connell returned an interception for a touchdown for the third time in the last two years as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team used big plays to build a 24-3 halftime lead and went on to capture a 27-17 win over George Fox on Saturday.

CMS improves to 2-0 on the season with the win, while George Fox suffers its first loss of the season and slips to 2-1 with the loss.

Justin Edwards carried 31 times for 125 yards and a touchdown, extending his CMS record to 46 career rushing touchdowns (and 47 total). Joey Asta led the defense with nine tackles and a quarterback sack and forced fumble late to seal the win, and Rich Brutto was 2-for-2 on field goals, including a career-best 51-yarder in the second half.

CMS scored 10 quick points in the first quarter with Brutto connecting from 26 yards to make it 3-0 with 6:14 left. After the Stag defense held George Fox to a three-and-out, Walter Kulhenkamp connected with Cotton over the middle and Cotton outran the defense for a 74-yard touchdown on the first play of the ensuing drive.

O'Connell then helped keep the momentum on the CMS side with a pair of big defensive plays. With George Fox facing third-and-goal from the CMS five-yard line, O'Connell broke free for a six-yard sack, which forced the Bruins to settle for a field goal.

On the next possession, O'Connell intercepted the ball and ran it back 20 yards for a touchdown with 7:48 left in the second to push the lead to 17-3, his third pick-six of the last two years after also running back interceptions on back-to-back weeks against Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer last season.

Edwards then capped off the first half when he scored from six yards out to end a 13-play, 74-yard drive with 1:12 left in the second quarter. Anderson Cynkar had three catches on the drive, the last a 10-yarder on 3rd-and-5 to get it down to the George Fox 13-yard line and set up the scoring run from Edwards.

George Fox regrouped for a pair of third-quarter touchdown drives, but Brutto hit a big 51-yarder in between to make it a 27-10 game. His previous career-high of 47 yards was set last year against George Fox, when he snapped a 7-7 tie with one second left in a 16-7 CMS win (the Stags also returned a fumble for a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff).

The Bruins had the ball in their own territory trailing by 10 late in the game, but Joey Asta came through with a sack and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Tarius Hamlin with 3:34 left to effectively seal it.

Kuhlenkamp was 11-18 passing for 140 yards and Peter Boehm completed all three of his passes for 38 yards. Cynkar and Daniel Rosenberg led the Stags with five receptions apiece, with Rosenberg tallying 52 receiving yards and Cynkar 43. Elijah Costa had six tackles, and Evan Gerber had four, including one that came on 4th-and-2 in the second half to turn the ball back over to the Stags.

CMS will be back in action next Saturday when it travels to Cal Lutheran for its 2024 SCIAC opener before traveling up the road to face Pomona-Pitzer on Oct. 5 in the annual Sixth Street Trophy game.