CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team had four interceptions and three sacks on its way to a shutout, as it picked up a 24-0 win over Chicago in the season opener for both teams on Saturday morning at Zinda Field.

All 24 points were scored in the first half of a game that moved to an early start at 10 a.m., due to temperatures forecasted to reach 105 degrees on Saturday afternoon. Peter Boehm ran for a six-yard touchdown to open the scoring at the 11:10 mark of the first half, and threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Mason Cotton with 9:00 left in the second, while Justin Edwards extended his CMS record with his 44th career rushing touchdown, an 18-yarder with 3:13 left in the third.

Elijah Costa had an interception and a sack in the first half, while Kirby Baynes, Cesar Fernandez and Carson Navarro added picks. Austin Andersen and Michael Houk picked up sacks for the Stags as well.

CMS scored on its opening drive of the game, as Walter Kuhlenkamp connected on a 30-yard pass to Anderson Cynkar to move the ball into Maroons territory. Kuhlenkamp rushed for 10 yards to the 26-yard line, and Edwards had a 20-yard scamper down to the six, setting up the quarterback keeper from Boehm to open the scoring.

After an exchange of punts, Costa came up with a third-down sack to pin Chicago inside its 20, and the Stags were able to take over on their own 45. Kuhlenkamp connected with Cynkar again for a 22-yard gain, and Edwards ran it in from 18 yards out to make it a 14-0 game.

Costa then had an interception early in the second quarter, running it back 23 yards to the Stags' 47-yard line. After an Edwards 11-yard rush, Boehm found Cotton in the right side of the end zone to give CMS a 21-0 lead. Addison Reddinger then broke up a third-down pass to force the Maroons into a three-and-out, and Rich Brutto made it a 24-0 lead with a 27-yard field goal.

CMS protected the lead through the second half, but the Maroons threatened to end the shutout by getting inside the Stags' 10-yard line in the fourth quarter, but Fernandez was able to come away with an interception and run it back 27 yards to the CMS 32 to kill the final Chicago threat.

Edwards finished the game with 94 yards on 20 carries while Cynkar had six catches for 76 yards and Gabe Menendez de Alencar added four catches for 52 yards. Defensively the Stags had lots of contributions to the shutout as it rotated players in, with Houk, Baynes and Andrew Carrasquillo leading the way with five tackles apiece, and 27 Stags recording at least one tackle.

CMS will be back in action in two weeks when it travels to George Fox in a rematch of a game at Zinda Field last year that came down to a last-second 47-yard field goal from Rich Brutto, which the Stags won 16-7 after Calvin Miller also returned a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.