ORANGE, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team led 28-27 heading into the fourth quarter, but Chapman was able to outscore CMS 22-0 in the final 15 minutes to come back and earn a 49-28 win over the Stags on Saturday evening in a battle for first place in the SCIAC.
With the win, Chapman improves to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the SCIAC, while CMS slips to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in league play.
Senior quarterback
Robert Litscher threw for a career-high 357 yards and three touchdowns for CMS, and also ran for a fourth score with 49 seconds left in the third to put the Stags in front 28-27.
In the fourth quarter, CMS earned a stop but was pinned deep in its own territory and was forced to punt.
Dylan Sherman had a clutch 58-yard punt out of his own end zone to send Chapman back to its own 34-yard line, but the Panthers used a 44-yard pass on its first play to get down to the CMS 22. Three plays later, Eli Brandt threw an 18-yard touchdown to Brendon Manzano to give Chapman the lead for good.
The Panthers went ahead 20-7 with a touchdown with 33 seconds left in the half, but CMS stunned Chapman with a quick touchdown on the final possession of the half, and then another on the first possession of the second half to take the lead in only five plays.
After starting on the 25-yard line with 27 seconds left in the first half, Litscher found
Noah Macapulay for a 45-yard pass to the Chapman 30-yard line, and then had a 30-yard touchdown strike to
Jaden Rattay with 12 seconds left to close the gap to 20-14.
At the start of the second half, CMS took over on its own 31-yard line, and Litscher threw a nine-yard pass to Macapulay, then threw a 37-yarder to
Quintin Craig, and found Craig again from 25 yards out to make the score 21-20 at the 13:10 mark of the third.
Chapman took the lead back 27-21 on its next possession, but CMS responded with an 84-yard touchdown drive, culminating in a Litscher one-yard run.
Cooper Nixon had a 20-yard run on third-and-one, and Litscher had a 22-yard pass to
James Ryan to get the ball in the red zone.
Litscher was 26-37 passing on the day for his 357 yards, with Macapulay (eight catches, 125 yards) and Craig (eight catches, 112 yards) each going over 100 yards receiving.
George Kruger led CMS defensively with 13 tackles, while
Andrew Carrasquillo added eight.
CMS will be back in action next weekend when it travels to Redlands before hosting its final scheduled home game on Nov. 7 against Azusa Pacific. Wins in both of those games would likely set up a rematch against Chapman in the SCIAC Championship game on Nov. 14.
