CLAREMONT, Calif. - Senior defensive lineman
Evan Gerber had two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown and another of which killed a Cal Lutheran drive in the fourth quarter, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team built a 21-3 lead and held on for a 24-22 win a battle of SCIAC unbeatens on Saturday at Rogan Stadium.
With the win, CMS improves to 3-1 overall on the year and 2-0 in SCIAC play, while Cal Lutheran sees its record fall to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in conference.
Quintin Craig opened the scoring with a 44-yard touchdown reception from
Robert Litscher, and
Noah Macapulay added a 40-yard catch-and-run with 5:05 left in the second quarter to make it 21-3.
Sean Lee had a 47-yard field goal in the second half that proved to be the winning margin.
In between, Gerber read a short swing pass from his defensive line spot, jumped up and made an interception, and ran it back 17 yards for a touchdown to make it a 14-3 game with 7:32 left in the half.
Cal Lutheran came all the way back and had a chance to tie it in the fourth after a 90-yard touchdown drive made the score 24-22 with 12:18 to play. The Kingsmen missed on a two-point conversion to tie it, and after they got the ball back, Gerber had his second interception of the day to give CMS the ball in the red zone.
The Stags had a field goal blocked to give the Kingsmen one more possession, but
Kavin Prasanna broke up a first-down pass,
Gabriel Lea made a third-down tackle three yards short of the first down, and a fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 2:41 to go.
Cal Lutheran still had all three timeouts, but
Owen Walz had a pair of third-down carries for first downs to end the game, rushing for seven yards on third-and-three, and then 12 yards on third-and-five.
Litscher finished 13-for-18 for 211 yards and two touchdowns for CMS, while Walz had a career-best 65 yards on 13 carries. Macapulay had seven catches for 87 yards, including his 40-yard touchdown which saw him weave through several Cal Lutheran defenders on the way to the end zone.
George Kruger and
Joseph Kessler each had eight tackles, while Lea, Prasanna and
Andrew Carrasquillo each had six. Gerber added a sack for seven yards in addition to his two interceptions, while
Zeke Vallez added a sack as well.
CMS will be back in action when it travels to La Verne next weekend for a 1 p.m. contest.
