Josh Scurlock '08 passed for three touchdowns
and ran for another to lead Whittier College to a 31-28 win over
SCIAC rival University of La Verne on October 20 in La Verne,
Calif. The Poets are back at .500 with a 3-3 overall record
and are now 2-1 in conference play.
The Poets got off to a great start with a scoring drive on the
first possession of the game. The six-play, 64-yard drive
ended with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Scurlock to
Anthony Poponio '09 for a 7-0 lead. La Verne
tied the score with a 21-yard touchdown pass of their own as Troy
Doolittle found Grady Thomas in the end-zone with 5:15 remaining in
the first quarter. On the ensuing Poets possession, Scurlock
threw his second touchdown pass of the day, this one a 24-yard
strike to Shawn Briggs '08.
Once again, the Leopards leveled the score with a
touchdown pass. Doolittle completed a 40-yard pass to Anthony
DeJager in the opening minutes of the second quarter to cap an
eleven-play, 73-yard drive. La Verne would take their first
lead with 8:45 left in the half, as Doolittle connected with
Charles Lacy for a 36-yard touchdown pass to make the score
21-14. That would remain the score as the two teams headed
into the locker rooms at halftime.
On the opening drive of the second half, the Leopards got another
big play to extend their lead to fourteen points. Doolittle
threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Chris Handy for his fourth
touchdown pass of the game. The Poets fought back with a
six-play, 56-yard drive that ended with another Scurlock-to-Briggs
touchdown pass, this one from seven yards out to make the score
28-21 in favor of La Verne. Later in the third, Scurlock
completed a 39-yard pass to Josh Ollison '11 to
set up a 33-yard field goal by Ben Walker '08 to
cut the lead to four. The third quarter would end with the
score 28-24.
In the fourth, Sean MacNeil '09 picked off a
Doolittle pass and returned it 39 yards, deep into La Verne
territory to give the Poets offense great field position as they
looked to take the lead. Eight plays later, Scurlock
scampered into the end-zone from one yard away to give Whittier the
31-28 lead with ten minutes left in the game. Neither offense
was able to find the end-zone and with time winding down in the
game, the Leopards had a chance to tie with a 59-yard field goal
attempt that sailed wide left and gave the Poets the 31-28
victory.
Scurlock went 15-for-32 in the air with 220 yards, three touchdowns
and no interceptions. He also ran for 49 yards and a
score. His favorite target was Ollison, who caught six passes
for 111 yards. Briggs caught four passes for 40 yards and two
touchdowns. Pomponio had two receptions out of the backfield
for 42 yards and one touchdown.
Defensively, Arlo Castelo '08 led the way with 7.5
sacks, three of which were for a loss, including half a sack.
Ryan Munoz '11 had seven tackles and David
Taylor '08 had 5.5 tackles and half a sack.
Nick Enriquez '11 had 1.5 sacks and MacNeil had
the big interception that led to the go-ahead score.
Doolittle had a monster day for La Verne in the loss. He
completed 34-of-51 passes for 419 yards and four touchdowns, but
had the one interception late in the game. DeJager caught
eight passes for 85 yards and a touchdown and Handy had five
receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown.
The Leopard defense was led by Jason Carpenter with seven tackles
and Armando Jimenez had a sack.
The Poets are back at home for their next game against SCIAC rival
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on October 27. The homecoming weekend
event is scheduled to kick-off at 4pm.
