Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier College football team earned their first SCIAC victory of the season after they defeated the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer 34-20 Saturday evening at Merritt Field.
With the win Whittier improves to 2-3, 1-2 SCIAC, while Pomona-Pitzer continues to seek their first victory on the season.
Pomona-Pitzer jumped out to an early 10-0 lead after the first quarter behind a strong rushing attack from Luke Sweeney who came into the day needing 199 yards to tie the school record of 2,676 yards held by Jim Regan and showed early on that he was going to challenge it, carrying for 46 yards on his first play from scrimmage at home this season. He had 82 yards rushing at the end of the first quarter, and 130 at the half.
At the end of the day Sweeney finished 10 yards short of the record forcing him to grab the record next week when the Sagehens travel to take on La Verne.
After one quarter of play, Whittier found themselves in a hole but managed to get on the scoreboard with three minutes to play in the second when freshman Steven Rivera found a wide open Kimble Tillman who scampered 30 yards for a touchdown capping off an 8 play 76 yard drive.
This pulled the Poets within three at 10-7 going into the break.
Coming out of the break, Whittier put up the first points of the second half when Tyquion Ballard hauled in his fourth interception of the season and his first pick six of the year giving Whittier their first lead of the evening 13-10 when he ran it in from 10 yards out. This came after Whittier was stopped on the Pomona-Pitzer two yard line on fourth and one.
After a quick three and out, Whittier got the ball back with 6:32 to play in the third and added to their lead when Tillman hauled in his second touchdown of the evening from Rivera going 53 yards on the second play from scrimmage. This extended the Poet lead to 20-10. After the Poets defensive unit forced another three and out, Nick Alcantar gave the ball right back to the Sagehens when he fumbled the ensuing punt giving Pomona-Pitzer the ball on the Whittier 24.
From there Sweeney brought the Sagehens into 1st and Goal territory and two plays later Luke Ferguson connected with Ryan Randle from seven yards out to pull the Sagehens within three at 20-17 to close out the third.
To open the fourth Pomona-Pitzer had an opportunity to tie up the game at 20-20 but their 40 yard field goal missed short keeping the margin at three. After back to back three and outs Whittier started a drive from their own 24 with 8:51 to play and on the fifth play from scrimmage, junior transfer Anthony Walker went 57 yards down the sideline to add to the Poet lead 27-17.
On Pomona-Pitzer's next series they went the length of the field going 68 yards in 13 plays but was held to a field goal that pulled the Sagehens within a touchdown at 27-20 with 3:35 to go.
Pomona-Pitzer tried on onsides kick on their next kickoff attempt, but Whittier was able to recover and put together a 44-yard touchdown drive, culminating in a one-yard run from Rufus Osby with 41 seconds left, to finish off the scoring.
Whittier combined for 592 yards of total offense (257 Passing; 325 Rushing) compared to Pomona-Pitzer's 394 yards (200 Passing; 194 Rushing). The game saw three players reach the 100 yard rushing plateau including Walker with 132, Osby with 114, and the Sagehen's Sweeney who finished with 184.
Rivera got the start today for Chris Lopez and completed 19-34 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns, while receiving two players reached 100 yards including Tillman who finished with 120 and the Sagehen's Rothman who hauled in seven receptions for 135, while Matt Asaro and Dameron Fooks finished with 73 and 66 yards, each respectively for the Poets.
This was one of the highest offensive performances put out by the Poets this season and the offensive line made it easy for the running backs to find the holes and give Rivera ample pass protection to be able to look for receivers down field.
Defensively the Poets were led by Brandon Wilcox who tallied 10 tackles (5 solo, 5 assisted) and Trevor Phillips who finished with 9 tackles (3 Solo, 6 assisted) to go with a sack that went for a ten yard loss and a forced fumble.
The Poets continue with SCIAC play as they travel back to Claremont, Calif. to take on the Stags of Claremont-M-S, Saturday, October 20, with kickoff set for 1:00pm.
