Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College football team who came into last night's game with the second highest offense in Div. III in total yards along with ranking first in almost every offensive category in SCIAC was held to a mere 322 yards in a 31-14 loss to the Leopards of the Uni. of La Verne.
Whittier now drops to 1-3, 0-2 SCIAC, while La Verne improves to 2-1, 2-0 SCIAC.
La Verne outscored Whittier 17-0 in the second half, which ultimately led to their seventeen point victory. The Poets got on the scoreboard first in the first quarter of play when Chris Lopez marched the Poets down the field going 76 yards on 6 plays capped off by a 22 yard touchdown reception to Matt Asaro.
But La Verne answered at the start of the second quarter when Matthew Biggers ran it in from six yards out capping off an 8 play 72 yard drive that covered 3:29. La Verne then took their first lead of the game when Travis Carter connected with Viramontes with a 19 yard strike that put the Leopards in front 14-7 with 7:23 to play in the second quarter.
The Purple & Gold didn't go away though and replied on the second play from scrimmage on their ensuing possession when Anthony Walker took a swing pass out of the back field from Lopez and scampered 70 yards for the game tying touchdown making it 14-14.
The Leopards then got the ball and started a drive from their own 21 and got into Whittier territory behind two passes of 15 and 11 yards and then a rush by Biggers for four. But on a 3rd and 3 attempt, Brandon Acid came up big with a sack for a nine yard loss that stopped the Leopard drive forcing them to punt the ball away.
After a three and out from La Verne, Whittier got the ball back with 1:24 to play and started a drive from their own 33. After two incomplete passes, Lopez found Dameron Fooks down the sideline for a 58 yard reception that set up a first and goal from the La Verne nine. But on the ensuing series, Lopez was sacked for a six yard loss on first down and after completing two passes to Kimble Tillman and Bryon Edwards for short gains the Purple & Gold were forced to kick a field goal from 24 yards out, which was missed by Douglas Soriano.
This ended the first half forcing the game into a tie at 14-14.
Coming out of the break, Whittier opened up driving the length of the field going 50 yards in 8 plays sparked by a diving catch made by Blake Tillis down the sideline for 34 yards to the La Verne 12. But after two rushes from Rufus Osby and an incomplete pass to Tillman, Whittier was forced to kick another field goal from 26 yards out that was missed by Soriano keeping the score tied up at 14-14.
La Verne then subsequently drove 80 yards for the go-ahead score as Biggers capped a 13-play drive with a 7 yard touchdown run that put La Verne in front 21-14.
After a three and out by the Poets on the ensuing possession La Verne would march 57 yards on six plays to set up a 26 yard field goal from Alex Miller to take a double-digit lead at 24-14 with 3:21 left in the third quarter.
After once again forcing the Purple & Gold to punt for the sixth time, the Leopards again answered starting the fourth quarter with an 11 play, 80 yard drive in six minutes, culminating in a 19 yard scoring run from Travis Sparks-Jackson for a 31-14 lead with nine minutes to play. This drive was also kept alive by La Verne thanks to a fake punt on a 4th and 4 from their own 27, which Jose Garay ran for six yards giving the Leopards a fresh set of downs.
In one last desperation to get points on the board, freshman Steven Rivera who relieved Lopez in the second half was picked off by Ky Dorsey with :15 seconds remaining in the game that stopped the Whittier drive helping La Verne preserve their second SCIAC win.
La Verne's defense shut down the high-octane Whittier offense which entered the contest averaging a SCIAC best 44.0 points per game and more than 500 yards per game of total offense. The Leos held the Poets to 71 total yards in the second half.
The loss was Whittier's third straight to La Verne with its last win against the Leopards coming in 2009.
On offense, Whittier tallied 322 yards on the night with 305 coming through the air with the help of a strong offensive line who secured great pass protection, which included Patrick Sweigart, Tony Jarjoura, Timothy St. Marie, Efrain Gonzalez, and Oscar Hernandez. But Whittier was only able to rush for a mere 17 on the ground, while La Verne amassed 451 yards on the night with 255 passing and 196 rushing.
The Poets were held to just three first downs after halftime as the Leopards took control over the final 30 minutes en route to the victory. Overall, La Verne totaled 26 first downs compared to Whittier's 12.
Lopez completed 13 of his 25 pass attempts for 232 yards, while Rivera tallied 73 yards through the air on 6-of-15 passing. Fooks caught six passes for a game-high 110 yards in the defeat.
Biggers led all rushers with 123 yards on 32 carries and a pair of scores. Carter threw for 227 yards completing 18 of his 26 attempts and a touchdown. Viramontes caught five passes for a team-high 70 yards.
On defense, Whittier was led by Charles Scicli and Taylor Holland who each recorded 10 tackles a piece, while the defense as a whole combined for four sacks for 23 yards of total losses.
Whittier will resume SCIAC play as they travel this Saturday, October 13 to Pomona-Pitzer (0-4, 0-2 SCIAC) to take on the Sagehens with kickoff set for 7:00pm.
