Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Whittier College Football team opened up Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play Saturday afternoon at Zinda Field on the campus of Claremont-M-S but couldn't pull off the road victory as they fell 45-13.

Claremont-M-S remains undefeated on the season as they move to 3-0, 1-0 SCIAC, while Whittier remains winless at 0-3, 0-1 SCIAC.

Whittier quarterback Matthew Valencia (Commerce, Calif.) was 17-29 on the game for 144 yards and a touchdown as Whittier totaled 273 yards of total offense (176 Passing/97 Rushing).  

CMS converted on a Poet fumble early in the first quarter and drove 78 yards in seven plays to get on the scoreboard first.  Eric Voss would get the Purple & Gold on the scoreboard with 4:00 remaining in the frame with a 36 yard field goal that made the score 7-3. 

But it would be all Stags the rest of the way getting a one-yard touchdown run and a 26 yard field goal that moved the score to 17-3 at the break.

CMS added to their lead in the third returning a punt 40 yards for a touchdown moving the score to 24-3 before a 24 yard connection from Trey Reynolds to Patrick Dixon.  With :27 seconds remaining in the quarter, CMS would add another score this time from Curcio from three yards out that put the game out of reach. 

Voss added another field goal to begin things in the fourth quarter, this time from 20 yards out, which capped off a 10-play, 76 yard drive that covered 5:57.  During the series, Miguel Redmond (San Jose, Calif.) had a nice run of 14 yards, prior to Valencia finding Brian Phelan (Chino Hills, Calif.) for 28 yards and Bryson Sanders (Manteca, Calif.) for another 15.

With 2:15 to play, CMS added to their lead running back a punt return back 57 yards. 

The Purple & Gold had one final drive remaining with 1:35 to play and would convert with eight plays in 1:22 going 75 yards to the house.  Redmond had rushes of nine and eleven yards.  Valencia then found Sanders for a 14 yard hook-up, Joey Willm (Arcadia, Calif.) had a big rush for 21 yards and Valencia capped it off with a 20-yard connection with Sanders.

Defensively, the Poets had Cale Quistgard (Pleasanton, Calif.) who came up with a big pick on their own two-yard line stopping a CMS drive.  Michael Pirnik (Gilroy, Calif.) led in tackles with eight (six assist/two solo).  Andrew Rosales (Pico Rivera, Calif.) and Isaiah Guerrero (Riverside, Calif.) each had seven, while Lorenzo Mena (San Gabriel, Calif.) and Guerrero combined for a sack.

Redmond finished the game with 57 yards rushing on 11 attempts, while Willm racked up 31.  Sanders finished with 65 total yards, while Phelan had 53.           

Whittier returns home next Saturday, October 8 as they host Chapman University beginning at 7:00pm.