The No. 14 University of Redlands football team's dream season hit a roadblock on Oct. 11 as the Bulldogs dropped a 28-15 decision to Occidental College in a battle between two longtime Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) powerhouses.

Unable to find a rhythm without senior quarterback Dan Selway (Villa Park, CA), the team struggled to sport an efficient passing game, and the normally-solid Bulldog rush defense surrendered 259 yards on the ground.

Redlands won the toss, elected to receive and then moved into field-goal range in nine plays for 52 yards. Faced with a fourth-and-two situation on the Occidental 23, the team decided to keep the offensive unit on the field to attempt a first down. The play resulted in a no-gain rush by senior running back Zach Schafer (Saugus, CA), and the Tigers started their first offensive drive on their 23.

Justin Goltz rattled off the first of three long touchdown runs for Occidental, rushing for a 58-yard gain on a third-and-five play. The touchdown proved to be the only score for either team in the first quarter, and following the successful extra-point attempt, the Tigers took a 7-0 lead.

Following three monster punts by both teams' punters, Alex Groh for Occidental and freshman kicker/punter Wes Norris (San Jose, CA) for Redlands, senior running back Jeff Stewart (Newark, CA) evened the score with a 36-yard touchdown run for the Bulldogs.

The Tigers responded quickly, using just three plays before Jason Haller broke past the defense for a 62-yard touchdown run. Neil Martin failed to convert the point after, leaving Redlands with a chance to take the lead with a 13-7 score in favor of Occidental.

On the ensuing drive, the maroon and gray used a 20-yard pass by junior quarterback Steve Smith (Lake Oswego, OR) to junior wide receiver Evan Reuter (Cameron Park, CA) and two rushes by Schafer to set up a 35-yard Schafer touchdown run. Exchanging fates on the extra-point attempts, Redlands faced a similar result to Occidental as a blocked kick resulted in a 13-13 score.

Occidental scored once more as Haller stretched a third-and-three run for a 66-yard gain, giving the Tigers a 20-13 advantage going into halftime following a converted extra-point attempt by Martin.

A nine-play, 47-yard drive to open the half left the Tigers on the Bulldog six-yard line as Martin missed a 23-yard field goal. Following a three-and-out drive for Redlands, Occidental failed to score again in the red zone as Goltz coughed up the ball. Junior defensive back Jared Fink (El Paso, TX) picked up the ball, giving the Bulldogs possession at their own five-yard line.

Junior wide receiver Brenden Barkate (Bakersfield, CA) took the snap on a trick play on third down on the next drive, completing a pass to Reuter that resulted in a 30-yard gain. The Tigers held the Bulldog offense in check, though, on the next three plays, and Norris boomed a 63-yard punt to pin Occidental at their three-yard line.

Two points went on the board in favor of Redlands after a holding penalty was called on the Tigers in the their endzone on a Groh punt attempt, and the referees awarded the Bulldogs a safety.

Occidental held Redlands to a five-play, three-yard drive following the kickoff, and Norris was forced to shoot off another punt, which landed at the Occidental 45.

Goltz engineered a six-play, 55-yard drive, and he launched a pass to Jason Lehman in the endzone for a 10-yard touchdown toss. Electing to go for two points, Goltz easily found Chris Washington in the corner of the endzone for two points. After the converted two-point attempt, the Tigers held a 13-point lead, 28-15.

Both defenses kept the other teams' offenses honest in the final 11 minutes of the contest as neither team scored following the Goltz touchdown pass.

Smith played under center the entire game and completed 13 of 34 passes for 112 yards on the evening. He showed resilience in the face of the Tiger defenders as he got sacked on seven occasions and yet played the entirety of the tilt.

Reuter proved to be Smith's favorite target as he finished with four receptions for 62 yards. Also contributing to the receiving game was Barkate with four catches for 35 yards and junior wide receiver Sean Scott (Bellevue, WA) with three catches for 22 yards.

The Bulldogs' ground attack proved to be the offense's strong point again as Schafer led the three-headed-monster running attack with 118 yards on 18 carries, scoring one touchdown. Stewart also instilled respect for Redlands' running game, rushing 13 times for 73 yards, which included one touchdown run.

In the absence of Selway, Norris filled in admirably at the punter position as he averaged 45.3 yards per punt on nine punt attempts. His longest punt of the evening was a 63-yarder while he dropped four punts inside Occidental's 20-yard line.

Senior defensive lineman Brock Arndt (Valencia, CA) tallied eight total tackles on the game to lead the Bulldog defense while sophomore defensive back Mike Nicolini (Novato, CA), senior linebacker Eddie Stamm (Portland, OR), sophomore defensive back Tom Mouwen (Moorpark, CA) and freshman linebacker Ian Sluss (Vista, CA) each compiled six total tackles.

Both Stamm and junior defensive lineman Tam Berhe (Colton, CA) each recorded a quarterback hurry as they nearly brought Goltz to the ground while he eyed his receivers in the pocket.

Goltz served as the general of the Tiger offense, completing 11 of 22 passes for 131 yards and rushing 11 times for 103 yards. Also having a standout performance, Haller carried the ball seven times for a gain of 137 yards, averaging 19.6 yards per carry.

Leading the special teams unit was preseason All-American Groh who averaged 43.7 yards per punt.

On defense, Trace Wallace and Washington each accumulated nine total tackles while Daniel Tromello picked off a pass for a gain of nine yards. Alex Wertheimer blocked a Bulldog extra-point attempt and notched a blocked kick on the play.

Redlands (3-1, 1-1 SCIAC) travels to Whittier next Saturday, Oct. 18, for a 3 p.m. kickoff against Whittier College. Whittier (1-3, 0-1 SCIAC) celebrates its homecoming next weekend, and admission into the game is $5 for adults and $3 for children aged 12-17. The parking lot opens three hours before kickoff, and there is a parking fee of $5 per car. Directions to Whittier College can be found at http://www.wcpoets.com/information/Directions/index.