Despite holding a 14-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, the No. 22 University of Redlands football team suffered a heartbreaking 24-27 overtime loss to No. 24 Occidental College on Saturday. The Maroon and Gray had its chances to secure the important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) win but the Tigers proved too much for Redlands for the sixth consecutive time. A tale of two halves, which included a dominating performance by the Bulldogs in the first half and a persistent effort by Oxy in the second, went in favor of the opponent, as Redlands endured the bitter taste of defeat for the first time during the 2009 campaign.

Redlands out-played Occidental in nearly every statistical category, including first downs (27 to 23), yards rushing (113 to 25), yards passing (354 to 271), and possession time (33:14 to 26:46). But the Tigers prevailed in the critical areas like penalties and red zone conversions, and this was all the difference.

Senior quarterback Dan Selway (Villa Park, CA) led the Maroon and Gray down the field on its opening drive, finding senior wide receiver Evan Reuter (Cameron Park, CA) on consecutive catches of 38 and 17 yards. The Bulldogs then scored off of a one-yard run by junior running back Daylan Swedlow (Lake Arrowhead, CA) to take the 6-0 lead.

After forcing Oxy to punt on its first possession, the Bulldogs started their second drive on their own five-yard line. Six plays later, the Tigers recovered a Bulldog fumble on the Redlands 21-yard line and eventually converted their opportunity into seven points to go up by one with 5:39 to go in the first half.

On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs marched the ball 84 yards on 13 plays, resulting in a five-yard touchdown pass from Selway to senior wide receiver Brian Putman (Bakersfield, CA). Redlands went for two and gained back the missed PAT from the opening score, earning a 14-7 lead.

Oxy's next drive resulted in a 27-yard field goal to pull within four. However, the Bulldogs quickly responded with a touchdown at the start of the second quarter, moving the ball 55 yards on nine plays that culminated in 17-yard pass to Putman into the end zone. This time junior Joe MacMillan's (Pasadena, CA) kick was good to put the score at 21-10.

During the Tigers' subsequent drive, the Redlands defense forced them to punt after six plays and a gain of only two yards. This led to the Maroon and Gray's next score, a career-long 47-yard field goal by MacMillan.

The half ended with Redlands up by a score of 24-10 and seemingly in control of the game.

But Occidental had other plans, refusing to let its conference championship hopes disappear into the night. The second half saw a much more relentless and creative style of football by the Tigers, successfully putting together new plays on the fly. In addition, the Bulldogs appeared all too comfortable with their 14-point lead against a nationally-ranked opponent and conference nemesis.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Tigers forced their way into the end zone at the start of the fourth on a 12-play, 80-yard drive to cut the lead to just seven. Redlands struggled to move the ball on its next two possessions, resulting in back-to-back punts, which were its only punts of the night.

Occidental tied the game on another long yet efficient drive, going from its own 39-yard line on just five plays, which included a 30-yard pass into the end zone.

Two possessions later, Redlands rallied back by moving the ball 85 yards on nine plays to the Oxy 13. The Bulldogs earned five first downs on six plays, with Selway finding Putman four times for 69 yards. Serving as Selway's favorite target of the night, Putman racked up 150 receiving yards on 13 catches.

However, penalties continued to plague the Bulldogs, as a false start brought what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown back to the line of scrimmage. But there was still hope as Redlands clearly sat in field-goal range for MacMillan, who had just nailed a 47-yarder. With ten seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Occidental took a timeout, which required the Bulldogs to ponder their next play. During the routine 30-yard field goal attempt, the Tigers managed to draw up an impressive scheme that successfully blocked the kick and sent the game into overtime.

Redlands won the toss and deferred possession, forcing Oxy to make the first play of the overtime. The Tigers completed a six-yard pass to the Redlands 19 but the Bulldog defense forced them to go for the field goal. The Oxy kicker came through with a 36-yard shot through the uprights.

It was the Bulldogs' turn but the Tiger defense took over. On third and 10, the Occidental line broke through and forced Selway back 10 yards, putting Redlands out of field-goal range. With a last-ditch effort to find a receiver, Selway launched the ball into the end zone but the Tigers made the grab to end the game, handing a difficult 24-27 loss to the Bulldogs.

On the night, Selway went 28-for-41 with two interceptions for 354 yards. Aside from Putman, he connected with Reuter for 142 yards on nine catches and sophomore wide receiver Tyler Aubrey (San Diego, CA) for 47 yards on four receptions. Swedlow rushed for 92 yards on 28 carries.

The Bulldog defense racked up four sacks with sophomore linebacker Ian Sluss (Vista, CA) earning two for a loss of 11 yards. He also added nine total tackles to lead the team. Senior linebacker Scott Garner (Ventura, CA) provided 1.5 tackles for a loss of five yards to go along with a fumble recovery and seven tackles.

Redlands (3-1, 1-1 SCIAC) looks to rebound at its Homecoming game in Ted Runner Stadium on Saturday against Whittier College at 7 p.m. During halftime, the Bulldogs will honor their football alumni as they celebrate 100 years of the sport at the University of Redlands.