The University of Redlands football team held off a persistent
Sagehen squad from Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday night,
prevailing in its second Southern California Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (SCIAC) game by a score of 38-26.
The Bulldogs faced a tough opponent in winless Pomona-Pitzer at
Merritt Field and was forced to finally secure the victory late in
the third quarter.
Despite garnering a 14-point lead on two occasions in the first
half, the Maroon and Gray relinquished the ball on a 64-yard,
pick-six play by the Sagehens' Weston Staubus to make it 21-20 with
11:25 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs quickly answered with a 59-yard drive down to the
Pomona-Pitzer end zone, which culminated in a 40-yard toss by
senior quarterback Dan Selway (Villa
Park, CA) to freshman wide receiver Taylor Irwin
(Rocklin, CA) for his third receiving touchdown of the game.
Stepping in for senior kicker Joe MacMillan
(Pasadena, CA), sophomore kicker Connor Cook
(Kamuela, HI) converted the PAT to extend Redlands' lead to eight
points at 28-20.
Nonetheless, the Sagehens continued to fight for what could be
their first victory of the 2010 campaign. Pomona-Pitzer quarterback
Jacob Caron marched his team into the Bulldog end zone on nine
plays for 68 yards and the score, cutting the deficit to just two
with 4:45 left in the third frame. The Sagehens missed their second
PAT in what would otherwise be a tied game.
Redlands countered once again as sophomore running back Brad
Crisanty (Granite Bay, CA) mustered 40 of the team's 56 yards
on its next drive, which included a 29-yard strike from Selway for
a first down. The scoring play included graduate student tight end
Peter
Tobiason Jr. (New Canaan, CT) on a three-yard pass into the
promise land, leading to a 35-26 ball game with a little more than
a quarter to play.
The Bulldog defense held up their end of the bargain on the
ensuing Pomona-Pitzer drive, forcing the Sagehens to punt on fourth
and six.
Despite giving the ball away on a third interception, Redlands
denied any comeback efforts by the Sagehens in their final two
drives. The Bulldogs also moved the ball from their own 28-yard
line all the way to the Pomona-Pitzer six, before settling for a
23-yard field goal by Cook to garner a 38-26 advantage with 44
seconds left on the clock. Redlands' excellent field position was
due in part by Crisanty, who accounted for 44 of the team's 66-yard
gallop down field.
Selway completed 23 of his 34 passes to accumulate 323 yards for
his biggest output of the season by more than 100 yards. He
distributed the ball well by finding 10 different receivers, which
included six with at least two catches each. Junior wide receiver
Tyler
Aubrey (San Diego, CA) served as his most popular target with
six receptions for 76 yards. However, Irwin racked up the most
yards at 102 while penetrating the end zone on three
occasions.
Crisanty and senior running back Daylan Swedlow
(Lake Arrowhead, CA) carried the ball a combined 33 times, earning
102 and 55 yards, respectively.
Defensively, Redlands looked to senior defensive back Mike
Nicolini (Novato, CA) to lead the team with 10 tackles,
including four for a loss of 17 yards.
Redlands (3-1, 1-1 SCIAC) returns to the friendly confines of
Ted Runner Stadium on Saturday for a 7 p.m. kickoff against
conference rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, which is
currently undefeated at 4-0.
