REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Football team (4-2, 3-1 SCIAC) extended their win streak over California Lutheran University (CLU) to ten games as they maintained possession of the Smudge Pot Trophy with a 20-10 win Saturday evening at Ted Runner Stadium capping off Homecoming.

Leading the way for the Bulldogs' offense was Tony Williams Jr. (Indio, CA) and the run game as he had 174 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries, while the team ran for a season high 224 yards.

Redlands opened the scoring with a 40-yard Vicente Garcia (Fontana, CA) field goal with 11:35 to play in the second quarter. The three points came after the offense went 55 yards across 12 plays and 6:30 being taken off the clock. During the drive Williams Jr. had a 17-yard run on the second play from scrimmage and Graig Padgett (Steilacoom, WA) caught a 10-yard pass from Jordan Ford (Compton, CA).

After the defense got off the field in less than a minute on the very next CLU possession, Redlands started their drive with a run of 16 yards by Williams Jr. followed by a 22 yard scamper. Following a pass interference call, Williams Jr. finished off the drive in the endzone with a three-yard touchdown run pushing the UR lead to 10-0.  

The Bulldog defense continued to be lights out as they held the Kingsmen to one yard on four plays on CLU's ensuing possession as they forced a punt. Jacob Sega (Oceanside, CA) and Scott Tinsley (Capitola, CA) each had tackles sandwiched around an incomplete pass.

The offense took advantage of the defense giving them good field position as they went 55 yards in four plays covering 1:43. After a three-yard run and a dropped pass, Jack Wilson (Minneapolis, MN) found Calel Olicia-Aramboles (Westfield, IN) for eight yards and a first down on 3^rd and 7. The big strike came on the very next play as Logan Sperline (Moses Lake, WA) found himself wide open on the seam for a 44-yard score as the Bulldogs led 17-0 with under five minutes left in the half.

The Kingsmen would put together their best drive before the break as they went 80 yards on 10 plays covering four minutes and had first and goal at the eight, but a pass on a scramble by the CLU quarterback was intercepted by Tinsley in the corner of the endzone that secured the 17-0 halftime advantage.

With the exception of one drive for the Bulldogs' defense, they held the Kingsmen offense in check, but like the final drive of the half, CLU went 78 yards on 16 plays and 7:44 as they finally got into the endzone to cut the lead to 10, 17-7. Redlands allowed four third down conversions on the drive, in the first half CLU was 1-for-5 on third down.

The Bulldogs offense responded nicely on the next possession as David Myers (Hemet, CA), Ford, and Williams Jr. all had nice runs. The big one was on fourth and one at their own 24 when Garcia ran for 17 yards and a first down coming on a punt attempt that he dropped. But he stayed calm and made the heads-up play to run for the first keeping the drive going.

CLU put together a couple of long plays to get into a goal-to-go situation at the UR10, but the Redlands defense allowed only two yards over the next three plays as they held CLU to a field goal attempt, which they made to make it a seven-point game, 17-10. On first and goal Jaeden Thorn (Seattle, WA) and Jax Lee (Richland, WA) combined on a tackle that yielded only two yards on the ground as they forced a pair of pass attempts, both of which fell incomplete.

Redlands' offense was able to move the ball while eating up clock as they sealed the win with an 8:18 drive that ended with Garcia converting from 33 yards out to make it 20-10.

The scoreline was not indicative of the statistical dominance for the Bulldogs as they totaled 177 more yards thanks to a defensive performance that held the Kingsmen to 193 yards, which included -5 yards rushing.  The second straight week the Maroon and Grey have held their opponents to negative rushing yards. The Bulldogs also ran 14 more plays (68-54) and only punted once as they held the ball for 40:26, a margin of 20:52 over CLU.

Wilson got the start at quarterback and threw for 119 yards on only 12 attempts, while Ford added 27 yards through the air on five attempts. Joining Sperline with a 10 plus yard catch was Evan Aguon (San Diego, CA) who had three catches for 37 yards, including a 19-yard reception, Williams Jr. who had three for 28 and a 17-yard catch, Seth Weller (Olympia, WA) who had a 20-yard reception, and Paget with a 10-yarder.

On defense Redlands had six tackles for losses and four sacks. Lee, Thorn, Maximus Susi (San Diego, CA), and Tinsley each had one TFL while Kamdin Karmann, Anthony Hall, Nathan Davis (Fontana, CA), and Aaron Muniz (Fontana, CA) all had half a TFL. Cole Smith (Gaston, OR) had a team and career-high eight tackles. Tinsley added seven tackles, one TFL, and an interception, his 11^th of his Bulldog career.

The Bulldogs will now travel to the Surf Division leader Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (5-1, 3-1 SCIAC) in a matchup with the two division leaders next Saturday, October 21 with kickoff scheduled for 1:05 p.m.