CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Redlands Football team (0-1) prepared for their season opener to come at home against George Fox University (GFU) on Saturday night, but due to air quality conditions from the Line Fire, they instead had their game moved to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Sunday morning where they fell 17-3.
The Bulldogs trailed 14-0 with two minutes left in the first half. Starting quarterback Tyler Tremain (Folsom, CA) then started a drive for the Maroon and Grey from his own 35 yard line where he completed a pass to Kev Markossian (La Verne, CA) for 13 yards.
After a short run pass to Donovan Maxey-Parler (Sacramento, CA), Tremain then connected with Scott Blankenship Jr. (Long Beach, CA) for 25-yards, which was the biggest play of the half.
Following two incomplete passes Tremain ran for four yards to the GFU 21 where the Bulldogs then ran the game clock down to six seconds. Sergi Rodas-Mendoza (Pacific Grove, CA) then trotted out and connected from 38 yards out, his first field goal as a Bulldog, as the U of R went into the break, down eleven, 14-3.
The best drive of the second half for the Bulldogs came in the last four minutes of the fourth quarter when sophomore quarterback Jayden Mckey (Tracy, CA) managed to gain 36 yards on nine plays. But a sack fumble inside GFU territory gave possession back to the Bruins who would run out the clock.
The Bulldogs' defensive unit had seven tackles for losses (TFL), a sack from Jaeden Thorn (Seattle, WA), and an interception that was returned for 11 yards by Craig Hunter (Murrieta, CA).
They also held the Bruins to only 2.7 yards per rush. The average drops to 1.7 if you take away the Bruins' three longest runs (22, 13, 10). Through the air Redlands allowed only 4.7 yards per attempt.
Maximus Susi (San Diego, CA) had two TFLs, Thorn had 1.5, Cole Smith (Gaston, OR), Jax Lee (Richland, WA) and Laurence Williams (Corona, CA) each with 1.0 and Andrew Placido (Hayward, CA) with a 0.5. Hunter and Thorn combined for 12 tackles.
Tremain threw for 70 yards and ran for another 11 in the first half. Mckey posted 124 yards through the air and eight yards on the ground all coming in the second half. Blankenship Jr. led the receivers with three catches for 51-yards, Maxey-Parker with another 35-yards and Evan Aguon (San Diego, CA) with 32-yards.
On special teams Aidan Petruescu (La Mirada, CA) handled punting duties totaling eight for 307 yards, averaging 38.4 Yards Per Punt, a long being for 47 and two landing inside the 20.
After a bye week this coming Saturday, September 14 Redlands heads to No. 21 Linfield University on Saturday, September 21 at 1:00 p.m. in McMinnville, Oregon.
