Leos Drop 17-7 Decision To Stags
Leopard receiver Cedric Ho (Kelly Rivas photo)
In a battle that saw both teams fail to produce 300 yards of total offense, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps scored enough points to come away with a 17-7 victory over the University of La Verne in SCIAC action Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium.
The Leopards twice drove inside the Stag 20-yard line in the second half only to come away without a score.
La Verne reached the Stag 12-yard line late in the third quarter, but three consecutive pass attempts fell incomplete, resulting in a field goal attempt that was blocked by the Stags with 45 seconds left in the period. Early in the fourth quarter, the Leos reached the CMS 15 but the drive stalled as the Stag defense held to force a Leopard turnover on downs.
CMS scored the game's final touchdown off a Leopard turnover as it recovered a fumbled punt return with 3:08 remaining. Two plays later, Stag running back D.J. Lillard scored from 3 yards out to provide the final margin.
The Leopards got their only score on the game's opening possession, taking the kickoff and driving 61 yards on 8 plays as Leopard quarterback Anthony Andre threw a 36-yard scoring pass to Cedric Ho to give La Verne a 7-0 lead.
CMS responded with a 7-play, 49-yard drive later in the quarter that ended with a 1-yard run by quarterback Scott Yingling.
With the score tied at 7-7, the Leos threatened in the second quarter when an Anthony Andre pass to Allen Daniels covered 28 yards to the Stag 3-yard line. The CMS defense however would hold La Verne out of the end zone on four consecutive plays, forcing a change of possession at the 14-yard line.
On the ensuing drive, CMS marched 65 yards on 14 plays, culminating on a 39-yard field goal from Chet Corcos on the final play of the first half to take a 10-7 advantage into intermission.
The Leos amassed 281 yards on offense compared to 272 for the Stags. Though both teams nearly had the same amount of plays - the Stags ran 70 plays to La Verne's 69 - CMS (37:09) possessed the ball 14 more minutes than the Leopards (22:51).
Andre threw for 315 yards on 21-of-43 passing for the Leos while Ho was the game's leading receiver with 7 receptions for 122 yards. Lillard paced the Stags on the ground with 74 yards on 25 carries.
La Verne fell to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. CMS improved to 3-1 and 1-1 in the SCIAC.
The Leopards return to action next week as they battle Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont for a 7 pm start.
