Late field goal boosts Stags over Washington and Lee as Reynolds breaks passing record

LEXINGTON, Va. – In the second game of the season, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team (2-0) rallied for a comeback win over Washington and Lee (1-2), winning it 31-28 on a field goal from 34 yards out.

In the second game of the 2016 year, senior quarterback Trey Reynolds (CMC) broke the career passing yards record for CMS after throwing for 283 yards. The previous record was held by Steve Olson during the 1983-85 seasons. Reynolds broke Olson's record of 4701 by 170 yards and now sits at 4871 yards in his career.

Washington and Lee University was preseason ranked No. 20 by D3football.com after they put up an undefeated regular season in 2015, losing only in the first round of the NCAA tournament. After CMS' 7-2 record last year, this early season matchup looked to be a good one on paper.

Both teams delivered on their promise, as the Generals' powerful offense put up 14 points in the first quarter and then the Stags kept the faith and went on to score the final 21 points of the game.

With 8:57 on the clock in the third quarter, Oliver Herndon from the Generals earned a touchdown on a four-yard rush to give Washington and Lee 28-10 advantage. From then on, CMS shut out W&L and scored on four of their final five possessions.

In their first drive with the sore 28-10, CMS charged downfield as Reynolds was successful passing on three separate third downs. Then, Matthew Orehek (CMC) converted on a fourth and one bringing the Stags to the W&L 38 yard line. Unable to get inside the 13, senior Matthew Aven (CMC) was successful on a field goal from 29 yards, kicking off the Stags' 21-0 scoring to end the game.

On the two subsequent possessions, the Generals went three and out and then Reynolds was intercepted at midfield. With 12:46 remaining in the game and the Stags trailing by 18 points, sophomore Mitchell Allan (CMC) blocked his second punt of the day giving CMS the ball on W&L's 45. Reynolds made completions to junior Nick Wheeler (CMC) and then ran it in the final nine yards for six points. Freshman Rami Lieberman (CMC) was 2-for-2 on the day for extra point attempts.

Sophomore Geno Quaid (CMC), and seniors Griffin Lazarus (CMC) and Henry Wei (CMC) shouldered the tackling as the Generals rushed for nine of 10 plays in their next drive before senior Jake Glasser (CMC) forced a fumble on the visitor's 19 yard line, recovered by freshman Tyson-Jay Saena (HMC).

With Christian Curcio (CMC) in as the running back and junior Trey Smith (CMC) out wide, the Stag offense alternated passing and rushing for a short gain on each play. Then, Reynolds connected with Smith for a 22-yard TD to bring the score to 28-26 in the Generals' favor. The two-point conversion pass to Wheeler was successful, tying up the game.

A perfectly placed kickoff by Aven started Washington and Lee's next drive from their own 18. Three plays later, Bennet Habliston was punting for the fourth time, haunted by Allan blocking the previous two. Junior Victor Bunce (CMC) returned it for 11 yards for the Stags to start their final drive at their own 44 and 1:01 on the clock.

Reynolds was 4-for-4 passing in the drive while hitting three different receivers. CMS had saved its timeouts until this moment and used two in the final 30 seconds to slow the game down and position Aven for a kick. As time expired, Aven got off a 34-yard field goal attempt that split the uprights for the Stags' comeback victory.

In the game, Reynolds passed for 14 first downs and had 25 completions for 283 yards. Smith and Connor Stastny (CMC) were his most frequent targets at six receptions each while the longest reception went to senior Lucas Owan (CMC) for 42 yards.

Defensively, Glasser had a big day with a sack for 10 yards, a forced fumble and four solo tackles. Sophomore Will Edwards (CMC) led all Stags with 12 tackles including eight solo.

Next on the docket for CMS (2-0) is hosting Whittier (0-2) on Oct. 1 after a bye week Sept. 24.

Box Score

By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director

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