Defense records six sacks to tame Panthers

CLAREMONT, Calif. – In the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football program's final home game of the regular season, freshman Christian Curcio (CMC) stepped up and scored two touchdowns for a total 77 offensive yards to lead the Stags (6-2, 4-2) to a 17-6 victory over Chapman University (4-4, 3-3). Curcio managed to bounce back from last week's tough 39-yard outing, breaking past tackles for extra yards and making big runs when the team needed it most. The defense also had an outstanding performance, recording six sacks combined, led by senior Jake Glasser (CMC) who had two. The solid effort from the defensive line and the secondary resulted in Chapman scoring only off two field goals through Lucas Alfonso.

The Stags established the tone in the opening quarter, denying Chapman from converting on third down. However, CMS struggled to find their rhythm on offense, failing to convert on fourth-and-eight on the visitor's 30-yard line in their first offensive possession, and later losing the ball on an interception when they arrived at Chapman's 39-yard line. CMS continued to stymie the Panthers' offense, and with less than two minutes left in the quarter on fourth-and-six, junior Robby Weissenfels (CMC) broke past the line and blocked the punt. Junior Geno Quaid (CMC) recovered the ball to Chapman's 14-yard line to put CMS in field-goal range. Senior Matthew Aven (CMC) converted on a 24-yard field goal to open up the scoresheet for CMS.

In the second quarter with 6:25 left on the clock at the CMS 45-yard line, Trey Reynolds led the Stags on a scoring-drive, throwing for 32 total yards while freshman Garrett Cheadle (HMC) rushed for 12 to take CMS to the Panthers' one-yard line. On second-and-goal, Curcio finished the job with a short rush to give CMS a 10-0 lead.

Chapman later scored a field goal with less than a minute before halftime, but committed a personal foul penalty on the following kickoff to give CMS the ball in their 38-yard line. Aven went for a 54-yard field goal attempt, but his kick got blocked, keeping the score 10-3 at the half.

With less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter on the CMS 25-yard line at third-and-nine, Reynolds completed back-to-back passes to junior Trey Smith (CMC) and Cheadle. Following a five-yard rush by Cheadle, Reynolds completed a 17-yard pass to junior Chris Cziesla (CMC) and 12-yard pass to senior Patrick Dixon (CMC). At the Chapman five-yard line, Curcio found the endzone to give CMS the 17-3 lead.

The Panthers scored another field goal with less than 3:25 left on the clock in the third quarter, to cut the lead 17-6.

Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Chapman almost made it close as they marched to the Stags' 46-yard line with less than two minutes in the game. However, on fourth-and-10, Glasser maneuvered past the offensive line and hit the quarterback, Ricky Bautista, for a huge sack. Curcio rushed for 25 yards to the Panthers' 22-yard line, and Reynolds took a knee to close the game.

The Stags will head across the street to face their rival, Pomona-Pitzer, on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 PM.

Box Score

By Young Kim
Sports Information Assistant

CMS Email Updates
CMS Athletics on Facebook: AthleticsCMS
CMS Athletics on Twitter: @AthleticsCMS
CMS Athletics on Instagram: cmsathletics
CMS Athletics YouTube: ClaremontMuddScripps
#gostags