CMS Football Comes up Just Short in SCIAC Opener to Redlands

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team bounced back after surrendering a touchdown on the opening kickoff to take a 19-14 lead in the fourth quarter, but Redlands scored the winning touchdown with 20 seconds left, as the Bulldogs escaped Zinda Field with a 22-19 victory on Saturday afternoon in the SCIAC opener for both teams.

With the win, Redlands moves to 3-1 on the year overall and starts out conference play 1-0, while CMS slips to 3-2 overall, one week after defeating Chapman in a non-league game. 

Justin Edwards gave CMS the lead with 9:37 left on a two-yard touchdown run, capping off a 12-play, 67-yard drive that ate up 6:18 of clock. Zach Fogel completed a 16-yard pass to Will Smith to get the ball down to the Redlands 11, and after a Bulldog penalty put the ball on the six, Edwards had two straight runs of four yards and two yards to put the ball into the end zone. 

Emmett Thomas King III then made the second of his two big second-half defensive plays for CMS, stopping Redlands on 4th-and-1 at the CMS 35-yard line to give the Stags the ball back with 3:45 left. The Bulldogs got the stop they needed, though, and took over on their own 28 with 1:55 to play. 

Nathan Martinez started the winning drive with a 17-yard pass and then scrambled for 21 yards to get the ball down to the CMS 12-yard line with 27 seconds to go. After a timeout, he found Evan Aguon for the winning touchdown, and then added a rush for the two-point conversion to make the final score 22-19. 

Martinez was able to make amends for an interception on a swing pass deep in CMS territory late in the third quarter. With third-and-goal at the Stag two-yard line, he looked to dump the ball into the right flat, but King was able to reach his hand up and intercept it, returning the ball 29 yards to the CMS 31 and setting up the go-ahead touchdown drive. 

Redlands began the game with Giovanni Isles returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a score and a quick 7-0 lead. CMS came back with a 58-yard drive which took 6:18 and resulted in a Alessandro Maiuolo field goal from 35 yards. A second Maiuolo field goal made it 7-6 with 6:43 left in the second, but Redlands seemed to gain some momentum with a four-yard touchdown run from Kai Thompson with 1:51 left in the half. 

However, the Stags were able to answer back right before the half, as Fogel scrambled 21 yards down to the Redlands four-yard line with six seconds left. After a timeout, CMS ran a misdirection play with wide receiver Anderson Cynkar going in motion and taking the handoff, sprinting around the right side untouched for a touchdown and making it a 14-13 game at the half. 

Fogel finished with 82 yards rushing, and completed 10-19 passes for 102 yards. Edwards, who ran for 204 yards and four touchdowns against Chapman last week, carried 24 times for 82 yards and a score. 

Defensively, Joey Asta led the Stags with nine tackles, including a sack, while King had eight tackles and an interception, while combining on a sack with Dylan Porter. 

CMS will be back in action in two weeks when it travels to Whittier for a 7 p.m. contest.