CMS Football Falls 24-10 in 2021 Season Finale

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team fell into a 21-0 first-half hole and couldn't crawl back out of it, as it dropped a 24-10 decision to Pomona-Pitzer in its 2021 season finale at Zinda Field.

With the loss CMS concludes its season at 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the SCIAC, earning second place in the league's final standings. The Stags went into the day with a chance at tying for the league championship if it could win and Redlands fell to Cal Lutheran, but Redlands rolled to a 56-28 win to secure the title outright. Pomona-Pitzer ends its season at 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the conference. 

Justin Edwards came into the day with 1,090 yards and a program-record 16 touchdowns, but was held to 56 yards and no scores by the Sagehen defense. Edwards finished the year with 1,146 yards, which places him seventh all-time in CMS history on the single-season rushing list. 

Zach Fogel completed 22-of-39 passes for 190 yards, and ran for the one CMS score, a nine-yard scamper with just 3.9 seconds left in the first half to give the Stags some momentum heading into the locker room, down 21-7. Pomona-Pitzer managed a field goal on its first possession of the second half, though, to make it a three-possession lead again. Alessandro Maiuolo answered with a 39-yarder with 8:19 left to make it a 24-10 lead, and the Stags tried to make one final push, converting on three fourth-down plays to get the ball into the Sagehen red zone.

The first one saw CMS earn a first down via a pass interference penalty, while the second one saw Fogel complete a 19-yard pass to Anderson Cynkar on 4th-and-15. On the third one, though, Fogel completed another 4th-and-5 pass from the Sagehen 20 that was beyond the marker, but Vaishnav Siddaperuddy forced a fumble that was recovered by Garrett Pittman at the 10-yard line, effectively ending the CMS comeback hopes with 3:30 left.

Stiles Satterlee led the CMS defense with nine tackles, while Dylan Porter had eight, including a sack.  

The Stags honored their nine seniors prior to the game for Senior Day, including Ben Cooney, Grant Braught, Dylan Porter, Mason Hernandez, Trent Lindsey, Jacob Lyle, Will Smith, Nick Parise and Torben Deese. The seniors were all contributors on the 2018 team which won the SCIAC Championship and earned the program's first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament berth.