CMS Football Entertains Puget Sound in 2018 Season Opener Saturday at Noon

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The CMS football team begins its 2018 campaign when it welcomes in regional rival Puget Sound on Saturday for a 12 noon contest at Zinda Field.

The Stags were picked to finish fourth in the preseason SCIAC poll, which was released this morning. Defending champion Chapman was picked to finish first, followed by Redlands in second and Cal Lutheran in third. 

CMS had back-to-back 7-2 seasons in 2015 and 2016, including a 6-1 SCIAC record in 2015 when it narrowly missed on the league title. A year ago, the Stags finished 4-5 after dropping their final three games by 10 points or less, and the team is optimistic that it can return to the form that it showed in its two recent seven-win seasons. 



It is a bit of a young team this year with only nine seniors on the 65-man roster. If there is one unit that will be counted on to provide senior leadership, though, it is on the offensive line, where all five starters return, including three seniors. Jackson Tate (CMC '19) is in his second year as a team captain and his fourth year as a starter, while Brian Wahl (CMC '19) earned All-SCIAC honors a year ago. Malcolm Stolarski (CMC '19) is also entering his fourth year as a starter, while junior Jett Zeimantz (CMC '20) is in his third year as the starting center and sophomore Jacob Lyle (CMC '21) started every game as a freshman last year.

The unit has plenty of depth as well, as Matthew May (CMC '20) played in every game on the O-line last year, while senior Jim Keneally (CMC '19) has 13 career games under his belt as well. Michael Streinz (HMC '20) and Zachary Ralston (CMC '20) are also in their third seasons in the program and will be ready to step in to action when called upon. 

The experienced offensive line will look to pave the way for a multi-pronged rushing attack. Spencer Sheff (CMC '20) and Garrett Cheadle (HMC '20) split the majority of the carries last year almost evenly, with Cheadle carrying the ball 95 times (for 493 yards) and Sheff earning 93 carries (for 432 yards). Christian Curcio (CMC '20), who saw action at both fullback and tailback, had the highest yards per carry average in the backfield at 6.6 yards, while Jordan Leonard (CMC '21) averaged 5.6 yards per carry. Jordan Cartwright (HMC '20) is also returning to a deep offensive backfield unit and will look to expand his role this fall. 

The Stags did lose their primary starting quarterback to graduation, as Sam Healy finished off his Stag career, but Brenden Brown (HMC '19) and Jake Norville (CMC '21) saw plenty of action last year as well and will give the Stags two experienced signal-callers to choose from. Brown was extremely efficient last year, completing 20 of his 29 passes (69 percent) for 224 yards, while Norville was also effective in his freshman year, completing 62.5 percent of his passes (35-of-56) for 503 yards.  Dylan Byrd (CMC '21) and Declan Judge (CMC '21) also got some opportunities behind center as freshmen and will look to make a move up the depth chart as sophomores. 

The receiving core will be an inexperienced unit this season, as Ethan Takeyama (CMC '21) is the only player returning with double digits in receptions last year (10 for 153 yards). Jackson Zeledon (CMC '19) has logged the most game action at wide receiver in his career, including all nine games as a sophomore in the last 7-2 season for the Stags. Matthew Sill (CMC '21), Carter Henderson (CMC '21) and Maurice Landers III (HMC '21) saw some game action last year and will look to step up as sophomores, while several newcomers will look to make an impact on the receiving unit as well. Three sophomores will be in the mix at tight end, with Zach Heffernan (CMC '21), Theo Chamberlain (CMC '21) and Nick Parise (CMC '21) looking to break into the regular lineup. 

Defensively, the Stags will be very young, but senior Mitchell Allan (CMC '19), who also handles kicking duties, will be asked to step into a senior leadership role. Allan has played both on the defensive line and at linebacker and is the top returning tackler this season with 47 a year ago (27 solo), including eight for losses. He is slated to start the year at linebacker, but his versatility will allow the Stags to be flexible with their defensive formations as new players emerge. 

Three regulars return on the defensive line to help provide some stability on that side of the ball. Luke Livingston (CMC '20) will serve as a team captain this season after starting all nine games last fall and recording 19 tackles and two sacks. Lukas Svitek (CMC '20) has played in all 18 games in his career and had 21 tackles a year ago. Connor Sinclair (CMC '20) appeared in all nine games last season and had 16 tackles and two sacks, to go along with a forced fumble, while Elijah Jackson (CMC '19) has a lot of experience under his belt after playing all nine games in 2015. Jae Kinney (CMC '21), Jack Cavellier (CMC '21), David Chen (CMC '21) and Cooper Pryde (CMC '21) will all look to take advantage of the opportunity for more playing time in their sophomore seasons. 

The linebacking unit will be shuffled around a bit this season, but Connor Lehner (CMC '20) is returning after playing in eight games and recording 26 tackles last year. Camrion Davis (CMC '21) will switch sides of the ball after playing running back last season, and Sevion DaCosta (CMC '21) will look to emerge as a regular contributor. The opportunities will be there for several talented freshmen to make an immediate impact at linebacker as well. 

Senior Mackenzie Cooney (CMC '19), entering his second year as a team captain, will lead the defensive backfield after tallying 28 tackles (22 solo) last season from his corner position. Sachi Mindich (CMC '21) had 17 tackles in eight games played as a freshman, while Michael Porter (CMC '21), Cade Moffatt (CMC '21) and Matthew Stuppiello III (CMC '21) all earned valuable experience in their rookie seasons and will be candidates for regular playing time in 2018. Alex Plunk (CMC '20) is in his third year in the program after playing in every game as a freshman, and has the experience to emerge as a key contributor as well. 

The Sept. 1 start date represents the earliest season opener in recent memory for the Stags, due to playing a 10-game schedule this year. The early start date brought the team back for preseason practice earlier than normal, which has given the team additional time to prepare for the season before the academic calendar begins, which Sweeney feels is a positive development for the program. 

After opening the season with Puget Sound, the Stags will host Northwestern (Minn.) at Zinda Field next Saturday at 1 p.m. for its second straight home contest to begin the 2018 campaign.