CMS Keeps Sixth Street Trophy With 25-3 Win Over Pomona-Pitzer

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team resumed action on Saturday after a long hiatus, and showed the same formula for success that earned it the 2018 SCIAC title, defeating Pomona-Pitzer 25-3 behind a dominant ball-control effort on offense, and a stout performance on defense on Saturday evening at Merritt Field.

The win enabled CMS to keep the Sixth Street Trophy from its cross-street rivals, after winning it back in the 2019 season finale with a narrow 20-17 home win. After the 2020 season was wiped out, the two teams scheduled a non-conference game to open 2021, and put the trophy back on the line, but the Stags clearly showed no interest in letting it leave their hands. The two teams meet again in the traditional regular season finale in a SCIAC matchup on Nov. 13 at Zinda Field. 

The win featured a signature drive from CMS, which held the ball for 10:09 as it went 99 yards in 15 plays to effectively seal the win on a two-yard touchdown run from Joshua Martinez with 7:31 left in the contest. The Stags also had a 10-minute drive in a road win over Redlands in 2018 to take a 20-3 lead in a game that would eventually determine the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after the two teams finished with identical 5-1 league marks. 

This time around, running back Jacob Fenton moved the chains with a five-yard run on 3rd-and-4 to start the drive with CMS leading 12-3. Quarterback Holden Thomas then found wide receiver Jack Grasberger for 17 yards on 3rd-and-10 to move the ball to the Pomona-Pitzer 38. Thomas completed a pass to Martinez down to the 20, and Martinez did the rest of the work, carrying the ball four times to cover the final 20 yards and give CMS the 19-3 lead.    

Pomona-Pitzer still had a glimmer of hope after stopping the Stags in their own territory late, but CMS punter Grant Braught had a key play to come up with a low snap and punt the ball away on the run with 2:41 to go to prevent the Sagehens from potentially having a short field to make it a one-possession game. Instead, facing fourth down, Pomona-Pitzer threw the ball long, and Jacob O'Connell picked it off at the 15-yard line and returned it 85 yards for a memorable pick-six to seal the win in his collegiate debut. 

The first half was a low-scoring affair, with two 35-yard field goals from kicker Alessandro Maiuolo staking CMS to a 6-3 lead at the break, the second coming with just seven seconds on the clock. CMS then opened the second half with a 10-play, 78-yard touchdown drive, which would normally be classified as a "long scoring drive", were it not for the subsequent one that the Stags would begin later in the quarter. Thomas had a 31-yard pass to Anderson Cynkar to move the ball to the Sagehen 34, and after a Pomona-Pitzer interference penalty, he found Cynkar again from 16 yards out for the first touchdown of the 2021 season. 

CMS kept the momentum after Connor Cryan broke up a fourth-down pass from Pomona-Pitzer at midfield, and after a Sagehen interception, the CMS defense held and a 47-yard punt was downed on the one-yard line, setting up the 99-yard drive. 

Thomas finished 18-26 passing for 213 yards in his CMS debut, while Jacob Fenton led the ground game with 17 carries for 48 yards. Martinez had 10 carries for 24 yards, with most coming on the touchdown drive. Bryce DesJardins caught six passes for 57 yards, while Cynkar had 59 yards receiving. CMS ended the game with 35:44 in time of possession, continuing the tradition which saw it rank second in the nation in 2018, and first in 2019. 

Defensively, CMS held the Sagehens to only 155 yards of total offense, including only 11 yards in 25 carries on the ground. Kirby Baynes had nine tackles (eight solo) to lead the way, while Mason Hernandez led a strong effort on the defensive line with six, and Emmett Thomas King III and Dylan Porter each had six at linebacker. CMS also had five quarterback sacks, with Hernandez, Michael Colangelo and Stiles Satterlee each earning solo sacks, while Porter and Tyson-Jay Saena combined on one, and King and Joey Asta combined on another. 

Colangelo's was a particularly big sack, after Pomona-Pitzer started on the CMS five-yard line following a turnover. A false start pushed the Sagehens back to the 10, and then Colangelo had a sack for a loss of 11 yards, ensuring that Pomona-Pitzer would come away with only a tying field goal, instead of a potential go-ahead touchdown. That field goal was the only points the defense would allow all night, on a drive in which the Sagehens netted -4 yards on three plays.

CMS will be back in action next week for its home opener, when it takes on Lewis & Clark for a 12 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.