CMS Football Dominates Second Half, Takes 34-10 Win Over Lewis & Clark

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team trailed 10-7 at the half, but turned the game around after intermission, outscoring the Pioneers 27-0 to earn a 34-10 win in its home opener on Saturday afternoon at Zinda Field.

With the win, CMS starts the year out with a 2-0 record after opening the year with a 25-3 win over Pomona-Pitzer last week. Lewis & Clark drops its season opener and starts out 0-1 on the year. 

CMS nearly had a pair of 100-yard rushers, but Justin Edwards finished with 96 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns, and Joshua Martinez added 95 yards on 16 carries and the go-ahead score to start the second half. 

Lewis & Clark took the lead just before the half on a field goal, and had the ball to start the second half after winning the coin toss and deferring. The Pioneers had the chance for some momentum with another scoring drive, but Stiles Satterlee had a six-yard sack on the first play after intermission, and two incomplete passes and a short punt later gave CMS the ball on the Lewis & Clark 40-yard line. 

After asserting itself on defense on the first play of the half, the Stags then asserted themselves on offense in a similar fashion, with Edwards rushing for 18 yards down to the 22. A holding penalty pushed CMS back to the 26, but Martinez made a quick move along the right sideline in front of the home bench and took off down the sideline for a 26-yard run that gave the Stags the lead for good at 13-10. 

The defense once again held the Pioneers to three-and-out, with Satterlee and Connor Cryan breaking up pass attempts. Holden Thomas then completed a pass to Will Smith for seven yards on 3rd-and-5, and Edwards plunged in from a yard out to cap a 10-play, 50-yard drive that put the Stags ahead 20-10. 

A third straight three-and-out from the CMS defense resulted in an 80-yard scoring drive, but this one wasn't one of the patented ball-control, clock-eating drives that the Stags are known for. Instead, Thomas hit Anderson Cynkar on a quick slant and Cynkar raced by the Lewis & Clark defense and ran 79 yards to paydirt for his second touchdown reception in as many weeks. 

The pattern to the second half continued into the fourth quarter, as for the fourth straight drive, Lewis & Clark was unable to get a first down, and for the fourth straight drive, CMS scored a touchdown. This time, it was Thomas finding Jack Grasberger from 15 yards out with 11:54 left to close out the scoring and put CMS in front 34-10. 

The Stags finished with 429 yards of total offense, 251 on the ground on 55 carries, and were 9-of-16 on third downs, helping them rack up 36:45 in time of possession. The CMS defense held Lewis & Clark to 252 yards total and produced five quarterback sacks. 

CMS will be back in action next weekend for another home game, when it takes on Whitworth at 11:30 a.m. The Stags and Pirates last met in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Championship, after CMS earned the program's first-ever bid.