CMS Football Dominates Both Sides of Ball in 42-0 Season-Opening Win over Whittier

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Justin Edwards rushed 17 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns, Zach Fogel completed 8-12 passes for 174 yards and three touchdowns, and the CMS defense yielded just 124 yards of total offense as the Stags opened the 2022 campaign with a dominant 42-0 win over Whittier on Saturday afternoon at Zinda Field.

The game was a non-conference game, but the Stags were able to establish themselves as one of the contenders for the league title with an impressive opening day effort, tallying 27 first downs to only five for the Poets, and racking up 37:39 in time of possession.

Anderson Cynkar had two touchdown receptions and finished the day with four catches for 69 yards. Jackson Gonzales added a 64-yard touchdown reception and had 85 yards. Joey Asta led the defense with five tackles, a sack and a tackle for a loss, and Kirby Baynes and Jacob O'Connell added interceptions. 

CMS wasted little time establishing its usual modus operandi by dominating time of possession from the opening kickoff, driving 66 yards in 12 plays over 7:25 to open the scoring on an Edwards four-yard run. Edwards, who set a CMS record with 16 rushing touchdowns as a freshman last year, added a second touchdown in the opening quarter from five yards out to cap a shorter, four-play, 48-yard drive with 2:54 left in the first. 

The second quarter saw Fogel and Cynkar connect twice for scores, the first a 45-yarder when Cynkar leaked out behind the Whittier defense and caught a ball without a defender within 30 yards of him. The second was a 10-yard strike with just eight seconds left in the half to send CMS into the locker room with a 28-0 advantage. 

CMS scored on its first play of the second half when Jackson Gonzales hauled in a 64-yard touchdown from Fogel, and Jacob Fenton capped off the scoring with a two-yard run with 6:18 left in the third.

The CMS defense picked up a shutout for the second year in a row, after also defeating Cal Lutheran on the road last year 27-0.  The Poets only got as far as the CMS 36 in the first three quarters, which resulted in a Baynes interception on 4th-and-7. In the fourth, Whittier picked up three of its five first downs on its final drive of the game, but ended at the CMS 31 on downs. 

CMS will be back in action next weekend when it travels to Spokane to face Whitworth for a 1 p.m. contest. The last time the Stags traveled to Whitworth was in the opening round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Tournament, the first-ever NCAA bid for the program.