Fourth-Quarter Comeback Gives CMS Football 25-21 Win over Redlands

REDLANDS, Calif. – Justin Edwards carried 27 times for 122 yards, and Michael Houk (three sacks) and Joey Asta (two sacks, four tackles for losses) had big days to lead the defense, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team rallied back from a 21-12 fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Redlands 25-21 on Saturday evening at Ted Runner Stadium.

With the win, CMS moves to 2-1 on the year, while Redlands falls to 0-4. The game was a non-league contest, as the two teams will meet again on Nov. 5 for a SCIAC contest at Zinda Field. 

CMS trailed 21-12 early in the fourth quarter, and had to punt the ball away on its first possession of the final stanza, as it seemed that Redlands was in strong position to get its first win. However, the CMS defense came up with two straight three-and-outs, and the Stag offense started to click.

Houk had a quarterback pressure on 3rd-and-3 to force Redlands to punt the ball back, and after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, CMS took advantage of a short field. Walter Kuhlenkamp threw a 20-yard pass to Anderson Cynkar down to the nine-yard line, and then found Mason Cotton one play later for a touchdown with 8:31 left to cut the lead to 21-19.

The CMS defense continued the momentum swing, as Stiles Satterlee and Ben Cooney combined on a tackle for a three-yard loss on the first play of the ensuing Redlands drive. After the Bulldogs gained five yards for a 3rd-and-8, Houk killed the drive with his third sack of the game to put Redlands back on its own nine-yard line.

Once Redlands punted it away, Edwards carried the ball twice for 32 yards, breaking a 23-yard carry after he was initially stopped at the line. A defensive holding penalty put the ball on the 10-yard line, and Brian Loudermilk Jr., then carried it in from 10 yards out to give CMS its first lead since 3-0 early in the contest.

CMS then came up with another big defensive stop, after Redlands managed two first downs to get the ball up to its own 41-yard line. Asta stopped a run for no gain, Satterlee had a pass break up on 2nd-and-10, and Asta had two consecutive sacks for 17 yards to turn the ball over on downs.

Redlands had one final chance after CMS also turned it over on downs on the Redlands 15-yard line, but the Bulldogs needed to go 85 yards in 55 seconds, and the Stags defense shut the door quickly. Asta nearly combined on another sack with Jacob Yep, but quarterback Myles Herrera got back to the line of scrimmage for no gain. After an incomplete pass made it 4th-and-10, Houk chased Herrera to the sideline, forcing him into an off-balance desperation pass that fell harmlessly out of bounds.

Redlands had the ball first to start the second half, leading 14-6, and Houk killed the drive with a third-down sack, his second of the game. After giving Justin Edwards the ball the first five plays for 12 yards, Walter Kuhlenkamp found Anderson Cynkar for a 61-yard touchdown pass on a stop-and-go route to cut the lead to 14-12, although the CMS two-point conversion attempt to tie failed and Redlands was able to take a nine-point lead early in the fourth before the Stags mounted their comeback.

The game began with CMS looking like it would have one of its typical ball control masterpieces, as it chewed up over eight minutes of clock on its way to opening the scoring with a 32-yard field goal from Alessandro Maiuolo. Bryce DesJardins helped prolong the drive on a punt, forcing a fumble and recovering it to keep the Bulldogs offense off the field.

Redlands came back with touchdowns on its first two drives to take a 14-3 lead, but CMS got some momentum at the end of the half when it took advantage of some Redlands miscues. A 3rd-and-2 snap sailed over the head of the quarterback Myles Herrera and resulted in a 23-yard loss, and a 25-yard punt gave CMS the ball with a short field on the Redlands 45-yard line. A pass interference penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty put the ball in the red zone, and Maiuolo was able to connect from 27 yards out to make it a 14-6 game going into the half.

Cynkar finished with eight catches for 127 yards, accounting for most of Kuhlenkamp's 163 yards on 15-of-23 passing. Asta finished with eight tackles, including four for losses (two of which were the consecutive sacks), while Satterlee and Michael Colangelo each had seven.  

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it opens SCIAC play with a road contest at La Verne, beginning at 1 p.m.