CMS Football Dominates in SCIAC Opener, Takes 41-13 Win over La Verne

LA VERNE, Calif. - Justin Edwards opened the scoring with a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown, and Kirby Baynes added a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown as the CMS football team rolled to a 41-13 road win over La Verne in its SCIAC opener on Saturday at Ortmeyer Stadium.

With the win, CMS stands at 3-1 on the season, with the only defeat a narrow 12-7 road loss to Whitworth on a late touchdown. CMS led 34-0 after three quarters, before La Verne was able to score two harmless touchdowns in the fourth. 

La Verne had the opening drive, but was stymied by a sack from Josh Allen and David Vardanian. The Leopards then got the ball back and drove to the CMS 42-yard line, before Stiles Satterlee forced a fumble and ran it back 30 yards to set CMS up with a short field. Five plays later, Edwards ran it in from 10 yards out to give CMS the 7-0 lead. 

A big kickoff return from La Verne set the Leopards up on the CMS 35-yard line, but Christopher Wicke forced another fumble, which Kobey Jorgensen recovered, and CMS responded by going 84 yards for a touchdown to take a 14-0 lead, with Edwards actually accounting for 85 yards on the drive. Edwards churned out 50 yards on four carries, and then after CMS lost a yard, he caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Walter Kuhlenkamp to put the Stags up by two scores. 

La Verne again drove into CMS territory, and had a 1st-and-10 at the Stag 25-yard line, but Satterlee and Joey Asta combined on a sack for a loss of 10 yards and the Leopards turned it over on downs. CMS then went to the air attack to close out the half on a 30-yard field goal from Alessandro Maiuolo, with Kuhlenkamp completing a 38-yard pass to Mason Cotton to key the drive, before an 11-yard pass to Anderson Cynkar shortened the kick for Maiuolo. 

CMS added another Maiuolo field goal, this time from 35 yards, to take a 20-0 lead on its first drive of the second half, with Jackson Gonzales catching passes of 21 yards and 23 yards along the drive. He had an even larger role on the ensuing drive, which lasted one play, as he caught a 46-yard pass from Kuhlenkamp to stretch the lead to 27-0. Baynes then stretched it 34-0 with his 48-yard interception return for a touchdown to push the lead to 34-0 through three quarters. 

The Stags added one more touchdown after Connor Cryan broke up a pass play on 4th-and-6 at the La Verne 27-yard line, as Zach Fogel found Gallant for a 26-yard touchdown. 

Kuhlenkamp finished 14-22 passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns for the Stags. Edwards had 83 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown on the ground, and added four catches for 57 yards and a touchdown through the air. Gonzalez had three catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, Wicke and Satterlee tied for team-high honors with six tackles, with Satterlee having 1.5 for losses to go with his forced fumble and return. 

CMS will be back in action on Saturday when it returns home to face Chapman in an important SCIAC game, beginning at 1 p.m.