Claremont, Calif. - Senior running back Luke Sweeney (Broken Arrow, Okla. - pictured), who missed the fourth quarter with an injury, came up 10 yards short of the school's career rushing record as Pomona-Pitzer fell 34-20 to Whittier on Saturday at Merritt Field after jumping out to a 10-0 lead.

With the loss, the Sagehens slip to 0-5 overall on the year and 0-3 in the SCIAC, while Whittier improves to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in league play.

Sweeney came into the day needing 199 yards to tie the school record of 2,676 yards held by Jim Regan and showed early on that he was going to challenge it, carrying for 46 yards on his first play from scrimmage at home this season. He had 82 yards rushing at the end of the first quarter, and 130 at the half.

His final carry of the day was for 19 yards, with the Sagehens trailing 20-17 in the final minute of the third quarter. Sweeney burst through the right side, and attempted to make a cut back to the middle with a chance of perhaps breaking away into the clear. Instead, he went down with a leg injury right at midfield and tried to walk it off, but had to come out of the game. He stood on the sidelines the rest of the way, but did not return.

Even without Sweeney, the Sagehens still were in position to win the game in the fourth. A first-down completion from senior quarterback Luke Ferguson (Silverton, Ore.) to junior wide receiver Ryan Randle (Compton, Calif.), coupled with a roughing the passer penalty, brought the ball down to the Whittier 25-yard line. However, the Sagehens stalled there with only two more yards, and Michael Weil (San Diego, Calif.) tried a 40-yard field goal with 13:15 to play that came up just short after he had to stutter-step on his approach while the hold was secured.

Anthony Walker put a dent in Pomona-Pitzer's comeback hopes when he carried for a 57-yard touchdown run with 7:26 left to make the score 27-17. The Sagehens responded by driving 68 yards in 13 plays, but were stuffed at the goal line for the second time in the game and settled for a Weil 19-yard field goal with 3:46 to go to make it 27-20. Ferguson kept the drive alive by hitting senior wide receiver Yoshi Rothman (La Jolla, Calif.) with a 27-yard pass on 4th-and-13 from the Whittier 30-yard line to get the ball down to the three.

Pomona-Pitzer tried on onsides kick, but Whittier was able to recover and put together a 44-yard touchdown drive, culminating in a one-yard run from Rufus Osby with 41 seconds left, to finish off the scoring.

The Sagehens jumped out to a 10-0 lead early that could have been more, but they were stopped at the one-yard line, and settled for a Weil 20-yard field goal with 1:07 left in the first. Ferguson then found Rothman down the right sideline for a 38-yard touchdown with 9:43 left in the second quarter to make it 10-0. Whittier's Kimble Tillman got the Poets on the board with 3:19 left when he made a touch catch under blanket coverage, pulling in a 30-yard pass from Steven Rivera over a Sagehen defender to make the score 10-7 at the half.

Junior linebacker Kyle Roskamp (Chesterfield, Mo.) made a huge defensive play to start the third quarter, stopping the Poets on 4th-and-1 at the Sagehen two-yard line. However, Whittier's Tyquion Ballard was able to give Whittier the lead two plays later when he intercepted a pass and scored from 10 yards away to put the Poets in front 13-10. Tillman then turned a short pass into a 53-yard touchdown catch-and-run with 6:43 left in the third, before the Sagehens answered as Ferguson found Randle from seven yards out after a fumbled punt to make it 20-17 with 3:41 left in the third.

Ferguson was 14-36 for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while Rothman had 135 yards receiving for the Sagehens. Roskamp had 14 tackles for Pomona-Pitzer, while Don Swan (Gold Beach, Ore.) had 13, senior linebacker Jake Rollins (Simi Valley, Calif.) had 12 with two forced fumbles, and senior linebacker Brett Lingle (Palm Desert, Calif.) had 11.

Walker had 132 yards rushing and Osby added 114 for Whittier, while Tillman had 120 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Rivera finished 19-34 for 267 yards.

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action next weekend when it travels to La Verne for a 1 p.m. contest.