Claremont, Calif. - Senior running back Luke Sweeney (Broken Arrow, Okla.) rushed for 247 yards and set the school's career record as the Pomona-Pitzer Football team rolled to a 37-0 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday afternoon at Merritt Field.

The win ends Pomona-Pitzer's season at 1-8, while CMS concludes its season at 0-9. The Sagehens ended the Stags' five-game win streak in the annual Peace Pipe Game, winning their first game in the rivalry since 2006. The victory also snapped an 18-game losing streak for Pomona-Pitzer, dating back to their last win in overtime at La Verne in 2010.

Sweeney came into the game with 2,757 yards, 10 shy of tying the school record of 2,767, set by Jim Regan from 1995-98. He tallied 13 yards on his first two carries to break the record, and then scored on a 39-yard touchdown run on the drive (touchdown run is pictured as he breaks through the hole, photo by Carlos Puma) to put the Sagehens ahead 7-0 at the 9:03 mark of the first quarter, and send them on their way to an easy win.

Sweeney's 247 yards was the third-highest single-game total in school history, and only 18 shy of the single-game record of his own, which he set last year with 265 yards against Occidental. The 247 yards did enable him to go over the 3,000-yard plateau, finishing his career with 3.004. 

Sweeney actually had 18 yards on a late fourth quarter run called back due to an illegal shift penalty which would have enabled him to at least tie his own record. However, he still ended up owning the single-game (265), single-season (1,419) and career (3,004) records, as well as seven of the top 11 single-game totals. Sweeney also finished with 685 yards this year, despite only playing in four games due to two different injuries, for 171.2 yards per game, not far off the 177.4 yards that he led the nation with as a junior last year (he did not play in enough games this season to qualify(.

The program honored its 11 seniors before the game, and the group couldn't have asked for a better way to go out. After Sweeney's touchdown gave the Sagehens the 7-0 lead, senior quarterback Luke Ferguson (Silverton, Ore.) found senior wide receiver Yoshi Rothman (La Jolla, Calif.) from 18 yards out with 4:49 left in the second quarter to make the score 13-0, and Michael Weil (San Diego, Calif.) added a 26-yard field goal with 33 seconds left to push the lead to 16-0 at the break.

Pomona-Pitzer then came out in the third quarter on fire, as Sweeney had two carries for 15 yards and freshman Brett Harper (Long Beach, Calif.) came in and rushed for a 69-yard touchdown on an option play to make the score 23-0. Then facing a fourth down on the CMS 23-yard line on the next possession, Ferguson found Harper for his touchdown pass of the day to make the score 30-0.

Sweeney capped off the third quarter with a 16-yard touchdown run, bouncing off a couple of would-be Stag tacklers on the way into the end zone, making the score 37-0 with 2:30 left in the third quarter.

From there, the Sagehen defense continued to dominate as they kept the Stags off the scoreboard throughout the game, holding them to only 190 yards of total offense. Freshman safety Colin Brown (Boulder, Colo.) and junior cornerback Weston Staubus (Solana Beach, Calif.) each had second-half interceptions, while senior linebacker Jake Rollins (Simi Valley, Calif.) had a team-high eight tackles and two forced fumbles.

Ferguson finished the day 10-17 passing for 166 yards and two touchdowns for the Sagehens in his final collegiate game. Harper added 80 yards on five carries rushing the ball, as Pomona-Pitzer finished with 333 yards rushing and 499 yards of total offense.

In addition to the aforementioned seniors, senior nose tackle Colin Mitchell (Shrewsbury, N.J.) and senior defensive end Brett Lingle (Palm Desert, Calif.) each added five tackles and a sack for the defense, senior Duncan Hussey (Seattle, Wash.) had two catches for 55 yards on offense, and six tackles and two pass break-ups on defense, while Travis Muraoka (Honolulu, Hawaii) added a 10-yard catch. Sam Konowitch (Florence, Mass.) and Michael Schwartz (Seattle, Wash.) were also honored pregame and contributed on special teams.

The only bad news for the seniors was that offensive lineman Kevin Ludlum (Mission Viejo, Calif.) went down in the second quarter with a leg injury and did not return, as his career ended two hours prematurely, but not before he contrbuted to the first touchdown drive and paved the way for Sweeney's record-breaking rush.

With the win, Pomona-Pitzer pulls within 31-24 in the all-time series with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which dates back to 1959. Prior to that, Pomona and Claremont-McKenna played together as part of the same football program (Pomona-Claremont), before the consortium was divided up into two athletic departments and later became Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.