Claremont, Calif. - Pomona-Pitzer scored in the final seconds of the first half to take some momentum into the locker room, but Redlands was able to respond and pull away for a 47-7 win in the SCIAC opener for both teams on Saturday at Merritt Field. 

With the loss the Sagehens fall to 0-3 on the year, and 0-1 in the SCIAC, while Redlands improves to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the SCIAC. 

Freshman quarterback Luke Lowell scored the Sagehen touchdown with nine seconds left in the first half, scoring on a quarterback sneak on fourth and goal at the one to close Pomona-Pitzer within 19-7. That capped off an 11-play, 73-yard drive that ate up 6:07 of game clock.

The Sagehens had the ball to start the second half with a chance to build on the momentum, but Redlands forced a turnover and drove 56 yards the other way, capped off by a seven-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Russell to James Ramirez.

Russell added another touchdown pass to Tyler Bassler with three minutes left in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 33-7, and Stephen Reyes had a 23-yard touchdown on an interception return to start the fourth to put it away.

Aseal Birir had a strong outing for the Sagehens with 92 yards on the ground on 25 carries. The Pomona-Pitzer linebacking unit also performed well, with Brian Rauzi tallying 11 tackles, Nick Urban 10, Zach Harris nine and Evan Lloyd six (#99 Urban, #13 Lloyd, #25 Rauzi, #45 Harris are pictured), while senior safety Don Swan added eight. Russell threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 66 yards and another score for Redlands.

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action next weekend when it travels to Chapman for a 7 p.m. contest.