Box Score CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Pomona-Pitzer Football team fell in the Sixth Street Rivalry to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) rival Claremont Mudd Scripps by the score of 23-21 on Saturday afternoon at Merritt Field.
The Stags won the 59th annual Sixth Street Rivalry meeting and currently own the better side of the rivalry series 35-24.
With the loss, the Sagehens end the year with a 6-3 overall record and 5-2 in conference play. CMS finishes the year 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the SCIAC.
The Sagehens were led by sophomore quarterback Edward Sias who threw for a career-high 330 yards and three touchdowns on the day. Junior running back Aseal Birir ran for 76 yards on the ground and ends the season as the second highest all-time career rushing leader in program history with 2,873 yards. Junior Kevin Masini also had a career day as he set a new career-high with 181 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Today's game was a tale of two halves as the Stags had the upper hand in the first half and the Sagehens came roaring back in the second half but came up just short at the end.
CMS started out the first half with 10-straight points and shutout the Pomona-Pitzer offense in the first half. The Stags connected on a 46-yard field goal late in the first quarter and scored the first touchdown of the game on a 17-yard pass from Trey Reynolds to Lucas Owan to take a 10-0 lead at halftime.
The Stags extended that streak to 17-straight points late in the third quarter as Reynolds and Owan connected again from 42 yards out this time as CMS held a 17-0 lead over the Sagehens heading into the fourth quarter.
With 4:42 left in the fourth quarter and their backs against the wall, the Sagehens scored their first points of the game after a two-yard pass from Sias to Masini made the score 17-7.
The defense came up with a quick three-and-out and Pomona-Pitzer marched down the field in six plays and capped off a 76-yard drive with a one-yard pass from Sias to David Berkinsky to cut the lead down to 17-14 with 1:12 remaining.
On the ensuing onside kick attempt, the Sagehens kicked a short attempt of an onside kick that the Stags alertly picked up and ran in for a 52-yard kick return for a touchdown to extend the lead to 23-14.
Pomona-Pitzer put together a nice final drive as they went 58 yards in 51 seconds capped off by a 23-yard touchdown pass to Luke Lowell to cut the lead down to 23-21 but with just five seconds remaining.
The Stags were able to keep possession after the onside kick and held on to survive the Pomona-Pitzer fourth quarter comeback.
This final game also marks the final game of 21-year Head Coach Roger Caron's career. Coach Caron goes out on a high note of a season as he completed his best start to a season since 1999.
The Sagehens end the season 6-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play including memorable wins over Occidental, Chapman and Cal Lutheran.
