Box Score CLAREMONT, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer Football team defeated the Redlands Bulldogs in walk-off fashion 21-20 for the first time since 2004 on Saturday night at Merritt Field. Skylar Noble connected with Sander Wimmer on a three-yard touchdown pass as time expired with Cameron Shirangi adding the game-winning extra point with zeros on the clock.
Season Impact: With the win, the Sagehens improve to 2-0 to start the year with this being a non-conference matchup against the Bulldogs.
The Sagehens were led by quarterback Skylar Noble who went 32-52 for 276 yards through the air and two touchdowns. Noble also led the rushing attack with 36 yards off of 19 attempts. Quinten Wimmer led the receiving core with 92 yards on 11 touches with a touchdown while Sander Wimmer ended with 52 yards and two touchdowns with the Wimmer family accounting for all three touchdowns against the Bulldogs.
The defense came up huge for the Sagehens limiting Redlands to 304 yards of total offense and just 14 first downs. Nate Barewin led the defense with seven total tackles while Thomas McConnell, Graham Olson, and Mark Carling game away with sacks in the win.
The Sagehens came up big in the first defensive possession of the game after they stalled out a seven-play drive and forced a turnover on downs. Pomona-Pitzer immediately took advantage of the big stop on defense and marched 50 yards on 11 plays with a touchdown off of a halfback pass after Kenric Jameison found Sander Wimmer for the eight-yard touchdown.
The defense forced their second turnover in as many possessions and jumped on a fumble to get the ball back in Redlands territory. Unfortunately, the Sagehens failed to capitalize after a missed field goal kept the game at 7-0.
It took Redlands until the second quarter to get a big play on offense, but broke free of the Sagehen defense with a 53-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7. The Bulldogs took advantage of good field position gifted to them by the Sagehens late in the first half and got their second score of the game just before halftime off a 19-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs special teams hurt Redlands bad in the third quarter after their first drive ended in a missed field goal attempt and even after the Bulldogs scored a touchdown on their second possession of the third quarter, the biggest play of the game came as Redlands went on to miss the PAT to make it 20-14 with 1:30 left in the third.
The Sagehens had a fourth quarter to remember after they opened the quarter with a 10-play 94-yard drive capped off by a 29-yard touchdown pass from Noble to Quinten Wimmer to make it 20-14 with 9:39 left to play.
Pomona-Pitzer got the ball back with 6:33 left to play and disaster struck after a fumbled snap gave Redlands the ball back in Sagehen territory late in the fourth quarter. The Sagehen defense came up big all night and did so again in the fourth after a huge fourth-down stand gave Noble and the Sagehens the ball back with 4:28 left in the fourth.
Needing a touchdown, the Sagehens marched 79 yards on 15 plays to get down to the Redlands three-yard line with three seconds left on the clock. Noble scrambled to his right and on the run, fired a strike to Sander Wimmer as the Sagehens tied the game at 20-20 with zeros on the clock. Shirangi lined up and blasted the game-winning PAT through the uprights as the Sagehens stormed the field and tasted their first victory over the Bulldogs since 2004.
Up Next: The Sagehens will next travel to Pacific on Saturday, September 17th at 7:00 p.m.
