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Oct 6, 2007

Football Held to One Touchdown in Loss to Cal Lutheran


Whittier College lost its first conference game of the season, 44-7 to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on October 6.  The Poets turned the ball over five times in the game, as their record falls to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in SCIAC play.

Cal Lutheran (2-2, 2-0) struck first with 4:09 left in the opening quarter.  A five-yard touchdown run from Jose Rojas capped a nine-play, 49-yard drive that gave the Kingsmen the early 7-0 lead after the extra-point sailed through the uprights.  On the ensuing Poets possession, Josh Scurlock '08 had a pass intercepted by Cal Lutheran's Josh Richards and returned thirty yards for a touchdown.  The first quarter ended with the Kingsmen up 14-0 and the Poets in the middle of a drive.

The first play of the second stanza was a 33-yard scramble from Scurlock that cut the Poets' deficit in half.  Neither team scored a touchdown for the rest of the half, but Cal Lutheran extended their lead with a pair of field goals from Connor Pearce.  The first was good from 36 yards, and the second split the uprights from 35 yards out, giving the Kingsmen a 20-7 lead at halftime.

The second half began with a Whittier fumble in their own territory less than two minutes into the half.  Two plays later, Jericho Toilolo found Brandyn Bennett in the end zone for a 46-yard touchdown pass.  After the Poets went three-and-out on their next possession, Cal Lutheran added to their lead with another field goal making the score 30-7.  They continued the scoring onslaught with a six-yard touchdown run from Rojas with 3:05 left in the third quarter.  The final scoring drive of the game came at the 14:21 mark of the fourth quarter when Louis Montano scampered in from 12-yards out to give the Kingsmen the 44-7 lead that would eventually be the final score.

Scurlock went 13-for-28 passing for 180 yards before coming out of the game in the fourth quarter.  He threw three interceptions and was sacked four times.  He ran for 55 yards and a touchdown on sixteen carries.  The leading rusher for the Poets was Rich Gonzalas '11 who ran for 71 yards on just five carries.  Josh Ollison '11 had a team-high seven receptions for 80 yards.  Shawn Briggs '08 finished with 85 yards on four catches.

Defensively, Jared Izidoro '08 led the Poets with 10.5 tackles.  Arlo Castelo '08 had 7.5 tackles including 2.5 tackles for a loss.  Steffen Santos '09 led the team with 1.5 sacks.

Toilolo went 16-for-31 with 196 yards passing and a touchdown.  Montano carried the ball 13 times for 96 yards and a touchdown. Rojas had 15 carries for 79 yards and two scores.  Their leading receiver was Bennett who caught four passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.

The Poets take a break in their conference schedule to take on SoCal rival Chapman University on October 13.  The game takes place in Orange, Calif., at 7pm.