THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The California Lutheran University football team faced off against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags in a Homecoming weekend battle. The Kingsmen controlled most of the game relying on all areas of their roster to produce a 42-20 win Saturday afternoon inside Rolland Stadium and improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
CMS took its opening drive down the field, but the Kingmen had a goal line stand to hold them to a field goal. After CMS received a penalty for kicking the ball out of bounds on the kickoff, CLU got the ball at its own 40. Adam Friederichsen then threw the first pass of the drive to Wendell O'Brien for 28 yards. Chris Beeson completed the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run.
Later in the quarter, Ty Lozano sacked the Stags QB for four yards, and CLU forced them to punt before the end of the first quarter. The Kingsmen were stopped as well, and the punt was short allowing the Stags good field position at the CLU 35-yard line. Two passes for CMS led to their first touchdown of the game and they were up 10-7.
On the Kingsmen's next drive, O'Brien took the first play 12 yards down field. Then CLU got a touchdown as Friederichsen connected with Aaron Lacombe for a 60 yards. After another quick stop by CLU, the Stags were forced to punt. On the ensuing possession, Beeson snuck away for a 54-yard run setting up Friederichsen for his third passing touchdown, this one to Diego Hernandez, and the Kingsmen led 21-10.
Both teams were unable to convert a first down in their next drives, but thanks to another short punt by CLU, the Stags were given a short field to work with. The Stags dropped two passes in the end zone, and ultimately settled for a 46-yard field goal. The Kingsmen got the last touchdown of the first half with help from Beeson with a 24-yard gain, and that set up a touchdown catch in the back of the end zone by O'Brien for 25-yards (28-13). The Stags tried to get a last minute score, but Obasi Dees came up with the clutch interception going into halftime.
The second half started off slow, but Klayton Wood picked off a ball heading to the end zone hoping to give the Kingsmen the spark of energy they needed. A series of penalties prevented CLU from making a drive. After stopping the Stags on a fourth down attempt, Friederichsen threw to Lacombe for a 57-yard touchdown for the first score of the second half (35-13).
The Kingsmen continued to shut down the Stag offense forcing another change of possession on downs. After watching the Kingsmen go four and out on their possession, CMS completed a long pass downfield placing them in the red zone. The Stags were unable to capitalize on the deep ball, and ultimately threw an interception to Christian Rivers on a fourth and goal attempt.
After a pair of failed drives, CLU scored on a 60-yard counter run by Beeson. Placekicker Morgan Salzwedel came in for her first appearance of the season, and made history as she split the uprights to bring the score to 42-13. After another lull in drives, CMS got possession of the ball with 5:30 left on the clock, and they strung together a series of passes resulting in a 24-yard touchdown and the game ended at 42-20.
Friederichsen was 10-for-19 on the day with 212 overall yards. He threw four touchdown passes for the fourth-straight game and now has 18 on the year. Beeson had 192 yards on 13 carries, while also adding 2 touchdowns. Lacombe caught two touchdowns and O'Brien and Hernandez had one apeice. Lozano and Dees led the Kingsmen defensively with eight and seven tackles, respectively. Dees, Woods and Rivers all came down with interceptions on the day. The run defense also came to play today as the Violet and Gold only allowed 47 yards on the ground.
Chris Cziesla and Jackson Zeledon led the Stags scoring a touchdown apiece. Cziesla had 89 yards on three receptions. Defensively, Brandon MacDonald led with nine tackles.
The Kingsmen continue their season with a home game against Whittier College Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. in Rolland Stadium.
Box Score: CLU 42, CMS 20
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Assistant Sports Information Director / Makenna Pellerin (Sports Information Intern)