THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— Getting back to the good 'ole days, Cal Lutheran football will play 10 games for the second consecutive season, with half being at home and the other half being on the road. The program is back to a 10-game schedule after playing single-digit games in each season from 1991-2017.
For the seventh straight year, the Kingsmen will take on Pacific Lutheran to open the season. Cal Lutheran has won the past two years and is looking to make it three straight when they meet on Sept. 14, at PLU, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. This past season, CLU tied the overall series with each team having won 12 games apiece.
"This team is very young," said football head coach Ben McEnroe. "So because of that, getting on a plane and traveling to Washington for our first game together with PLU will be a fun challenge."
After opening the season away, Cal Lutheran returns home for back-to-back contests. The home opener for the Kingsmen is on Sept. 21 and set for 7 p.m. against Pacific (Ore.). The Kingsmen and Boxers met for the first time last year, with Pacific coming away with the victory (21-16).
CLU looks to even the series with Pacific and would like to do the same with their next opponent, UW-Stout. The Blue Devils make their first trip to Cal Lutheran after the Kingsmen went their last year. This year's game is set for Sept. 28 at 1 p.m.
"UW-Stout is veteran team from probably the deepest and toughest conference (the WIAC) in America," said McEnroe. "They also spent time in the Top 25 last season."
Conference play starts for Cal Lutheran on the road with the Kingsmen being at Occidental on Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. CLU's first home Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match is homecoming. The Kingsmen will take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Oct.12, at 7 p.m.
After back-to-back away games, Pomona-Pitzer (Oct. 19) and Chapman (Oct. 26), CLU will host Redlands for the Smudge Pot Game on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. After its last road game, La Verne on Nov. 9, the Kingsmen finish the season at home for Senior Day against Whittier on Nov. 16 at 1 p.m.
"Our SCIAC schedule is stacked with a couple of really tough back-to-backs; first with the CMS/Pomona-Pitzer weeks, then at Chapman with Redlands at home the following week," said McEnroe.
"Our conference has had five different conference champions since 2012, so it's not like anyone is running away with it. I don't think the SCIAC champ will get through the conference without at least one loss. There's too much parity for that to happen in 2019."
The 2019 SCIAC Champion will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Football Championships.
2019 Schedule: Kingsmen Football
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
