THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Cal Lutheran football scored 21 second-half points, but the UW-Stout Blue Devils outlasted the Kingsmen 29-21 on Saturday afternoon at William Rolland Stadium.
The game with UW-Stout was a home-and-home exchange as the Kingsmen traveled to Wisconsin a year ago. CLU was looking for revenge from a year ago, but the comeback was thwarted by the Blue Devil defense. Cal Lutheran dropped to 1-2 after the game with UW-Stout having the same record.
Cal Lutheran found themselves in an early hole as UW-Stout led 19-0 at the half. The Kingsmen came out in the second half with something to prove as quarterback Cesar De Leon connected with receiverJames Holland for an 18-yard score and CLU was on the board. The scoring play was setup by a 50-yard completion to Cameron Jones.
The Kingsmen defense stepped up its play in the second half. Cornerback Obasi Dees recorded his third interception of the season in as many games. With UW-Stout driving down the field, and at the CLU 20, the Blue Devil quarterback threw to the left side of the field. Dees was waiting as he tipped the ball out the receiver's hands and to himself, giving him his third takeaway. The Blue Devils added a field goal on their next drive and had a 22-7 lead heading to the fourth.
Cal Lutheran kept inching closer as the Kingsmen scored on their first possession of the fourth quarter. De Leon tallied his second touchdown pass of the game as he threw a dart to Jajuan Thomas, who did the rest, and added a 9-yard score.
After a three-and-out on UW-Stout's next possession, the Kingsmen had a chance to tie the game. However, De Leon fumbled as he dove for the yardage marker and the momentum went back to the Blue Devils. They took advantage of the Kingsmen miscue and took a 29-14 lead with 5:16 left.
Cal Lutheran bounced right back, scoring on their next possession, a 20-yard pass from De Leon to Cameron Jones and the game was far from over. After a punt of Stout's next possession, CLU had the ball at their own 15-yard line with 1:50 left.
A pass from De Leon to Holland for 39 yards had the offense in great shape as the ball was at the Blue Devil's 42 with a minute left. The very next play decided the game as De Leon was stripped, the Blue Devils recovered the ball, and took the game with a final score of 29-21.
De Leon threw for 354 yards on 28-of-42 passing attempts, with the three touchdowns and two fumbles lost. Holland and Jones both recorded six catches, 100-plus yards and a touchdown. Thomas matched them with six catches and had 62 yards with his score. Marcellous Lewis led the wideouts with seven catches for 54 yards.
Ethan Pulley led the defense with 16 tackles, 10 of which were solo, and also recorded a sack. Caleb Casimere was big on the line and tallied two sacks and Connor McDermott added one tackle-for-loss. Brandon Monroe, Dees and McDermott were next after Pulley and had eight tackles each, while Zion Brown tallied six and Jamon Ward and Kerner Mark both added five.
The game was the last before conference. The Kingsmen start SCIAC play at Occidental next Saturday with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Box Score: UWS 29, CLU 21
CLU Instagram: @clusports
Sport IG: @kingsmen_football
CLU Twitter: @CLUSports
Sport Twitter: @CLUFootball
CLU Facebook: @clusports
Hashtags: #clusports #ownthethrone #goregals #gokingsmen #theSCIAC #ncaad3
Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
