Tigers Overcome Penalties, Turnovers to Stretch Streak to 32
CLAREMONT, Calif. (Nov. 20, 2007) - One hundred and ten times the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens and Occidental College Tigers have faced off, marking one of the longest rivalries on the West Coast. Dating back to 1941 the game has been commemorated with the battle of “The Drum.” Today on Merritt Field Oxy rallied back from a 15-7 halftime deficit to walk away with a 31-15 victory and rights to retain the coveted “Drum” for the 59th time in history and the fourth consecutive year.
As the game went on the Tigers got better.
A number of halftime adjustments by Coach Erik Johnson and Coach Jim Fenwick on the defensive and offensive sides of the ball respectively led to a 24-0 second half rally. Oxy dominated in the second half, scoring twice in each quarter, not allowing any additional Sagehen points.
The early goings were a different story as the Tigers, ranked 14 by d3football.com, found themselves in unfamiliar territory at halftime, trailing 15-7.
After a pair of Pomona-Pitzer touchdowns for 12 points and a 20 yard field goal by Bobby Montalvo the Sagehens offense was silenced. The first score of the game came on a 47 yard touchdown pass from Jacob Caron to senior wide receiver Matt Martini while the second was a one yard run by Caron with just a second to play in the first half.
Occidental got on the board at the start of the second quarter when senior running back Jason Haller leapt over his offensive linemen into the end zone for a two yard gain. To start the third quarter he added another two yard rush for his second TD of the game, pulling the Tigers within one at 15-14.
Two possessions later Occidental took the lead for good when a nine play drive ended with a 24-yard field goal by Neil Martin.
A missed Pomona-Pitzer field goal attempt at the 11:31 mark from 32 yards left the Tigers on their own 20 yard line. Five first down’s later junior quarterback Justin Goltz connected with senior wide receiver Rocky Ciasulli for a seven yard pass to end the drive, increasing the lead to 24-15. Goltz found Ciasulli for a seven yard gain to start the drive as well.
With 2:07 to play in regulation the Tigers put the ball in the hands of freshman running back Ryan Nastor who scrambled past opponents for a 45 yard touchdown run.
Pomona-Pitzer made an attempt to get on the board once more on the ensuing possession gaining 48 yards before the Oxy defensive duo of Albert Ramos and Patrick Sarkissian combined for a sack that pushed the Sagehens back10 yards. Two plays later senior defensive back Daniel Tromello intercepted the ball at the Oxy seven yard line with four seconds remaining.
Sarkissian had a game leading 9.0 tackles, including seven solo. He also added 1.5 tackles for a loss of eight yards. Aaron Stanton and Adam Dunbar finished with 8.0 and 7.0 tackles respectively, each notching seven unassisted.
Offensively the Tigers finished with 442 yards including 171 rushing.
Goltz finished the game 25-38 passing for 271 yards and added 31 rushing yards for 302 total yards. He was picked off twice and sacked twice. For Pomona-Pitzer Caron was 20-45-1 for 279 yards and one TD pass. He was sacked twice and threw one interception.
On the ground Nastor tallied 87 yards on 11 carries and Haller finished with 14 touches for 53 yards. Through the air Ciasulli caught seven passes for 137 yards and Joey Coverson had six catches for 70 yards.
Coverson also averaged 56.3 yards on six kickoffs. Punting, Alex Groh averaged 45.5 yards on four attempts. Martin was responsible for seven Tigers points with a 4-4 PAT performance.
Oxy picked up 23 first downs while their counterparts tallied 26. Again the Tigers capitalized on red zone scoring opportunities, finding the end zone in four of five situations. The Sagehens only scored twice in five red zone chances.
Pomona-Pitzer had control of the ball for nearly 33 minutes, including almost 10 during the second quarter.
With the win the Tigers overall record improves to 6-0, 4-0 in SCIAC play. Occidental now holds a 59-48-3 advantage over Pomona-Pitzer after the 110th meeting of the two teams.
Next week Oxy returns to the cozy confines of D.W. Patterson Field to face off with Cal Lutheran who also currently hold an undefeated SCIAC record at 3-0. The Kingsmen are 3-3 overall and are coming off a 44-30 loss to Chapman University. Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m.
