THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The offense reached the end zone on seven of its first nine drives while the defense held the opposition scoreless in a near flawless performance to defeat Whittier 56-0 at William Rolland Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Box Score: CLU 56, WC 0 - F
Again it was a tale of two halves as it was the week prior. The only difference is this story was enjoyable for Cal Lutheran fans from start to finish.
In the first half Cal Lutheran did its damage through the air as quarterback Jake Laudenslayer threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns. He amassed 424 first half yards including 77 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
In the second half the Kingsmen rushed for 227 of its 343 yards highlighted by Daniel Mosier's 11 carries, 137 yards and three touchdown performance. Mosier carried the ball five times for 110 yards and two scores in the second half alone.
The Cal Lutheran defense forced nine Whittier punts and seven three-and-outs in total. Tack on 17 tackles for loss including six sacks and average of only four feet per rush, it was a long day for the visiting side.
The shutout was secured courtesy of two crucial plays. After giving up a 47-yard pass play Luis Villavicencio punched the ball from behind and out of the arms of Matt Asaro and into the hands of CLU teammate Broc Galbreth. It was the Poets longest play from scrimmage on the afternoon.
Trailing by 35 late in the first half Whittier elected to push on from the Cal Lutheran 13-yard line with no timeouts. Chris Carr took down WC quarterback Chris Lopez for one of the team's six sacks to drain the final seconds before halftime.
Nearly 500 yards of total offense highlighted the Cal Lutheran offensive attack. It is more impressive considering that was achieved by halftime as Cal Lutheran headed to the locker room leading 35-0.
The Kingsmen reached the end zone eight times in all with the first three coming on touchdown passes from Laudenslayer. The senior found his favorite target Eric Rogers six times for 206 yards and two touchdowns.
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Appropriately enough their first hook-up for a 51-yard TD put both of them in the Cal Lutheran career records books. Laudenslayer and Rogers moved into 10th on the all-time CLU passing yardage and receiving yardage list in program history on the same play.
Rogers became the first Kingsmen to surpass 200 receiving yards in a home game, falling just short of his own overall record of 216 yards set during last year's playoff game at Linfield.
Laudenslayer connected with Rogers for the second score of the game. On a third-and-goal from the Whittier 20-yard line Laudenslayer scrambled to his left and found Matt O'Brien for his third scoring toss of the game. The senior quarterback took over another spot on the CLU career leaders list tossing his 25th career touchdown pass.
Eight of Cal Lutheran's nine touchdown drives took less than three minutes with the final score a drive that last 4:01 featuring seven running plays totaling 37 yards. Backup quarterback Kevin Ramay played most of the second half and capped off the scoring with a 4-yard keeper.
CLU kicker Peter Keks tied a program record by booting through all eight point after tries following Kingsmen touchdowns.
In spite of CLU's offensive success the Poets did stop the Kingsmen on a fourth-and-one at the Whittier 5-yard line and an Alex Mitchell interception at the goal line prevented another CLU first half score. However the Kingsmen defense retuned possession to its offense within three snaps on both occasions.
CLU nose guard Rian Younker wrapped up 2.5 sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss to pace the Kingsmen defense. Caius Radu led the defensive unit with seven tackles and two pass breakups in the victory.
Whittier was outgained 690-216 in total offensive yardage on the day. Lopez led the SCIAC in passing yardage prior to Saturday's contest averaging nearly 270 yards per game. He completed 13-of-28 passes for 171 yards in the loss.
Rufus Osby led the Poets rushing attack gaining 20 yards on only three carries. As a team Whittier gained just 45 yards on 34 attempts.
The Cal Lutheran defense has not allowed an opponent to score over the past six quarters following a second half shutout of Redlands and today's performance. The scoreless and SCIAC win streak of 16 games will both be on the line on the road Saturday, Oct. 15, when the Kingsmen head out to La Verne.