THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— Jajuan Thomas totaled 214 receiving yards and two touchdowns, the defense shutout Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for nearly the entire game and Cal Lutheran football steamrolled the defending SCIAC Champion Stags Saturday night 37-7.
Cal Lutheran is one of the two teams that are undefeated in SCIAC and sit at 2-0 and 3-2 overall. In the two SCIAC games, the Kingsmen have put up 92 points and held their opponents to 28. CMS drops to 2-3 and 0-2 in conference and sits at the bottom of the conference.
Thomas was 2-yards shy of the school record for receiving yards and tallied his 214 on just six catches. He averaged 35.7 yards per catch and had a long of 70 on his way to scoring the two touchdowns. The school record for receiving yards was set by Eric Rogers in 2010.
Cesar De Leon aired the ball out as he passed for 325 yards, on 17-of-29 attempts, and had three touchdowns with a long of 70. De Leon has thrown for 300-plus yards and three touchdowns, with zero interceptions, in three games.
The Kingsmen defense took care of its business too and held the Stags scoreless until 2:53 left in the game. The Violet and Gold held CMS to 124 passing yards and have held every opponent to less than 200 passing yards. Leading the way for the Kingsmen was Ethan Pulley and Connor McDermott with 16 and 15 tackles, respectively. They both added 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
CLU totaled nine tackles for loss, including two sacks from Tecoy Porter. The pass-defense was also rolling as John Moore and Jamon Ward both recorded an interception.
In the first half, both defenses kept the offenses quiet. The Kingsmen forced the Stags to a three-and-out on their first possession which set the tone for the entire game. Cal Lutheran got on the board first as Christian Antezana converted on a 25-yard field goal in the first quarter. The Kingsmen added a touchdown in the second quarter as De Leon found Thomas for a 41-yard touchdown. After a missed extra point, CLU had a 9-0 lead at the half.
The Kingsmen came out on fire in the third quarter. The first play of the second half was a 51-yard pass from De Leon to Thomas which set up a 26-yard touchdown pass to Joc Smith. On the first play of CLU's next drive, Jackson Taylor broke loose for a 35-yard touchdown and Cal Lutheran jumped out to a 23-0 lead.
CLU would add to its lead just seconds into the fourth quarter as De Leon hit Thomas for a 70-yard touchdown. CMS finally got rid of the goose egg as they scored their lone touchdown with 2:53 left in the game. Cal Lutheran was right there with an answer as Stetson Stallworth rushed for a 13-yard touchdown on the very next drive. The Kingsmen put on a show for the Cal Lutheran faithful as they walked off the gridiron with a 37-7 victory.
The Kinsgmen outgained the Stags with 467 yards to 301. CLU held CMS to just 19-percent on third downs as the Stage were 3-of-16 and averaged just 4.0 yards per play. On the other hand, Cal Lutheran was 5-for-10 on third downs and averaged 8.8 yards per play.
Stallworth was the leading rusher with 58 yards on four attempts and added his touchdown run and Taylor was next with 41 yards and matched Stallworth's touchdown.
After Pulley and McDermott, Zion Brown and Trey Brown both recorded six tackles, Porter was next with five and Thomas Bambrick, Obasi Dees, Brandon Monroe and William Kelly all added four more.
Next up for Cal Lutheran is Pomona-Pitzer. The Kingsmen travel to the Sagehens as they try for a 3-0 start in SCIAC play. Kickoff is set on Saturdayat 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 37, CMS 7
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director