Follow the Tigers Live at CMS

CLAREMONT, Calif. (Oct. 2, 2009) – Occidental College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will open the 2009 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday, Oct. 3 when they face off at Fritz B. Burns Stadium on the campus of CMS. If you can’t make it out to the game, watch Live Stats or tune in to the CMS Live Broadcast.

The Tigers and Stags have met 51 times and Occidental holds a 36-14 advantage while the teams have tied once, in 1968. The teams first met in 1959 with the black and orange winning 36-0. In the last meeting between the squads Occidental was victorious, 38-0. Maybe the most memorable game of the career series took place in 2001 when the teams needed four overtimes to determine a winner. The Tigers came out on top 27-24.

Team Notes:
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps enters the game with a 2-0 record after wins over a pair of Northwest Conference schools in the opening two weeks of the season. CMS defeated Lewis & Clark 22-7 on the road in their season opener before posting a 14-6 win over the University of Puget Sound on Sept. 19.

No. 24 Occidental earned a 17-0 opening day victory over Menlo College in Atherton, Calif. behind a two-interception performance by senior Aaron Stanton, who ran the second one back for a touchdown. In the second game of the season, Stanton again recorded a pick, but a late offensive surge by the then No. 14 Linfield College was too much for the Tigers as they fell 31-27. Alex Wertheimer was named to the d3football.com Team of the Week following the Linfield game in which he recorded 10 quarterback hurries to go along with 8.0 tackles.

The Offense:
CMS has been guided by Scott Yingling (14-32-0) and D.J. Lillard who have each rushed for a pair of touchdowns in 2009. Lilliard has carried the ball 47 times for 225 yards while Yingling has kept the pigskin 24 times, gaining 126 yards. Through the air Mike Hirokawa and Mike Hirokawa have been Yingling’s favorite targets with five catches apiece for 108 and 63 yards, respectively. Hirokawa also returns kicks for CMS while Marineau returns the punts.

Occidental senior quarterback Scott Saunders is 41-63 with one interception. His longest pass of the season was a 53-yard completion to sophomore receiver Jordan Washington in the season opener. Chris Washington has been another target for Saunders as they have connected 15 times for 173 yards. The senior duo of Jordan Inabnit and Jason Lehman have also caught TD passes. On the ground senior Jason Haller has rushed for a pair of touchdowns. The Washington’s and Nick Saraceni have been responsible for the punt and kick returns this season.

The Defense:
While CMA has no interceptions this season, their defense has been led by Dan Picciotto who has 17 total tackles (10 solo) with 3.5 for a loss of 16 yards. He has one sack and a blocked kick. Brock Olson has recorded 10 tackles while breaking up a pair of plays. Daniel Andrew and Saw Bin Park have nine tackle apiece with a sack for a loss of seven and one yards, respectively. Andrew has 3.5 tackles for a loss of 18 total yards and has forced one fumble. Ed Mills also has a sack for a loss of 16 yards.

Defensively the Tigers have been led by Wertheimer, with 11 tackles to go along with 10 QB hurries as well as 2.5 tackles for a loss. Josh Beck leads the pack with 17 total tackles, three for a loss and one sack for a loss of three yards. Jesse Fischer and Greg Fryan each have a sack for a loss of five yards as well. Fischer, along with Dillon Tucker has 13 tackles each and Zac Perkins has recorded 12 total tackles. Joining Stanton with an interception this season is sophomore Ayrton Bates.

Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. Be sure to tune in if you aren’t in the area to come out and watch live.