LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Oct. 13, 2007) -
Occidental came out with all cylinders firing, scoring 24
unanswered first half points en route to a 45-7 victory at D.W.
Patterson Field in SCIAC action tonight against the University of
La Verne.
While the offense was potent, the defense was
all over the field, combining for 12 broken up plays, a sack, and
five tackles for a loss of yardage.
Occidental ended up with 498 total yards on 63
plays while La Verne totaled 333 on 66. As a team Oxy picked up 23
first downs and held ULV to 14. The Tigers scored in five of seven
red zone opportunities in the game.
There really was no question as to who was in
control of the game tonight as the Tigers maintained possession of
the ball for 10:33 during the first quarter of play. Oxy scored on
its first possession of the game for the second week in a row when
Neil Martin booted a 27 yard field goal to get
things going.
After the defense stopped the Leopards they again put points on
the board when junior quarterback Justin Goltz
found senior wide receiver Rocky Ciasulli in the
end zone for an eight yard TD pass.
Again the Tigers held the Leos offense
scoreless and added another score to their total. Goltz connected
with Joey Coverson for a 28 yard completion,
extending the lead to 17-0. On the ensuing Tigers possession senior
running back Jason Haller ran one yard into the
end zone following a 58 yard completion from Goltz to Coverson.
Occidental took a comfortable 24-0 lead into
the locker room.
After receiving the ball to begin the second
half Joshua Washington picked off Goltz to set up the only Leopards
score of the night. ULV quarterback Troy Doolittle found an open
Grady Thomas for a 36 yard pass to cap off a 58 yard, eight play
drive.
The next two touchdowns came on the ground as
Haller scored on rushes of 13 and 33 yards. With 8:38 remaining in
the game senior quarterback Danny Southwick found
Jordan Inabnit for a 10 yard touchdown pass to
round out the Occidental offense on the night.
Jarred Salha, JD
Ciasulli, Daniel Tromello, James
Sabo and Patrick Sarkissian
finished the game with 4.0 tackles apiece.
James Leonard was credited with a sack for a loss
of three yards and added three solo tackles and an assist.
Sarkissian and Brian Crider each broke up two
plays in the game while Tromello and Chris
Washington each forced a fumble.
Behind a stellar effort by the offensive line
Goltz was 20-26 for 235 yards with two touchdowns. He added 60
yards on the ground including a 25 yard run. Southwick was 3-3 for
49 yards with one score.
On the receiving end of things Rocky Ciasulli finished with seven
catches for 75 yards. Coverson caught two balls for a total of 87
yards.
On the ground Haller led the way with 75 yards
on nine carries as he averaged 8.3 yards per run. Freshman
Ryan Nastor carried the ball six times for 27
yards and added 64 yards on punt returns with his longest at 42
yards. Late in the game Bo Renaud capitalized on
his opportunities to carry the pigskin as he gained 51 yards on
seven rushes.
Alex Groh averaged 45.2 yards
on four punts. His longest of the night was 58 yards.
Branamier Courtney led all players with 8.5
tackles and Jason Carpenter recorded 7.0 for the Leos. Offensively
Grady Thomas was the leading receiver for either team with 117
yards on four catches, including a 36 yard completion.
Tonight's victory extends the Tigers' regular season
win streak to 31 games. They improve to 5-0 on the season and sit
tied atop the SCIAC with Cal Lutheran University (3-2) at 3-0.
On Saturday, Oct. 20 the Tigers will travel to
Pomona-Pitzer where they will take on the Sagehens who are 2-3
overall, 1-2 in SCIAC play. Kickoff will be at 1:00 p.m.
