ATHERTON, Calif. (Sept. 15, 2007) - It had not
happened in 12 years, but for the second time in two weeks the
Tigers shut-out their opponent. Occidental got on the board early
and often, taking a 21-0 halftime lead en route to a 38-0 final
against non-conference Menlo College at Conner Field. Today's
victory marks the 28th consecutive regular season win
for the Tigers, dating back to the 2004 season.
It was like dejavu on the gridiron.
Things got started when junior quarterback
Justin Goltz connected with senior Jordan
Inabnit for touchdown pass and ended with the opposition
scoreless much like week one. Four minutes into the game Goltz
found Inabnit 43-yards down the field to get the Tigers on the
board. The duo also connected for the first score of the season a
week ago.
The Oxy defense kept the Oaks off the board.
Patrick Sarkissian, a sophomore linebacker, led
the charge with seven tackles (four solo). A pair of seniors,
Daniel Tromello and Anthony
Ostland finished with six tackles (five solo) apiece.
Rounding out the top four tacklers was junior linebacker JD
Ciasulli who landed three solo tackles and added two
assists.
Both Aaron Stanton and
Elen Thompson picked off Menlo quarterbacks in the
game. Stanton got his second interception in as many games when the
ball thrown by Menlo's Angel Molina landed in his hands. In
the fourth quarter Thompson nabbed a Tony Rehn pass.
Offensively six different Tigers players
scored in the game.
Joining Inabnit with a TD reception was
sophomore tight end Matthew Kreutz who grabbed a
12-yard pass from senior transfer quarterback Danny
Southwick in the final quarter of play.
Overall Oxy's running game racked up 236
yards on the ground.
Senior All-SCIAC running back Matt
Andersen ran seven yards across the goal line for his
fourth TD of the season, giving the Tigers their second score of
the first quarter. With 97 all-purpose yards freshman running back
Ryan Nastor lead the Tigers. He scored in his
second straight game as his one yard run got the second half
scoring started for Oxy. Nastor led all players with 89 rushing
yards in 12 attempts including a 27-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Andersen played only a half and finished with
92 all-purpose yards behind Rocky Ciasulli (94
yards on six catches with his longest at 33 yards) and
Nastor.
Goltz was 19-33 passing for 222 yards with no
interceptions in the game, tossing passes to seven different
receivers, adding 41 yards on the ground. Goltz used some fancy
footwork scurrying eight yards into the end zone with 47 seconds
remaining in the first half for his first TD run of the season.
The kicking game was superb for the Tigers
today as well. Neil Martin hit a 24-yard field
goal with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Martin was also 5-5 in PAT attempts, totaling eight points for
Occidental. Alex Groh and Scott
Saunders each punted within the 20-yard line once totaling
100 and 23 yards respectively.
Joey Coverson booted seven
kickoffs for a total of 414 yards, averaging 59.1 yards per kick in
the game. On the receiving end of things Chris
Washington ran back one kickoff for 20-yards and two punts
for 22 yards with his longest at 15 yards.
Occidental tallied 512 total yards. The team
converted 25 first downs and finished 2-3 on fourth down
conversions. The Tigers were 5-for-6 in the red zone as they held
their counterparts to 0-for-2 from the same range.
The Tigers improve to 2-0 overall while Menlo
drops to 0-2 on the season.
Occidental will take advantage of a bye week
as they prepare for Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference which will begin on Saturday, Sept. 29. The Tigers will
travel to Claremont, Calif. where they will meet the Stags of CMS
who hold a 1-0 record entering Saturday (Sept. 15 as they play at
night). Kickoff will take place at 7:00 p.m.
