LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Nov. 1, 2008) – Giving up “The Drum” was not an option for the Tigers tonight. They scored early and often on a slew of long plays through the air and on the ground, with trick plays mixed in, en route to a 64-33 victory over long-time rival Pomona-Pitzer on D.W. Patterson Field tonight to remain undefeated and clinch their fourth SCIAC title in five years.

An Occidental offensive explosion that totaled 578 total yards, began on the first possession of the game when Jason Haller picked up where he left off  in Thousand Oaks a week ago, rushing 47-yards for a touchdown. The scoring didn't stop there for Haller who rushed one yard into the end zone for the second of his three scores on the Tigers' next  offensive chance in which Justin Goltz started off the drive with a 22- yard run.

Oxy defense started strong, holding Pomona-Pitzer to three plays and -1 yard, forcing a punt after Jesse Fischer sacked Caron for a two-yard loss on third down. Overall in the game Oxy held the Sagehens to 19 rushing yards on 22 carries.

Pomona-Pitzer was able to get on the board when Kevin Kelly made an acrobatic 27-yard catch at the one-yard line before Jacob Caron rushed the ball into the end zone for the Sagehens.

A blocked PAT by Alex Wertheimer was recalled by a penalty but Jordan Washington followed suit, blocking the re-kick to hold the Sagehens to a six-point play.

The first quarter ended just a minute after Alex Groh, the nation's third leading punter, sent the ball 34-yard to the PP five yard line. In the game he punted four times (two over 50 yards) with his longest at 59 yards and three inside the 20-yard line.

In the second quarter, the defense again came up big, when Caron fumbled for a loss of 10-yards, which was recovered by Oxy's Patrick Sarkissian. Occidental was unable to score on that drive, but with 8:57 to play the Tigers added a one-yard rushing TD by Goltz.

PP countered with another score of their own when Caron found Kelley in the end zone, pulling the Sagehens back to 21-13.

Haller tacked on his third touchdown of the game rushing two yards before the Tigers used a two-point conversion (Jason Lehman to Nic Arnold) adding to the lead, 29-13.

In the final 2:20 of the first half Goltz got things done through the air and on the ground. First Jordan Washington caught a short pass, broke a pair of tackles, hurdled an opponent and ran 69 yards, for the first collegiate touchdown of his career. Then after the defense held PP to a 58 second possession, Goltz immediately followed up with a huge run of his own, scoring on a fake handoff at the Oxy35 yard line with the play finishing 65-yards later in the end zone to give the Tigers a 43-13 lead at the mid-way mark.

The Tigers would not slow down in the second half, as Bryan Fiorito added a hat-trick to the scoring onslaught. 

From one yard out Fiorito went in over the top for his first score of the game just 1:10 into the third quarter, giving the Tigers their highest scoring game of the season (50) with a quarter and a half to play. On the next offensive drive the O-line of Nick Danielson, Logan Brown and Brett Henderson again made a hole up the middle, blocking for Fiorito who scored his second touchdown of the game.

As time expired in the third period of play Goltz set up Fiorito for his third TD of the game, with a 31 yard gain to the PP five yard line.

Following a 6-for-6 effort from Neil Martin on PAT chances, Connor Smith came in to nail the seventh and eighth, putting the Tigers up 64-26.

PP battled until the end, adding a pair of late scores, as the final TD came with nine seconds to play, leaving the final at 64-33.

Defensively Mike McGarry and JD Ciasulli each stepped up his game, recording nine total tackles apiece, with McGarry recording 7.0 in the first half alone, while he broke up three more plays. Fischer finished with a pair of sacks and Zac Perkins added a sack for a loss of nine yards. Trace Wallace was a nuisance, recording four total tackles and breaking up four additional plays. McGarry added a 16 yard punt return as well.

In all the Tigers scored eight rushing touchdowns as they accumulated a total of 301 yards on the ground. Goltz led the pack with 109 rushing yards while Haller and Fiorito finished with 86 and 75, respectively.

Oxy successfully scored in six of seven Red Zone chances. The Tigers converted their only fourth-down conversion (first quarter) chance and were 6-for-11 on third down conversions, including 3-for-3 in the third period of play.

The senior quarterback was 13-for-18 for 277 yards and one touchdown. Goltz's favorite target tonight was freshman, J. Washington, who caught five passes for a total of 130 yards. Trevor Duessen also caught five passes, which totaled 82 yards.

After struggling a week ago, despite the win, Goltz was able to put that performance behind him, re-focus and play the way Tigers fans have become accustomed to.

“The season was perfect, but when you put some bad weather and a tough defense in the equation, things change,” the Walled Lake,  MI native shared. “Last week was a wake up call but ended with a great team win. Tonight I just put my last performance behind me and was able to come out  and play my game.”

Also playing a big game were the freshman pair of Nick Saraceni and Joshua Mun. Saraceni was a threat on kick returns, carrying the ball 134 yards on five chances, with his longest return marked at 47 yards. Mun kicked off deep for Oxy as he has done all season.

Pomona-Pitzer had three players notch more than 100 yards in the game. Kelly led all players with 272 all purpose yards, all coming through the air on 16 catches, including a pair of TDs. RJ Maki was next in line with 216 and Russell Oka added 151.

The adrenalin that came to the field a week ago in Thousand Oaks was a different adrenalin than was on the gridiron tonight.

In a rivalry game that dates back to 1895, the two schools met for the 111^th time, marking the longest-running collegiate rivalry in Southern California. Tonight Occidental claimed its 59^th victory and fifth consecutive win.

It means so much to the players to be able to participate in such a long standing tradition.

“When you come out to play a team like Pomona-Pitzer you know they are going to be fired up and want to take back the Drum,” said Goltz. “They are always a tough opponent and coming away with a token like the Drum, as well as the win, is very gratifying. We knew we had to come out and play strong. We did that and ended up on top.”

On top they are, as the Tigers remain undefeated overall at 8-0 and in SCIAC play with a 5-0 record, solidifying a SCIAC championship for Occidental.

Between 2000 and 2008 the Tigers have won five conference titles, including four consecutive between 2003-06. The league title also guarantees # 15 Occidental a post-season berth.

For one more week of regular season play the Tigers will train and prepare, again for a rivalry game. On Saturday, Nov. 15, Oxy will welcome back the alumni for Homecoming, as they host Whittier College to compete in the “Battle for the Shoes.”

While the tradition of “The Shoes” doesn't date back nearly as long as “The Drum” the battle on the gridiron is sure to be just as intense. While the Tigers looked for revenge a week ago against Cal Lutheran, Occidental is just, if not more, motivated to beat Whittier, who upset the black and orange last season with a 67-61 win, and regain possession of The Shoes.

Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Patterson Field.