LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Oct. 31, 2009) – Before tonight, the Tigers had only lost on their home field twice over the last five year span. Tonight the Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen made it three times, claiming victories in their last two visits to Eagle Rock, running their way past No. 21 Occidental College with a 24-14 win. Entering the evening the teams were tied atop the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings, but the Kingsmen now control the top spot alone.

After a quiet and scoreless first quarter on both sides the Kingsmen lit up the scoreboard first. Early in the second quarter of action last week's SCIAC Athlete of the Week, Brian Stuart, rushed for a 44 yard touchdown before Jackson Damron came on to kick the PAT, which was tipped but still managed to get through the upright.

On a night that offense was scarce for the Tigers, the Washington brothers of Chris and Jordan made big plays when they counted and were responsible for the two Occidental scores in the game. The first, a 12-yard over the shoulder, completion from senior quarterback Scott Saunders to Chris Washington, who drug his feet to stay inbounds in the corner of the end zone, with just 47 seconds left to play in the  opening half. Senior kicker Neil Martin capped off the play to knot the game at 7-7.

Cal Lutheran controlled the football in the second half, maintaining possession for a total of 18:26. In the third quarter Stuart struck again with a four-yard rushing TD to round out a nine play, 70-yard drive.

The fourth got interesting. Saunders was picked off twice, once leading to a 38-yard CLU field goal by Damron while the other ultimately benefitted the Tigers. Trailing 17-7, the Occidental defense stepped up as it has done all season, holding the Kingsmen to negative yardage behind a trio of tackles from Jim Hildensperger. The Tigers forced the Kingsmen to punt on fourth and 15 and the boot by CLU punter Josh Oosterhof sailed 35 yards into the hands of Jordan Washington who beat a pair of defenders, the second in leaping fashion, and got a pair of huge blocks from Cory Suess and Nate Proulx, cruising 87-yards down the sideline into the end zone to pull the Tigers within three at 17-14 following a Martin PAT.

Not to be outdone, CLU responded on the ensuing drive with a 74 yard completion from quarterback Jericho Toilolo to Eric Rogers just 18 seconds after the Tigers clawed their way back into the game.

The reciprocation, coupled with the energy from the CLU fans' “White Out” seemed to suck the wind out of the Tigers' sails beneath an almost full moon on Halloween evening.

A fumble, recovered by Oxy and a Saunders pass that was blocked, that he caught himself in the backfield, forced Occidental to punt with 4:56 to play. CLU used 2:31, but was held to 13 yards as Alex Wertheimer made three stops during the drive, giving the Tigers another shot.

After a 33-yard completion to Jordan Inabnit and a five yard pick up on a connection between Saunders and Trevor Duessen the Tigers earned a first down on one of 13 CLU penalties in the game. The black and orange, however, were not able to convert a fourth and ten as the ball landed just out of reach of Saunders' target just yards away from another scoring opportunity to end the Tigers' bid for a win and an all-out SCIAC title.

The possibility of a share of the 2009 crown still lingers as Cal Lutheran (4-0 SCIAC) and the University of Redlands (3-1 SCIAC) will meet on the gridiron on the final weekend of the season. A Redlands victory coupled with a pair of Occidental wins over Pomona-Pitzer and Whittier would cause a three-way tie atop the standings (should UR and CLU each win its games next weekend).

Defensively tonight five players had six tackles apiece for the Tigers led by Wertheimer and Zac Perkins who had four solo stops each. Wertheimer added a pair of quarterback hurries to his total while Hildensperger, Jesse Fischer and Josh Beck each finished with six tackles as well. Suess picked off Toilolo for the only interception by the Oxy defense while Kevin May was credited with a sack for a loss of six yards.

On the offensive side of the football Saunders was 23-for-39 for 212 yards. C. Washington caught seven passes and Jason Lehman caught six. The Tigers were 0-for-2 on fourth down conversions and were 5-for-15 on third down conversions. Occidental did however score on its only red zone opportunity.

In addition to the quarterbacking duties, Saunders was responsible for the punting tonight. In seven chances he twice put the ball inside the 20 yard line with his longest at 45 yards. J. Washington led all players with 194 all purpose yards (58 receiving, 48 kick return, 88 punt return).

CLU's Matt Allen led their defensive attack tonight with 11 total tackles while Jordan Barta tallied nine with a pair of sacks as CLU sacked Saunders four times in all.

While Occidental could not get their running game fired up, being held to four yards, CLU came out with their feet in motion, gaining 199 yards on the ground with Stuart accounting for 164 of those. Stuart finished the night with 178 all purpose yards adding 14 kick return yards to his rushing total. Toilolo was 11-for-23 for 154 yards and one TD and Rogers and Chris Hammond were his favorite targets with three catches apiece. CLU was 3-for-13 on third down conversions and scored on its only red zone chance.

On a night where Occidental recognized 21 seniors who donned the black and orange at home for the final time, the ending was bitter, but they fought to the end. Much of the second half the Tigers were without multiple starting players who were sidelined with injuries.

Next Saturday, Nov. 7, Occidental will take to the road for the first time in a month when they travel to Claremont, Calif. to play the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens in the Battle for the Drum. Kick-off is slated for 1:00 p.m.