After honoring its class of 20 seniors in a pregame ceremony, the University of Redlands football team continued the celebration with a 41-0 drubbing of the Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the Maroon and Gray's final home game of the regular season. With the win, the Bulldogs remain in a tie for second place with Chapman University in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings
The Bulldogs made their presence immediately known by forcing a Stag fumble on the opening drive of the game. Six plays later, Redlands notched its first of five touchdowns on the night when senior quarterback Chad Hurst (Dixon, CA) hit junior wide receiver Daryl Andersen (Grand Terrace, CA) in the end zone for a 10-yard score.
While racking up 436 yards of offense to go along with 25 first downs, the Maroon and Gray never looked back en route to the dominating victory. In addition, the Bulldogs allowed CMS to earn only one red-zone chance, which was halted without a score.
Redlands benefitted from a diversified offense with five different players registering points. Hurst connected with senior wide receiver Mark Richardson II (Los Angeles, CA) on a 13-yard strike into the far corner of the Stag end zone before hitting senior wide receiver Peter Adams (Laguna Niguel, CA) on a 35-yard reception to the promise land.
Watch Richardson's touchdown here.
In addition, junior kicker Kevin Grady (Seattle, WA) split the uprights on a 32-yard field goal and later punched in a 25-yarder for the 34-point halftime lead. Hurst capped off the offensive explosion with a five-yard carry to wrap up a four-play, 64-yard drive early in the third quarter.
Beyond this, Redlands benefitted from big plays by the defense, highlighted by senior defensive back Brandon Morris' (Mission Viejo, CA) sixth interception of the season. He ran it back 35 yards for the pick-six play midway through the second quarter.
By the end of the game, senior running back Brad Crisanty (Granite Bay, CA) had posted his fifth straight showing with at least 100 rushing yards, with tonight's performance resulting in 132 on 17 carries. He currently sits 144 yards away from eclipsing the 1000-yard mark for the season.
Crisanty headed up a strong run game by the Bulldogs that racked up 288 yards with eight different ball carriers.
Late in the game, the Bulldogs utilized nearly everyone on the roster, including a multi-faceted defensive crew that came up big on fourth-and-two on their own 14-yard line to halt the Stags' drive and preserve the shutout.
Overall, senior defensive back Zak Mella (Yucaipa, CA) led the defense with 13 total tackles on the night, including six solo hits and two for a loss. Freshman linebacker Bentley Tran (Olympia, WA) and sophomore linebacker Griffin Lord (Upland, CA) stepped up their contributions as well, making six stops apiece.
As a unit, the Maroon and Gray recorded seven tackles for a loss of 29, highlighted by three sacks. Those came from the persistent efforts of senior linebacker Jordan Garcia (Carlsbad, CA), sophomore defensive lineman Jordan Bixler (Redlands, CA), and senior linebacker Greyson Alman (Fontana, CA).
Redlands (4-3, 4-1 SCIAC) heads to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Sagehens.
