REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Football team had a huge Saturday beating California Lutheran University 56-28, which clinched them the 2021 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Title outright, while at the same time holding onto the coveted Smudge Pot Trophy.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season 8-1, 6-0 SCIAC and currently hold a six-game winning streak dating back to October 2. The eight wins also marks three straight years and four of the last five UR has earned at least eight wins in a single season.
Prior to the start of the game Head Coach Jim Good recognized his 31 seniors who were taking part in their final regular season home game. These graduates included Kenny Woods (Elk Grove, CA), Brandon Heinel (Redlands, CA), Nathan Martinez (Redlands, CA), Jace Tessaro (Modesto, CA), Evan Powell (Eugene, OR), Khory Day (Fresno, CA), Rheji Seay (San Bernardino, CA), Kai Kang (Sammamish, WA), Ryan Place (Alta Loma, CA), Noah Taplett (Woodinville, WA), Jadin Michaels (Palm Springs, CA), Kai Thompson (Murrieta, CA), Alexander Acosta (Arleta, CA), Nathan Tyler (Olympia, WA), Noah Widgins (San Jacinto, CA), Joe Bennett (San Diego, CA), Johnathan Padilla (Covina, CA), Jacob Harrold (Lake Havasu City, AZ), Christopher Tritz (Las Flores, CA), Jake Baillie (Woodinville, WA), Cody Paul (Castaic, CA), Spencer Lopes (Hawaii Kai, HI), Anthony Vargas (Grand Terrace, CA), Calhoun Helmberger (Tacoma, WA), Nathan Abelon (San Bernardino, CA), Ibi Ceesay (Olympia, WA), Marvin Perkins Jr. (Las Vegas, NV), Solomon Iosefa (Riverside, CA), Reece Wakely (Palmdale, CA), Tony Huynh (Portland, OR), and Brandon Serrano (Chino, CA).
The Maroon and Grey put up the numbers once again totaling 485 yards of offense (190 Passing | 295 Rushing), averaged 13.6 yards per pass play and 8.2 yards per rush. They accumulated20 first downs, were 3-of-8 on 3rd Downs and forced five turnovers (4 Interceptions and a Forced Fumble).
Martinez finished the day going 8-of-12 for 178 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball seven times for 53 yards and another score, which came from 30-yards out. Andrew Kellstrom (San Bernardino, CA) had a big day on the ground going for 80 yards on four rushes and a touchdown, Troy "TC" Williams (San Diego, CA) had another 54 yards, Thompson added eight rushes for 50 yards and Tony Williams Jr. (Indio, CA) had four carries for 39 yards to go with a pair of touchdowns.
Williams Jr. along with his two touchdowns on the ground added another in the air hauling in one pass that went for 79-yards. He also returned kickoffs and ran two back for 55-yards averaging 27.5 yards per return. Day had two receptions for 40-yards and Giovanni Isles (Chino Hills, CA) caught one, which went for 30.
Defensively, the secondary was all over with four picks, two coming from Scott Tinsley (Capitola, CA), one of which was a pick-six and another two from Eli Taylor (Castel Rock, CO) and Harrold. The Bulldogs also totaled six tackles for losses, which combined for 13-yards lost, forced a fumble and recovered it, added two breakups and finished the day with 89 tackles (27 solo/62 assisted) led by Tinsley and Harrold who each recorded eight.
A big shout out to the offensive line who battled in the trenches all afternoon creating big holes for the running backs, proving to be one of the best fronts in Division III. These linemen included Dominic Perez (Fontana, CA), Paul, Vargas, Helmberger, Kaleb Gibson (Pomona, CA), and Brady Roy Welch (Willcox, AZ).
Redlands saw themselves in a 14-0 hole after the 1st Quarter. But they never gave up putting together 49 unanswered that spanned the 2nd and 3rd periods. They got the spark from the defensive unit behind Tinsley who put up the first points on the board after he returned an interception 41-yards to the house. He then returned on the next defensive series and earned himself another pick that setup the Bulldogs offense in the redzone. They would use this short field to punch it in from nine-yards out behind a Martinez rushing touchdown. This tied the game up and UR would continue to roll with Martinez finding Williams Jr. for a 79-yard catch and run giving them a 21-14 lead. Williams Jr. then returned with another score this time pounding it in from the one-yard line that extended the advantage to 28-14 at the break.
Following a big 27-yard kick-off return from Williams Jr. to start the 3rd Quarter, Martinez would orchestrate an 8-play, 69-yard drive that ended with some trickery as a pitch out to Thompson in the flat would then lead to a pass to Kaleb Hatten (Modesto, CA) in the endzone. The very next series for CLU, the UR defense again came up big this time from Harrold who picked off a 4th and 5 pass that setup Redlands in Kingsmen territory. The Bulldogs would need just 1:55 to find the endzone with Thompson rushing it three times on the drive ending with a 23-yard scamper that moved the score to 42-14. It was then time for the special teams to get into the mix as a 33-yard return from Cal Lutheran would be thwarted as Powell forced a fumble, which was recovered by Cole Smith (Gaston, OR). This then led to Williams Jr. again finding the endzone this time taking it 31-yards that opened the game up.
CLU managed to get a pair of touchdowns in the 4th quarter, but it was too late as UR would add insurance midway through the period thanks to Kellstrom who had two rushes for 27 and 48-yards ending in a score.
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Redlands will travel for their first round game in the NCAA Division III National Championships this Saturday, November 20. They will make their way up to the Pacific Northwest to take on No. 6 Linfield University. The Wildcats handed the Bulldogs their only loss this season, which came back on September 18 (51-10).
The Bulldogs enter the NCAA Tournament action averaging 416.2 yards per game, highlighted by 203.0 yards on the ground and 213.2 yards through the air as the Bulldogs average 38.9 points per contest. The stingy Bulldogs' defense surrenders just 93.6 rushing yards per game and allows its opponents to score just 19.8 points per outing on average.
