REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Football team came away with their third straight victory Saturday night beating Pomona-Pitzer 34-18 during "Take a Kid to the Game Night."
The Maroon and Grey remain perfect in the month of October improving to 5-1, 3-0 SCIAC, while Pomona-Pitzer drops to 3-3, 1-2 SCIAC.
For the second straight week the Bulldogs have gained over 200 yards rushing. They totaled 351 yards of total offense with 230 coming on the ground and 121 through the air. They finished 9-of-15 on 3rd down efficiency, averaged 5.6 yards per play and scored four rushing touchdowns on the evening.
Defensively they held the Sagehens to 255 total yards of offense, all of which came through the air. For the first time this season UR has held an opponent to 0 yards rushing.
Nathan Martinez (Redlands, CA) finished 15-for-21 for 121 Yards. He also added seven rushes for 34 yards and a touchdown. Kai Thompson (Murrieta, CA) led the rushing attack with 15 attempts for 105 yards, averaging 7.0 yards per rush and another score. Andrew Kellstrom (San Bernardino, CA) added 66 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown and Tony Williams Jr. (Indio, CA) rushed it eight times for 25 yards and another tally.
It was a balanced attack through the air with Thompson spearheading that contingent. He had four catches for 29 yards and was joined by Evan Aguon (San Diego, CA) (2 Catches – 19 Yards), Giovanni Isles (Chino Hills, CA) (3 catches – 18 Yards), Kai Kang (Sammamish, WA) (1 catch – 14 Yards), Nathan Tyler (Olympia, WA) (1 Catch – 13 Yards), and Brady Roy Welch (Willcox, AZ) (2 Catches – 12 yards).
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bulldogs totaled 60 tackles (28 Solo | 32 Assisted). They also had three sacks for 25-yards lost, 10 tackles for losses for another 41 yards, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, two interceptions, a pass breakup and four quarterback hits.
Scott Tinsley (Capitola, CA) finished with double-digit tackles (6 Solo | 4 Assisted), added 2.5 TFL, had both picks and a quarterback hit. Ryan Place (Alta Loma, CA) finished with seven tackles (5 solo | 2 assisted) with a sack for a nine-yard loss, Jake Baillie (Woodinville, WA) added a pair of tackles to go with a forced fumble, which was recovered by Noah Widgins (San Jacinto, CA), a sack for an eight yard lost and had two TFL, totaling 12 yards. Then Jace Tessaro (Modesto, CA), Reece Wakely (Palmdale, CA), Brandon Serrano (Chino, CA), and Mikey Duran (Ceres, CA) all combined for 13 tackles and added another 4.5 tackles for losses (16 yards lost).
UR got an early turnover by the Sagehens on their opening series as Baillie ended an 11-play, 33-yard drive with a forced fumble, recovered by Widgins. The Maroon and Grey used that momentum shift and would go 54-yards in four plays highlighted by a 30-yard touchdown run from Thompson. These would be the only points of the opening quarter. The very next series for Pomona-Pitzer they would again cough the ball up this time with Evan Flitz throwing a pick to Tinsley and for the second time Redlands would capitalize. They would march down the field covering 46-yards on 12-plays, which included 27 on the ground. This series would end with a 21-yard field goal by Brendan Marmion (Aliso Viejo, CA) moving the score to 10-0.
It looked like PP would get their first touchdown when they went 12-plays and 58-yards, earning themselves a 1st & Goal from the UR 3. But the Bulldog defensive front proved tough with three straight stops forcing the field goal. But the ensuing kick would draw a penalty putting the Sagehens with a 1st & Goal from the UR 3, bringing the defensive unit back out. Redlands again proved tough inside forcing another three and out, including a sack from Serrano for an eight-yard loss that forced a PP 27-yard field goal.
With 6:25 to play in the half the Bulldogs put together one final drive, which covered 73-yards in 12 plays. Martinez connected with Aguon for 20-yards and then found Tyler for 15 coming on a 4th & 1. Setup on the PP20, Martinez then took over finding Thompson for a six-yard shovel pass and then scoring himself from 14-yards out. This put UR on top 17-3 at the break.
After forcing a three and out to start the second half the Bulldogs put together another long drive, which ended in another field goal from Marmion, this time from 27-yards out. They were then setup with a short field following a second pick from Tinsley and they would find the endzone with Martinez connecting with Kang for 14-yards followed by a Thompson 25-yard run down the far side line capped off with a one yard score from Williams Jr.
This moved the score to 27-3 and it was all Redlands after that picking up a 23-yard touchdown run from Kellstrom to begin the 4th quarter that sealed the victory for the Maroon and Grey.
Redlands has their next game at home on Saturday, October 23 during Homecoming Weekend when they host Chapman University beginning at 7:00pm. This is a game they are looking forward to as they look to avenge their 2019 loss to the Panthers.
