Boxscore

The University of La Verne stood on the brink of a win in its home opener but was turned away by a late Claremont-Mudd-Scripps touchdown to propel the Stags to a 20-17 decision over the Leopards in SCIAC football action Saturday afternoon at Ortmayer Stadium.

La Verne grabbed a first quarter lead on CMS and maintained it until the 4:41 mark of the fourth quarter, when reserve quarterback Peter Kimmey hit Gregory Wilson from 15 yards out to cap a 14-play, 76-yard drive, giving the visitors an 18-17 lead.  The Stags would convert on a two-point conversion to take a three-point lead.

With two minutes to play, La Verne quarterback Thomas Arguello completed a 33-yard pass to Cedric Ho for an apparent first down at the CMS 5, but the play was nullified by a holding call.  Two plays later, the drive ended on an interception. 

La Verne's last possession was marred by a unsportsmanlike penalty which pushed the ball back to the 35 yard line with 26 seconds remaining.   After an incomplete pass, the Leos did gain 15 yards on a pass completion but would not get off another play as time expired.

CMS improved to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play while La Verne dropped to 0-3 and 0-1, respectively.

Trailing 3-0, Leopards got on the board on a 55-yard scoring pass from Arguello to Ho with 3:13 left in the opening period for a 7-3 lead. 

The Stags cut the lead to a point on a second Chet Corcos field goal from 36 yards out.  On the ensuing drive, the Leopards went 80 on 16 plays in 6:39 to go up 14-6.  A personal foul penalty by CMS gave La Verne a first-and-goal opportunity at the Stag 2-yard line.  Three rushing attempts failed to produce a score.  On fourth and goal, running back Josh Jones wouldn't be denied as he darted from one sideline to the other, outracing the CMS pursuit to the end zone with 8:06 remaining in the half.

Corcos closed the scoring in the first half with his third field goal, this time from 26 yards away, to slice the deficit to 14-9 at intermission.

After both teams traded possessions to start the third quarter, CMS went 36 yards on 7 plays, resulting in yet another 26-yard field goal from Corcos to trim the Leopard advantage to two points at 14-12.

La Verne responded with a score of its own, producing a 15-play, 51-yard drive largely on the legs of Arguello, who rushed for 42 yards during the possession to reach the CMS 17 to set up a 32-yard field goal from Alex Miller to push the Leopard lead back to five at 17-12.

Kimmey replaced starter Patrick Rooney, who left the contest early in the first quarter with an injury.  He passed for 169 yards, completing 14 of 29 attempts including the game-winning score.  Wilson caught 7 passes for 98 yards.   CMS rushed for 181 yards led by Alex Wheatley who tallied 61 yards.

Arguello finished 10-23 through the air with 156 yards with a touchdown while adding 74 rushing yards on 12 carries.

The Leopards resume action next week as they travel to Eagle Rock to face Occidental College in a 7:00 pm start.