The University of La Verne earned its first win of the 2011 season by way of a potent rushing attack in amassing 321 of its 485 offensive yards on the ground en route to a 30-21 win over Occidental in SCIAC football action Saturday in Eagle Rock.
The trio of Thomas Arguello (110), Tanner Thompson (103) and Matt Biggers (102) each topped the century mark in rushing yards as the Leopards earned their first win over Occidental in nearly nine years.
La Verne led the entire second half to give Chris Krich his first career win as head coach.
Thompson got the Leopards on the board with 6:31 left to play in the first quarter on a 3-yard scoring run to cap a 7-play, 76-yard drive to grab a 6-0 lead.
Oxy answered back on its next possession, gaining 68 yards in 6 plays culminating in a Luke Collis touchdown pass to Matthew Tuckness for 19 yards. Joshua Nun's extra point put the Tigers up 7-6.
In the second quarter, the Leopards reclaimed the lead on a scoring drive of 53 yards. Arguello completed two consecutive passes and was followed by three straight Thompson rushes, including a 13-yard TD rush to go up 13-7.
The Tigers took a 14-13 edge on a 13-yard Collis touchdown pass to Ryan Rodriguez, completing a long scoring drive of 74 yards on 14 plays. With 1:08 left before half, the Leopards countered took the lead for good by way of a trick play when Matt Griffin hauled in a 25-yard scoring pass on the end of a hook-and-ladder from Arguello to Cedric Ho, who pitched to Griffin for the score with 17 seconds left to take a 20-14 lead into the locker room.
La Verne stretched its lead in the third quarter as it marched 72 yards reaching the Oxy 10 to set up a 27-yard field goal from Alex Miller to take a 23-14 cushion at the 10:36 mark.
Later in the period, Oxy got to within two points when Collis again found Tuckness, this time from 6 yards out, to cut the Leopards' lead to 23-21 at the 2:44 mark.
In the fourth quarter, Occidental gained possession at its own 20 with 5:42 left to play and eventually reached the Leopard 32 yard line in nine plays. But the drive stalled when two pass attempts fell incomplete and was followed by a Nick Gutierrez sack of Collis. On fourth down and 16 yards to go, the drive ended on an incomplete pass with two minutes remaining.
On the ensuing La Verne possession Biggers iced the game for the Leos with a 60-yard score to take a nine-point advantage with 1:36 remaining.
The Leopard defense held Oxy scoreless the entire fourth quarter. In the Tigers' five possessions in the final 15 minutes, two resulted in fumbles. All told, La Verne forced five Tiger turnovers including two interceptions and three fumbles.
Arguello passed for 164 yards on 12-of-25 passing, with both Ho (53) and Griffin (51) collecting over 50 yards in receiving.
Collis enjoyed a strong effort through the air for the Tigers, tossing for a game-high 407 yards, completing 42 of his 65 attempts. Ryan Rodriguez finished with 14 receptions for 140 yards for Oxy.
Filip Marcelin led the La Verne defense with 11 total tackles (9 solo) followed by Donald Mull with 8 tackles and a fumble recovery on the evening. Nick Gutierrez tallied a pair of sacks and a fumble recovery.
The Leopards last win over Occidental occurred on November 16, 2002, in a 24-22 over the Tigers in La Verne in the season finale.
La Verne returns home next week to face SCIAC leader and No. 13 ranked Cal Lutheran Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium in a 1:00 pm start.
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