LA VERNE, CA — The University of La Verne football team battled with the Redlands in the Leopards' most complete game of the season Saturday afternoon.
But the Bulldogs jump ahead in the third quarter and held off the Leopards until late in the fourth quarter to beat La Verne 35-17.
Offensive Leaders
Quarterback Josh Evans had the best passing game of his career. The senior completed 22 passes, finishing with 251 yards and a touchdown.
Zack Garcia led La Verne with six receptions. Arturo Herrera-Caballero and Grayson Kline both finished with five receptions. Amir Bishop grabbed two passes and led the Leopards with 74 receiving yards. Kilne totaled 70 yards.
Running back James Gonsalves finished the game with 16 carries and a touchdown and Martaveous Holliday finished with 11 rushes.
Diego Garcia was solid, making a 26 yard field goal as the clock wound down in the first half. The Fontanta native also converted both of his PAT attempts.
Defensive Leaders
The Leopards finished with three sacks as a unit. Austin Brown and Kevin Cabrera both had one with Khary Sanders and Brandon Aragon combing for a sack. Sanders totaled five tackles and Brown finished with four.
Linebacker Preston Carr and safety Andrew Camargo led La Verne with eight tackles apiece.
Derek Guzman jumped in for one punt and made the most of his opportunity, landing a coffin corner kick at the two yard line.
How it Happened
As the first quarter began to wind down, it looked like Redlands would run away with the game. The Bulldogs scored on their first two possessions while the Leopards punted on their three opportunities.
But the momentum began to shift in the second quarter. The Leopards defense held Redlands to just nine yards on their next possession aided by a tackle behind the line of scrimmage by Mikey Bloomfield.
On La Verne's next possesion, the Leopards grinded putting together a 14 play, 77 yard drive that ate up more than seven minutes on the clock. Gonsalves capped off the drive with a two yard rushing score to cut Redlands' lead in half. La Verne ran 10 times during the drive, wearing down the Bulldogs' defense.
The Leopards forced the Bulldogs to punt in their only other chance in the half, before Garcia's field goal cut the deficit to four points.
Turning Point
The Leopards came out of the break ready to give their defense another opportunity to stop Redlands' attack. But the La Verne defense wouldn't get that initial chance. Jeff Hector took the kickoff 96 yards to the end zone, shifting the momentum back to his squad and giving them a two-score lead.
Quarterback Levi Plante would add another scored just over five minutes later.
Late in the game, Evans connected with Kline in the end zone, but it was too little too late.
By the Numbers
Statisically, the Leopards were right on par or better than Redlands. La Verne finished with 21 first downs to the Bulldogs' 20.
Both squads finished with close total yards (La Verne 367, Redlands 374) and the Leopards outgained Redlands through the air finishing with 251 yards and 184 yards respectively.
Season Impact
The Leopards fall to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the SCIAC. Redlands improves to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in SCIAC play.
Next Game
The Leopards play their final home game of the season next Saturday, October 27 against the Occidental College Tigers at 1 p.m. The Leopards will celebrate Senior Day in a brief pregame ceremony.
Watch Live Follow ULV Athletics on Twitter Like us on Facebook Watch on Youtube Follow us on Instagram
