Photo by Shane Rodrigues

Story by Sebastián Abdón Ibarra, Sports Information Student Assistant

CLAREMONT, CA — The University of La Verne Leopards lost 34-10 on the road to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Saturday afternoon. The game was close until the Stags were able to pull away in the third quarter.

The Leopards marched 81 yards down the field on 16 plays on their second possession of the game, chewing up nearly eight minutes on the clock. The drive culminated in a four-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Ethan Medeiros. Williams was clutch on this drive as he guided the offense to convert three third downs and a fourth down including a huge 10 yard rush on 3rd and 9 in the red zone.

The Stags answered with a touchdown of their own on the next drive to tie it 7-7. The Leopards responded with another strong drive highlighted by two explosive runs of 16 and 19 yards by Abel Cueva. But the drive stalled on the CMS 10 yard line and the Leos elected for Kapena Kamakawiwoole to kick a 26-yard field goal to retake the lead 10-7. But that was all the scoring the Leopards could manage

The Leopards' 10-7 lead did not last long as CMS scored a touchdown on their next drive to take a 13-10 lead after they failed on the two-point conversion.

Cueva and Kyle Bandy both had good games running the ball. Cueva rushed for 85 yards and averaged five yards a carry. Bandy ran for 63 yards and averaged 5.7 yards a carry. Mason Montanez had a huge day with 14 total tackles, 10 of which were solo. JaVontay Hill and KJ Macatiag both had eight tackles. Derek Guzman had five tackles and a sack for a loss of 12 yards.

The Stags scored another touchdown on a long seven-minute drive coming out of halftime and then scored another touchdown on the next drive after a successful onside kick to take a commanding 27-10 lead with less than two minutes left in the third quarter. The Leos could not muster up another score and CMS added one more touchdown as the game came to a close.

La Verne takes on Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium for Homecoming, kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.