Author: Gil Alcaraz
This weekend Occidental College celebrated the inauguration of its 15th President, Jonathan Veitch. In commemoration of his inauguration, he made an appearance on Patterson Field in front of the Homecoming crowd and made his inaugural “first pass” with fellow Tigers and senior captains Jesse Fischer, Alex Wertheimer, Jason Lehman, and Chris Washington. Veitch made a throw characteristic of former Oxy alumni and NFL quarterback Jack Kemp ’57, which fell into the hands of Washington, completing his initiation into the Occidental community.
Soon after, the Tigers took the field against the University of La Verne Leopards. Since 2003, Oxy has been victorious every time these teams have met, averaging a spread of 25 points. This game, however, closer than expected, as ULV attempted to spoil Occidental’s Homecoming Game.
The Tigers came into the game leading the series 31-17-1 with a 4-1 overall record and 3-0 in SCIAC play. The La Verne Leopards, however, had not fared so well this season, as they entered with a 0-5 record, leaving them without wins against SCIAC opponents.
Hopes were high for an easy game after the first possession for Oxy, as it was capped off with a four-yard rushing touchdown by running back Jason Haller (senior) and a converted extra point kick by kicker Neil Martin (senior). This put the Tigers up 7-0, but the lead would not last long.
ULV soon capitalized on a fumble by running back Nick Saraceni (junior), bringing the score to 7-7 by way of a receiving touchdown to La Verne wide receiver Cedric Ho. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Ho was not done there. In the second quarter, Ho would again catch a pass from Leopard quarterback Anthony Andre for a touchdown that would finish ULV’s scoring for the afternoon. After a blocked extra point courtesy of Fischer, the score leaned in favor of the Leopards, 13-7.
Towards the end of the second quarter, the Tigers struck paydirt again in the form of wide receiver Jordan Inabnit (senior), who hauled in a 36-yard touchdown throw from quarterback Scott Saunders (senior). After Martin converted on another extra point kick, the Tigers brought the game to its final score of 14-13 in favor of Occidental.
During the third quarter, Oxy attempted to extend its lead by three with a field goal from Martin, but the kick was no good. ULV’s quarterback threw his only interception of the game one play later to safety Dillon Tucker (junior).
The Leopards had one more legitimate chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. They advanced the ball as far as the Occidental 30-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs. They ended the game with the ball in their possession, throwing three straight incompletions as time ran out.
The battle of the cats was a test of who had the better defense, as both teams’ offenses struggled to get anything going. Saunders threw three interceptions and was sacked twice, while Andre threw one interception and was sacked an astounding seven times – four of which were caused by Wertheimer.
Wertheimer also added two quarterback hurries and seven tackles, six of which were for a loss. Despite the weak offensive performance, Lehman and the Washington brothers had five catches each and Haller gained a solid 90 yards on the ground.
Saunders also took over the punting responsibilities for punter Alex Groh (senior) who’s out with a groin injury, and did a fairly good job. He punted the ball eight times for an average of 38 yards and pinned the ULV offense within their own 20-yard line six times.
The Tigers came out of the game with a 5-1 record on the season and a still spotless record in SCIAC games. Their next game will be their last home game, held on Halloween night at 7 p.m., during which they will host SCIAC foe Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen, who also hold a 5-1 record and are undefeated in SCIAC play.
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