photo by German Jimenez
University of La Verne running back Mike Anello rushed for 50 yards Saturday at the Homecoming game against Occidental. Anello’s running game was not enough to defeat Occidental. The Leopards fell 43-27 to the Tigers. ULV concludes the regular season tomorrow at Whittier.
The Leopards’ football team took early leads but was unable to sustain them, losing, 43-27, to Occidental Saturday at Ben Hines Field.
With the capacity Homecoming crowd of 2,459, the Leopards were hoping to slow down highly-touted quarterback Andy Collins and knock off first place Occidental (6-1 overall, 4-0 conference). The team came out strong scoring on its first possession on a field goal from Dave Rinderknecht. The field goal capped off the nine-play 48-yard opening drive and put the Leopards on top, 3-0.
The lead did not last long as Occidental kick returner Kyle Stowers took the ensuing kickoff 100 yards to make it a 7-3 game.
After exchanging punts on the next possessions for both teams, the Leopards finally put together a drive.
ULV used an 11-yard pass from receiver Roger Logan from quarterback Brian Guerrero to put the Leopards’ first touchdown on the board. The touchdown pass finished a 10-play 63-yard drive that lasted 3:58 and put ULV on top, 10-7.
“A bright spot in the game was the play of Roger Logan,” head coach Don Morel said.
Logan finished the game with five catches for 74 yards and two touchdowns.
Rinderknecht added another late field goal in the first quarter to extend the lead to 13-7. The game looked promising at the end of the first quarter as ULV controlled the ball for over 10 minutes and appeared to have a consistent offensive flow by gathering 129 total yards in offense.
Unfortunately the Leopards were not able to continue their success from the first quarter.
Behind Collins, Occidental used its only three possessions of the second quarter for touchdowns. The first came from running back Ryan Gonzales who ran one in from six yards out. The final two came on passes from Collins from nine and 12 yards out to cap effective drives.
“It was a collective team effort today,” Collins said.
Occidental’s offense rolled in the second quarter gaining 192 total yards on offense and three touchdowns. The Tigers stirred up the momentum for themselves in the second quarter and took a 27-13 halftime The offense was never a problem for the Leopards in the game. The problem was the up-hill battle and getting the stops they needed in order to get themselves back in the game.
“We can certainly play with them,” Morel said. “At this point, they are a better football team than us.”
ULV traded touchdowns in the early part of the third quarter with the Tigers.
With 3:24 to play in the third quarter, Occidental wide receiver Zac Sakowski caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Collins to extend the Tigers’ lead to 40-20.
The Leopards countered when wide receiver David Catchings caught an 11-yard pass of his own from quarterback Brian Guerrero at the end of the third quarter to cut the lead to 40-27.
ULV would never get any closer as Occidental controlled the ball through the majority of the fourth quarter.
The Tigers ran 28 plays for 126 yards, using 13:52 of the clock in the fourth quarter to defeat the Leopards.
A late field goal by kicker Thomas Joraanstad extended the Tigers’ lead to 43-27.
“I thought we did an excellent job but unfortunately we could not pull it out,” senior Toso Matau said. “A lot of things did not go our way.”
Collins was effective and efficient in the game against the Leopards and seemed to make many pivotal plays throughout the course of the game.
The junior quarterback finished the game 19 of 26 for 279 yards and four touchdowns.
“The big difference in the game was Andy Collins,” Morel said. “When they needed a big play, he did it for them, he never gets rattled.”
Matau seemed to have different feelings on the Tigers’ quarterback.
“He is not even close to what we thought he might be,” Matau said. “I am not impressed, he is an average quarterback.”
The Leopards return to action at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Whittier for the final regular season and conference game of the season.
Despite the disappointing loss to the Tigers, ULV is optimistic and looking forward to this weekend’s game against Whittier.
“We want to send the seniors home with a win,” Matau said.
The Leopards square off with the Poets at 1 p.m.
Steven Falls can be reached at sfalls21@msn.com.