Football to once again play Pomona
Campus Times
April 23, 1999
Trailing by 45 points at halftime and losing 69-14 to the University
of La Verne football team, the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens felt like they had
to drop ULV, along with other Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (SCIAC) teams like Redlands and Cal Lutheran, from their schedule.
That was after the 1995 season. Now, the Pomona-Pitzer squad, including
its coach Roger Caron, feels comfortable with the Leopards on its schedule.
"To be completely honest, Pomona gets to pick and choose their
opponents they play," Don Morel, ULV head coach, said. "And the
truth is we have had one really bad year, and then last year, we were probably
sub-par. And because of that, Pomona feels like they can compete with us
and we are somebody they can beat. That's the truth. I think that is great
motivation for our players, too. And I look forward to getting back on the
field [against Pomona-Pitzer]."
Morel and the rest of the Leopards will get their chance to lineup against
the Sagehens, who will host the 1 p.m. contest, on Oct. 9, which is the
fourth game of the 1999 season for ULV.
The partnership of Pomona-Pitzer and ULV, as well as other SCIAC teams,
is also important in terms of postseason play. So, this game between ULV
and Pomona-Pitzer may lay the groundwork for the Sagehens football program
re-entering the SCIAC.
"I hope so," Morel said. "If we get another team in the
conference, with seven teams, we get an automatic berth [the champion] to
the NCAA playoffs. That is really important in terms of our teams in the
conference [because] getting good is playing in the playoffs."
When asked if this may lead to Pomona-Pitzer getting back into the SCIAC,
Caron said his team would not, as the agreement is just a nonconference
affair.
"It is a two-year contract right now," he said. "It should
be a good situation for both schools."
Pomona-Pitzer replaces the Howard Payne Yellowjackets, who demolished
the Leopards 48-8 in Texas last year, on the schedule.
ULV opens its season at Occidental on Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. The Leopards
follow the opener with two straight home games, Whittier (Sept. 18) and
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Oct. 2).
After the Pomona-Pitzer game, the Leopards host Chapman (Oct. 16). A
road game against Redlands (Oct. 23), two home games against Cal Lutheran
(Oct. 30) and Azusa Pacific (Nov. 6), and the season finale at Menlo (Nov.
13) round out the season for the Leopards.
