EAGLE ROCK, Calif. – A fourth quarter surge looked to have
the Puget Sound football team back in the game, but Occidental
pulled away late to defeat the visiting Loggers (1-1) 44-14. The
Loggers were first on the board but the Tigers scored 30 unanswered
points to take and hold the lead.
After forcing the Tigers to punt on their first possession, the
Loggers blocked a punt and took over deep in Tiger territory. Two
plays later, Kupono Park waltzed into the end zone to give the
Loggers a 6-0 lead.
The Occidental ground game took over from there as the Tigers
rolled off 27 straight points to go into halftime with a 27-6 lead.
The Tigers racked up 266 rushing yards to gain control of the
game.
The Tigers opened the second half with a field goal to push the
lead to 30-6. The teams traded punts for most of the third quarter
as the defenses went to work and dominated the game. Four Loggers
reached double digits in tackles, led by Niko Wacker's 15
tackles. Preseason All-American Tyler Vlasak added 13 while Kyle Rodriguez and Damarkus Milner each contributes 11 tackles.
Late in the third quarter, the Logger defense gained some
momentum when Nasser Abdelrasul stepped in front of a fourth down
pass from Oxy QB Ryan Rodriguez and returned it to the
Tigers' 37-yard line.
Four plays later, Duncan White found John Duncan for an 11-yard
TD strike. White found Duncan again on the two-point conversion to
close the gap to 30-14.
"I was really proud of our guys continued to fight,"
said head coach Jeff Thomas. "We have some things to work on,
but we'll have a big two weeks of practice and come out ready
for Whittier."
White was 27-for-55 on the day with the one touchdown toss and
four interceptions. Duncan made eight catches for 71 yards.
However, White's favorite target of the day was Adam Kniffin,
who hauled in 10 catches for 110 yards.
The Tigers marched down the field on their next drive, but
Nassar Kyobe picked off a Rodriguez pass on Puget Sound 2-yard
line. The Loggers methodically moved the ball to the Tigers'
10, but White was intercepted on a pass headed toward the end zone
to swing momentum back to the Tigers.
After that, the Tigers took control once again as they found the
endzone two more times to seal the victory.
The Loggers have a bye week on the horizon but are back in
action on Sep. 25 when they host Whittier at 1 p.m. in Baker
Stadium.
