A week after becoming the NCAA’s leading rusher across all divisions, junior running back Luke Sweeney PO ’13 was sidelined as the Redlands Bulldogs beat the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens 61-20. Without their injured star, the Sagehens managed only 35 yards on the ground—a far cry from Sweeney’s average of 183 yards per game—while the Bulldogs racked up 248 yards rushing with four touchdowns.
Redlands jumped out to an early lead against the Sagehens, and, after narrowing the score to 14-7, Pomona-Pitzer quickly let the game get away. The Bulldogs scored twenty-three unanswered points, effectively putting a victory out of reach by the end of the third quarter. The game wasn’t without positives, however. Quarterback Luke Ferguson PO ’13 had a monster of a game in Sweeney’s absence, accounting for a career-high 313 yards through the air and all three of the Sagehen’s touchdowns. Ryan Randle PO ’14 also followed up his breakout performance against Chapman with a workmanlike nine catch, ninety-yard day and a touchdown. Without Sweeney’s ground presence, however, both efforts were for naught.
The Sagehens hope to have their all-world running back return for a winnable 7 p.m. game against Occidental on Saturday, Oct. 15th at Merritt Field.