Southland Roundup : Whittier Rallies to Beat UC Santa Barbara, 20-13

Whittier running back Gaylen Sweet rushed for 117 yards in 12 carries and scored 2 touchdowns as the Poets rallied for 17 fourth-quarter points Saturday night to beat UC Santa Barbara, 20-13, in a nonconference game at Santa Barbara.

Whittier trailed, 13-3, when Sweet, a freshman, caught a 30-yard pass from quarterback Raymond Juarez with 6:17 remaining.

Altin Tatley tied it, 13-13, with a 37-yard field goal, and Sweet ran for a 51-yard touchdown with 1:28 remaining to give Whittier the victory.

Both teams are 2-2.

Azusa Pacific 20, Menlo 20--Quarterback Jerold Montano threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Mike Kahahawai and ran for a two-point conversion with 7:13 left to give Menlo College a tie in a nonconference game at Azusa Pacific.

The touchdown drive was kept alive when Menlo, facing a third and 21, got a first down after Azusa Pacific was cited for a late hit.

Azusa Pacific (2-0-2) took a 14-0 lead just 2:39 into the game after a turnover by the Oaks, but Montano rallied Menlo to within two points at halftime. Montano finished with 18 completions in 40 attempts for 269 yards and 2 touchdowns.

In the third quarter, Christian Okoye’s second touchdown gave Azusa Pacific a 20-12 lead, but the Cougars tried for two points. The conversion attempt failed, and that turned out to be the difference. Menlo is 1-2-1.

Occidental 24, Claremont-Mudd 21--Reggie Jones ran back a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to break a 7-7 tie, and the Tigers held off a late Stag rally for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Occidental.

After Occidental scored 17 points in the third quarter to take a 24-7 lead, Claremont-Mudd quarterback Mike Pembroke threw touchdown passes of 6 and 50 yards to pull the Stags to within three. With less than a minute to play, Pembroke had the Stags driving again when safety Ron Cunningham intercepted his pass near midfield to stop the rally.

La Verne 31, Redlands 14--Senior quarterback Mark Van Allen threw three touchdown passes to lead the Leopards over the Bulldogs in an SCIAC game at La Verne. Van Allen finished with 19 completions in 37 attempts for 247 yards and 1 interception.

La Verne is 2-2 overall, 1-1 in SCIAC. Redlands is 0-4, 0-2.

U. San Diego 42, Pomona-Pitzer 16--Junior quarterback Pat Dixon completed 17 of 33 passes for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead the Toreros in this nonconference game at Pomona. Pomona-Pitzer quarterback Rob Bristow became the Sagehens all-time passing leader after completing 26 of 57 passes for 319 yards and 1 touchdown to give him 5,790 passing yards. San Diego is 3-1. Pomona-Pitzer is 1-2.