Cal Lutheran Slides but Doesn’t Slip on Claremont-Mudd

Forget Gatorade showers.

Mud puddles are much more fun for Cal Lutheran and its exuberant second-year football coach, Scott Squires, who joined several players for a belly-slide Saturday following Cal Lutheran’s 33-10 victory over Claremont-Mudd that clinched a tie for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.

After the Kingsmen claimed their first conference championship and a winning season for the first time since 1993, only Mother Nature could rain on Cal Lutheran’s parade.

She did, but that didn’t matter to Squires, a former Pacific Lutheran player and Washington resident.

“Being from Seattle, I love this,” Squires said. “This the way football should be played.”

Despite a rain that soaked players and coaches long before their wet and wild postgame celebration and caused several turnovers, the Kingsmen managed not to belly-flop during the game.

“It was wild and crazy,” said Cal Lutheran quarterback Zack Hernandez, who twice fumbled the ball away. “This was the first time I’ve ever played a game in the rain. It was interesting.”

The Kingsmen (5-4, 4-1) did other things to make it interesting, especially for their seniors, who, given the chance, were the ones who shined brightest through rain clouds to beat Claremont-Mudd (0-9, 0-5).

Offensive linemen Will Plemons and Paul Yerman scored the first touchdowns of their careers.

Senior defensive back Mark Williams, a 31-year-old, returned his second interception of the season 38 yards for a touchdown that put Cal Lutheran ahead for good, 14-7, with 9:53 remaining in the second quarter.

Senior Jeff Shea, who led Division III in punting the past two seasons with averages of 45.0 and 45.3 yards, probably will do so again after punts of 53 and 47 yards among four kicks for an average of 47.2 yards.

Shea was ranked second nationally with a 44.1-yard average.

Senior fullback Billy Busch rushed for 107 yards in eight carries, including a long of 57 yards to set up the Kingsmen at the Claremont-Mudd one-yard line for their first touchdown.

Plemons, a guard, lined up at fullback and scored from the one to tie the score, 7-7. He carried twice for two yards.

“They were my first two carries ever, and to score a touchdown, that’s an offensive lineman’s dream,” said Plemons, a team captain and four-year starter at guard.

The dream also came true for Yerman, a tackle and another senior.

He finished off his career, and the Stags, on a two-yard touchdown run with 1:53 to play.

“That was for them,” Squires said. “Those guys have worked hard for a long time.

“It was something different, something fun.”

Just like winning the conference championship and belly-sliding through the mud puddles.