Happy homecoming for Bulldogs who hold off Pomona-Pitzer 16-14

The Pomona-Pitzer football team had the ball near midfield with time
running out.

Sagehen quarterback Nick Kim fired a deep pass down the right sideline and receiver Jackson Walker twisted to try to make the catch. Instead, Redlands’ Enrique Ybanez came down with the interception to secure a wild 16-14 homecoming win for the University of Redlands.

The Bulldogs (4-2 overall, 2-2 conference) danced off the field and whooped and hollered.

Moments later, the Bulldogs were in victory formation to cap the hard-fought Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic conference win.

“Enrique made an unbelievable play at the end to get that interception,” Redlands coach Jim Good said. “And the defensive line played great all night.”

Leading 9-0 after three Kadyn Butcher field goals, the Bulldogs dealt Pomona-Pitzer what could have been a knockout punch late in the first half. Bulldog quarterback Tobey Schmidt found a streaking Kev Markossian open down the middle and hit him for a 46-yard touchdown pass.

“We didn’t expect match coverage, with the corner locking onto the outside receiver,” Markossian said. “But we got that and I just ran by him and Tobey threw a great ball and let me run under it. It was a great play call (by new offensive coordinator Eric Acciani) and great execution. You don’t get many like that – the ball sits in the air for a while, but it was a nice touchdown and my dad (Harout Markossian) was in the stands and saw me score.”

Kev Markossian is an Armenian American. His father is from Syria, coming to the United States when he was 5 years old. His mother is from Jordan, emigrating here at 16.

“It was great to see Kev get out in the open like that and make a play,” Good said. “Kev is a big playmaker. He’s not a real big guy but he makes some great plays. He’s also a great leader and a great person.”

Redlands led 16-0 and went roaring into the locker room at halftime.

But Pomona-Pitzer kept fighting. The Sagehens recovered a fumble at the Bulldog 8 midway through the third quarter and scored on Kim’s 3-yard pass to Nicholas Buchenau to make it 16-8.

Early in the fourth quarter, Redlands fumbled again. Pomona-Pitzer took over on the Bulldog 25 and completed one short pass. But then Redlands lineman Jax Lee tipped a Kim pass into the air and intercepted it for a huge turnover.

“It’s every big man’s dream to get a pick and run it back,” said Lee, from Richland, Washington. “It felt good. We needed to stop them there.”

Lee said his parents didn’t make it down for the game but were watching from home.

“I’m sure they’re hitting up my phone right now,” he said.

But an interception deep inside Redlands territory led to Pomona-Pitzer’s second score with eight minutes left. Luke Levitt took it across from the 1 and the Sagehens trailed by only two after missing the two-point conversion.

Finally, Pomona-Pitzer had one last chance, taking over at its own 20 following a punt with three minutes left. Kim completed seven short passes to move the ball to the Bulldog 49 with 30 seconds left. But then Kim’s long pass settled into the hands of Ybanez, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior from Ayala High who transferred to Redlands from the University of La Verne.

Schmidt threw for 218 yards with a touchdown and one interception. The Bulldog ground game was solid with Jakai Torres rushing for 65 yards, Summit High of Fontana grad Mark Mitchell III chipping in with 53 yards, and Donovan Maxey-Parler gaining 46.

Julian Borrayo and Markossian had 77 and 53 yards receiving, respectively.

Redlands’ defense was stout. Adrian Silva had seven tackles, including two for loss with a sack. Tate Keddington had five tackles with a sack. Jaylen Ephraim, Shepard Cope, and Ybanez all had an interception and combined for 10 tackles. Anthony Hall contributed two sacks and Aron Muniz chipped in with the Bulldogs’ sixth sack.

Butcher scored 10 points, with three field goals and an extra point.

Redlands is at No. 25 California Lutheran at 7 p.m. Saturday in another SCIAC game.