A rivalry like no other
| Luke Sweeney leads Division
III in rushing yards and gives his Pomona-Pitzer team a chance
against archrival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. P-P athletics photo |
One day you're eating lunch next to the same person you're going to give a bone-chilling hit to the next day. That's what the teams consisting of Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps experience once a year in the battle for the Peace Pipe trophy.
"You're studying with them on Friday and trying to knock each other over on Saturday, that makes it a little different," Pomona-Pitzer coach Roger Caron said.
The five individual schools are divided into two athletic teams for NCAA sanctioned athletics and the schools comprise of one team for club sports. CMS senior linebacker Matt Laredo plays club lacrosse with some of the Pomona-Pitzer players. But Saturday will be certainly a different atmosphere for sure.
"You want to end your career with a win over your rival," Laredo said. "And not only is it a rival but your best friend is across the street."
The picturesque campuses for Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Pomona and Scripps Colleges overlap in Claremont, Calif., outside of Los Angeles. (Scripps is women only.) The two football stadiums are about three blocks apart.
The last four Peace Pipes have belonged to the Stags, which has gotten the privilege to eat brunch in the opposing team's lunch room.
"The last three years we've finished in Ponoma's facility and sat there with a smile on our faces," Laredo said.
Last year's game was a 31-30 overtime thriller.
The Stags (3-5) and Sagehens (0-8) are playing for the Peace Pipe with no playoff implications, just tremendous pride.
"Each team will play as hard as possible to get that win," Caron said. "It would make a somewhat difficult season certainly seem better."
Stags coach Kyle Sweeney, in his first season, agreed.
"It is our Super Bowl," Sweeney said. "This is another chance to win, it's senior day and homecoming for us. There will be a good crowd. It's an exciting time to be at a football game."
One of the biggest bright spots for the Sagehens has been running back Luke Sweeney, who leads all Division III runners with 182.4 yards per game. Sweeney has 1,277 yards on 258 carries and nine touchdowns.
"The main thing is he's been healthier and has bounced back," Caron said. "He just...
