Redlands routs La Verne 37-7 in SCIAC opener

No Dan Selway. No problem.

The University of Redlands got off to a good start in the Steve Smith era, turning back the University of La Verne 37-7 Saturday in the SCIAC opener for both teams in a steady drizzle at Ortmayer Stadium.

The Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0), ranked nationally in three polls, were playing their first game since losing Selway to a broken foot two weeks ago.

Smith, a junior, made his debut as the starting quarterback and went 13-for-24 for 156 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions. He was aided by a rushing attack that totaled 319 yards.

"He was hot and cold," Redlands coach Mike Maynard said of Smith. "When he was pressuring and overanalyzing he became a little too mechanical. When he was in the flow and got in a rhythm he did good things."

Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the offense isn't totally dependent on the passing game. Zack Schafer rambled for 175 on 16 carries, highlighted by touchdown runs of 15 and 36 yards while Jeff Stewart powered his way to 130 yards on 22 tries.

The third prong of the three-headed monster, fullback Tom Romaine, caught an 8-yard scoring pass.

"We wanted to come out here with the same game plan," Smith said of his new responsibility. "We didn't want to go conservative at all. We have a good line and good backs, so one injury isn't enough to slow us down."

The Leopards (0-3) stuck with the Bulldogs early, blocking a field goal try on Redlands first possession and holding them to a 37-yarder by Joe MacMillan minutes later.

But Redlands found the end zone on its third try, capping a nine-play drive with the 8-yard pass from Smith to fullback Tom Romaine, a two-point conversion making it 11-0.

La Verne got the ball back after an interception by Branamier Courtney. It went the distance only to have a 19-yard scoring toss from Anthony Andre to Phi Van Le nullified by a holding. It proved costly as La Verne got nothing when a field goal try by Wesley Dean was blocked by Mike Nicolini.

The Bulldogs upped their lead to 18-0 and were driving for more in the closing minute of the half but a Smith offering was picked off and run back 60 yards by Rocky Keawekane, cutting the deficit to 18-7.

The Bulldogs put the game away in the third quarter.

But Leopards coach Andy Ankeny hardly sounded like a coach on the short end of the stick.

"We played hard. We played physical. We had some mental mistakes and some turnovers but we did a lot of positive things in the course of the game that we can build on as a program."

Andre threw for 118 yards but was picked off three times and was hurried by the Bulldogs defense all night. Van Le was the Leopards top reciever, catching six for 78 yards.

The Leopards managed just 31 yards on the ground on the nation's top-ranked rushing defense.

The win did not come without a cost as the Bulldogs lost two defensive linemen with what Maynard said are season-ending injuries. Noseguard Mitchell Crocco tore an ACL in his right knee in the second quarter while end Josh Cunningham sustained a broken ankle.

Next week the Bulldogs host Occidental at 7 p.m. while La Verne plays at Claremont-Mudd Scripps, also at 7 p.m.