LOS ANGELES — Bryan Scott, Kwame Do and Chris Rom-Toribio lit up the stat sheet and the scoreboard as the Occidental football team crushed Whittier to keep the "Shoes" trophy for a second consecutive year, 62-15 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.
Scott, who leads SCIAC quarterbacks in every major passing category, finished 24 of 27 for 280 yards, four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. The All-SCIAC junior quarterback leads the conference in passing yards per game (315.5), completion percentage (65.7) and passing touchdowns (13). His longest pass was a 47-yard touchdown pass to Max Gruber in the first quarter.
Do had another big night against the Poets. One week after surpassing the 3,000-yard mark for his career, do tacked on another 205 yards to his impressive total on 26 carries, and also had two receiving touchdowns.
Do broke Oxy's single season rushing record at Whittier in 2013, eventually setting the mark at 1,325 yards that season.
After Do checked out of the game in the third quarter, Rom-Toribio, a first year running back from La Quinta, exploded for 163 yards and two touchdowns on eight caries. He broke loose for touchdown runs of 84 and 70 yards.
The Tigers totaled 660 yards of offense, 372 on the ground and 288 through the air.
Oxy's defense put together its best performance of the season, limiting the Poets to 310 yards of offense. The Tigers also capitalized on a pair of Whittier fumbles, including one in their own end zone.
Chris Garcia led Oxy with 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery. Nicholas Mungiahad eight tackles and Garrett Van had seven.
Season Impact: The Tigers get back to .500 at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in SCIAC play, moving into a tie for third place in the standings with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Chapman and Cal Lutheran. Whittier falls to 0-4 and 0-2.
72nd Battle for the Shoes: Oxy leads the rivalry series 37-35 since the teams have played for the coveted "Shoes."
Battle for the Shoes: It's one of the most historic and quirky rivalries in NCAA Division III college football. As the legend has it, members of the Occidental football team stole Whittier running back Myron Claxton's cleats before the 1939 meeting. Claxton and the Poets won that year and after the game, Claxton walked over to the Oxy sideline and took his shoes back. A few years later, some Whittier students had the shoes bronzed and the rivalry was born.
All-Time Series Score: Oxy holds leads the all-time series between the institution 56-50. There have been two ties.
Last Year's Result: The Tigers reclaimed the "Shoes" last year with a 23-17 win at Oxy.
Next Game: The Tigers return to Jack Kemp Stadium for a homecoming matchup with Chapman on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m.
Week 1: Tigers win shootout at Puget Sound, 46-41
Week 2: Pacific (OR) rallies to beat Tigers
Week 3: La Verne Rushes Past Oxy
Athlete of the Week: Bryan Scott was named SCIAC Male Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 15 after throwing for 421 yards and five touchdowns in Oxy's season opener at Puget Sound.
Getting Ink: Oxy head coach Doug Semones was featured in the Los Angeles Times in August.
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