CLAREMONT, Calif. – Down 23-0 in the second quarter, Cal Lutheran football mounted a furious rally but ultimately came up short of a comeback victory, falling to Pomona-Pitzer 32-27. 

The Kingsmen (1-7, 1-5 SCIAC) outscored the Sagehens (6-2, 5-1 SCIAC) 27-9 from the 0:09 mark of the second quarter on, but couldn't recover their onside kick at the 1:54 mark of the fourth quarter to keep hopes alive. 

The dynamic duo of QB Jaden Casey and WR Cade Cadam was the engine that made the purple and gold go. Casey set new career and SCIAC season highs in two categories, recording 327 passing yards and tossing four touchdowns. Cadam had seven receptions for 138 yards while scoring two touchdowns, marking his fifth game with 100+ receiving yards. He leads the SCIAC with 847 receiving yards, almost 200 yards more than second place. 

The Kingsmen got on the board with just 0:09 remaining in the second quarter. Casey connected with Desmond Thompson for a six-yard score to make it 23-7 going into the break. Thompson finished with a season-high seven receptions for 38 yards. 

After the Sagehens opened the second half scoring with a field goal, Casey found Cadam for a 58-yard touchdown bomb.  The Saghens responded with a score of their own to make it 32-14, but the Kingsmen still had plenty of fight left. 

With 8:46 remaining, Casey found Dom Damato for a 12-yard touchdown but couldn't convert the two-point conversion to make it 32-20. The Kingsmen defense got a huge stop to force the Sagehens to punt, giving the offense a chance to make it one-possession game. On the tenth play of the drive, Casey connected with Cadam over the middle and Cadam plowed his way into the endzone for a touchdown. With all the momentum, the Kingsmen special teams lined up for an onside kick attempt, but the Sagehens recovered it and ran out the clock to hold off the Kingsmen comeback.  

On the defensive side, Hunter Hall feasted with two quarterback sacks and five tackles, Jackson White had a sack and three tackles, and Max Juarez had a sack as well. Arthur Orta led the defense with seven tackles, Jake Frey and Diego Serrano posted 5 tackles, while Joe Farley and Agenhart Ellis IV had three. 

Next, the Kingsmen cap off the 2024 regular season on the road against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m.