THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Cal Lutheran football (5-2, 3-2 SCIAC) hosted Redlands (5-2, 3-2 SCIAC) for senior night on Saturday evening, and its furious comeback fell short as the Bulldogs prevailed in 2OT, 30-24. Down by 14 with under seven minutes remaining, the Kingsmen were able to tie it up late in the fourth quarter, but the Kingsmen ran out of gas late in the night to suffer its second loss in as many weeks.

The opening half didn't see much offense, as both offenses were forced to punt often. Cal Lutheran's defense recorded three sacks across the first two periods, including two by Drew Nees.

Redlands got on the board first with a field goal early in the second quarter. A couple drives later, the Kingsmen put together a methodical 9-minute drive to tie it on a 39-yard field goal from the boot of Matthew Montegna, as both teams entered the half only able to muster a field goal.

Cal Lutheran made a quick defensive stop to start the third quarter, but the offense turned it over on downs after being stuffed on 4th-and-1 near midfield. The next play, Redlands was able to complete a deep pass to the CLU 1-yard line, resulting in a touchdown shortly after to take a 10-3 lead.

After trading a few empty possessions, Redlands was able to string together another touchdown drive that culminated with 12:46 left in the fourth quarter, putting Cal Lutheran in a steep deficit without much time remaining on the clock.

Another turnover-on-downs near midfield left Williams Rolland Stadium quiet as the Kingsmen offense couldn't seem to catch a break. But the defense came through and forced a quick three-and-out to salvage hope.

That's when Cal Lutheran quarterback Joe Farley started making eye-popping plays with his legs and his arm to get his team back in it. Scrambling around in the backfield, he was able to find JD Sumlin open for a 26-yard gain. Farley followed that up with a 35-yard strike to TeNorris Merkel. After a sack brought up a desperate 3rd-and-18 for the Kingsmen, Farley scrambled to his right, looked back left, and chucked the football across the field to an uncovered Tyler Woodworth for a 24-yard pickup. Farley finished off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown scramble to get the Purple & Gold faithful on their feet and reenergized, as the Kingsmen were down one score with just over six minutes to go.

Another clutch three-and-out forced by the Cal Lutheran defense provided its offense with one more shot, this time with only three-and-a-half minutes left.

The Kingsmen quickly found themselves with a do-or-die moment at 4th-and-7, and Farley again delivered to one of his favorite targets. Rolling to his left with Bulldogs defenders enclosing, he flung a deep ball to a crossing Woodworth for another huge, timely gain of 27 yards. Then Farley found Jake Baiz in rhythm over the middle for another first down. He then connected with Sumlin again for yet another first down after evading pressure in the pocket, setting Cal Lutheran up with 1st-and-goal at the 10-yard line.

On third-and-goal, Farley stepped up in the pocket and delivered a confident ball to Dom Damato across the middle, who dove across the goal line for the touchdown that would eventually tie the game with just 44 seconds left on the clock. It was Damato's second catch of his Cal Lutheran career and his first touchdown.

Redlands kneeled the ball to push the game into overtime.

The Kingsmen began the first overtime on offense with four-straight handoffs to Sumlin before Farley found him on a route out of the backfield for a touchdown, giving Cal Lutheran its first lead of the game at 24-17.

The Bulldogs responded with a touchdown, sending the game into double overtime.

Redlands started with the ball this time, and a flurry of penalty flags flew in from the referees. A defensive holding and a defensive pass interference set the Bulldogs up for a short touchdown to take a 30-24 lead.

With the NCAA rules stating that teams must go for a two-point conversion after a touchdown in 2OT, the Redlands offense lined up from the 2-yard line. Another defensive holding brought the Bulldogs even closer to the 1-yard line, but then an offensive pass interference pushed them back to the 16-yard line. Yet another defensive pass interference brought Redlands back to the 2-yard line, and they lined up for a ridiculous fourth attempt of the same two-point conversion.

The Bulldogs weren't able to convert, and there ended up being six penalties called during their offensive possession in 2OT.

On the third play of Cal Lutheran's ensuing drive, Farley threw an interception, and Redlands squeaked out a crucial road victory in Thousand Oaks.

Cal Lutheran outgained Redlands 356-235 in total yardage and converted 19 first downs to the Bulldogs' 13. The Kingsmen also won the time of possession battle 34:41 to 25:19.

Farley completed 18 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for another score. Sumlin gained 35 yards on the ground and another 47 on three receptions, including a touchdown. Merkel led the Kingsmen with 102 receiving yards on five receptions, adding 11 rushing yards on a pair of carries. Woodworth followed up a 100-yard performance last week with six catches for 80 yards.

Logan Bowers and Charles Cravings led the defense with nine tackles (six solo) each. Bowers registered a sack, and Cravings added 0.5 TFL. Nees had another standout performance with six tackles (three solo), three sacks, and a pass breakup.

Cornerback AJ Townsend had a great day as a tackler with three solos, 2.0 TFL, and a sack. Arthur Orta provided six tackles and 0.5 TFL.

Cal Lutheran has two regular season games remaining, with both coming on the road. The Kingsmen will look to get back in the win column when they face CMS at 1pm next Saturday, November 1.