California Lutheran University’s Kingsmen football team faced the Redlands Bulldogs in the annual Smudge Pot game on Saturday, Oct. 19 at William Rolland Stadium. The Kingsmen lost to the Bulldogs 17-15, two points short of beating the team for the first time since 2012.
This matchup also took place during Homecoming Weekend and senior wide receiver Cade Cadam said that the energy could be felt coming from the crowd.
“Awesome, awesome atmosphere, this is my second Smudge Pot game. Last year was at Redlands and so I never got to experience here at Cal Lutheran,” Cadam said. “It was an awesome turnout, just one play, we just didn’t get it done today.”
Senior safety Diego Serrano said that this rivalry game is something the team looks forward to each season.
“The teams was, you know, working hard all week, preparing for this,” Serrano said. “It’s definitely circled on the calendar, so a lot of intensity, a lot of, you know, picking each other up over the weeks … just ready to go after it.”
Serrano said that in the days leading up to the matchup, the Kingsmen looked to emphasize shutting down Redlands’ running game to try to win this matchup.
“We were very focused on shutting that down this week and I think we did a good job at holding them throughout the game,” Serrano said.
Cadam said that for the past few weeks, the Kingsmen have been leaving the game in the hands of time. Quarterback Jaden Casey said that moving forward, the offense will be working on capitalizing on the opportunities they have in the red zone.
“Just comes down to the red zone. We got in the red zone multiple times, we had to settle for field goals and then that was that was why we lost,” Cadam said.
Head Coach Anthony Lugo said that throughout the past weeks, the team has prided itself on staying locked in during the game and not letting other teams be a distraction.
“Going into this game, big thing was trying to get that win for, for the alumni, big win for the seniors,” Lugo said. “Redlands is always a tough team that is well-coached and battles and extremely physical and we had to match that intensity.”
Casey said that they did not want to feed into the Bulldogs’ emotions.
“That’s when you start getting penalties and unnecessary penalties that kind of ruin it in the long run for your own team,” Casey said.
Serrano said that with games that are as intense as this one, it is easy for him to get caught up in his emotions. But the team is able to pick him up and keep him focused on the game.
“We had to pick up our O at times and it was just really important that we stayed positive, we didn’t lose that, you know, the energy that we have within ourselves,” Serrano said. “That was huge. I give credit to all the guys on defense for picking each other up.”
Casey said that “it all starts tomorrow” and that the Kingsmen will take this game and prepare for the matchups they have for the rest of the season.
“I don’t think the record says a lot about us. I think that if you really love football you’re gonna come to practice every day and work hard and I think that’s what we have in the locker room,” Casey said. ”I’m excited to get back tomorrow and go to work.”
The Kingsmen will host the Chapman Panthers at home next Saturday at 7 p.m. for the Kingsmen’s senior day. The Kingsmen and Panthers faced each other two weeks ago and Coach Lugo said that they are excited to show them a better version of themselves.
“So excited to get them back up here and kind of show them what we’re all about,” Lugo said. “We’ve grown week for, you know, each week and I’m excited with, you know, these seniors. We have great leadership right now and we’re going to be ready to go for next week.”
