BOX SCORE

SPOKANE, Wash. – In its Northwest Conference opener, on the road as Whitworth's homecoming game, the Lewis & Clark Pioneers put in a fighting effort against the Pirates. Whitworth would take advantage of some Pioneer penalties to capture a hard fought 38-20 victory at the Pine Bowl.

Lewis & Clark falls to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in NWC action, while the Pirates are now 1-0 in conference and 2-2 on the year.

The Pioneers put up 297 yards of total offense, including 184 net yards rushing and 113 passing. Lewis & Clark quarterback Keith Welch completed 15 of 27 passes for 113 yards with one interception. Welch ran for a touchdown, while handing off to junior Joevonte Mayes for another.

The only touchdown of the first quarter came on Anthany Lessier's seven-yard run with 11:48 to play to give Whitworth a 7-0 lead on the first drive of the game. The Pioneers put in a 12 play, 66 yard drive on their first possession but would settle for a field goal. Freshman Simon Monley drained his 23-yard attempt to cut the Pirate lead to 7-3.

The Pirate offense would take their lead back to seven with 10:36 on the clock in the second quarter, scoring on a 27-yard field goal to make the score 10-3. Lewis & Clark, led by Welch, would respond just two minutes later on a 13-yard quarterback keep that found the end zone. Monley would follow up the Welch touchdown with a good PAT to make the score 10-10.

A quick Pirate possession, lasting just over a minute, would recapture the lead for Whitworth on an eight-yard rush from Adam Anderson. Facing 4-2 on their own 30-yard line, the Pioneers opted to go for the first down. The Pirates would stifle the Pioneer attempt, closing down all of Welch's options and causing him to lose a yard.

Taking over in the Pioneers territory, the Pirates took full advantage, finding the end zone on another Anderson rush. Lewis & Clark took over with 2:17 remaining in the half on the Whitworth 48-yard line and made good progress up the field, working their way to the Pirate six-yard line. With just two seconds left on the clock the Pioneers were forced to try for a field goal in order to put points on the board before the half. Monley would successfully complete his second field goal of the day, cutting the Pirate lead to 24-13 at the intermission.

The third quarter did not open in the Pioneers favor, with holding penalty bringing Logan Kotzian's six-yard kick-off return to the Pios own 10 yard-line. Lewis & Clark would not be able to get much going on the drive forcing them to punt the ball away. The Pioneer defense would get the ball back for the offense on the Pirates possession with Dan Curtin shutting down Anderson on back-to-back rushes. Louis Baltazar would stop Anderson on the next Pirate attempt, followed by a quarterback hurry by Troy Mora, as Taylor Eglet tried to find somebody down field on 4-and-3.

Whitworth would get on the board with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter, taking a 31-13 lead, on an Andrew DeFelice on a two-yard rush. Taking over at their own 40-yard line, the Pioneers would string together several good plays to steadily march down field to the Whitworth 15-yard line. On 2-and-8, Welch would fire one into the end zone that would be picked up by Derek Stottlemyer of Whitworth for a touchback.

The Pioneers would regroup in the fourth quarter, cutting the Pirate advantage to 31-20, on a one-yard rushing touchdown by Mayes. Rushes by Mayes and Welch would move the Pioneers down the field on the drive, as well as three completed passes to Shawn Evans.

Feeding off the excitement of the offensive drive, the defense took the field and held the Pirates in their own territory the entire drive. They would not have that same success on the next Whitworth drive, as the Pirates found the end zone for the fifth time on the day. The Pirates would hang on to their 38-20 advantage, picking up the conference win.

Welch ran for 98 yards on 16 carries, while Mayes ran 18 times for 64 yards. Evans led the Pioneers in receptions with seven for 50 yards, including an 11 yard catch.

DeFelice completed 8 of 15 passes for 91 yards, while Eglet was 7 of 9 for 144 yards. Anderson ran the ball 23 times for the Pirates, picking up 92 yards.

Angus Blair led the Pirate defense with eight tackles, while Chris Kelly ended with seven. Baltazar finished his day with 1.5 tackles for losses and six tackles.

The Pioneers return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1:45 p.m. in their homecoming game against Northwest Conference newcomer Pacific.