By John Lind
Sports Information Assistant

BOX SCORE

McMINNVILLE, Ore. - The Lewis & Clark football team was unable to find much success against one of the nation's best teams, falling 84-7 on Saturday, Oct. 26 to fellow Northwest Conference opponent Linfield College.

Linfield improves to 6-0, and 3-0 in the NWC. Lewis & Clark falls to 1-6 overall and 1-3 NWC.

The Wildcats, ranked #2 in the country by D3football.com, wasted no time going to work on the Pioneers, scoring ten first half touchdowns and 70 unanswered points. For the game, Linfield outgained the Pioneers 555 to 186 in total yardage.

Lewis & Clark managed to get on the scoreboard early in the third quarter. Starting from their own 29 yard line, Keith Welch led the Pioneer offense down the field on a 19 play, 71 yard drive that included five successful first downs and an even spread of passing and rushing. With Lewis & Clark facing fourth and goal on the Linfield 4 yard line, Welch connected with Jacob Costantino in the endzone for the Pioneers' first and only score.

Welch finished the game 20-38 passing for 122 yards and a touchdown. The Pioneers were led on the ground by backup quarterback Zach Littlefield, who bulldozed his way to 17 yards on seven carries.

Costantino was the top receiver for the Pioneers, amassing 57 yards on 10 receptions. Andrew Frisina also tacked on eight catches for 42 yards.

On defense, Lewis & Clark got a team-high five tackles, including a tackle for loss, from Joe Iliscupidez. Lincoln Boyd, Stein Retzlaff and Aaron Lucas also contributed four tackles apiece.

Lewis & Clark continues its NWC schedule next Saturday, Nov. 2 against Pacific University.