PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark football raced out to a 17-0 lead and outscored visiting University of Puget Sound in each of the first three quarters, en-route to a 41-15 win in their 2022 season opener. 
 
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 41, Puget Sound 15
(Lewis & Clark 1-0) 
(Puget Sound 0-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Pioneers controlled all three facets of the game to cruise to a victory in the first-ever Northwest Scholars Series game. Saturday's game marked first-year head coach Joe Bushman's first collegiate win as a head coach, after an extremely successful high school head coaching career. 
 
Offensively, senior quarterback Cruz Montana threw for 231 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. He finished an efficient 18-26 on the afternoon. Montana found seven different receivers.
 
Junior Devon Guest led the receiving corps with seven catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Desmon Holton added three huge grabs for 76 yards and senior tight end Adrian Daffy came up with two catches and his first collegiate touchdown. 
 
Out of the backfield, sophomore running back Dyontae Navarrete was a workhorse in his return from an injury that kept him out for the second half of last season. He ran 21 times for 110 yards and added a touchdown.
 
Defensively, the Pioneers senior linebacker duo of Sam Meinhard and Jake Bushman combined to have huge games. Meinhard led the team with eight tackles and a half sack, while Bushman put up six tackles and led the team with 1.5 sacks. 
 
Senior All-Conference kicker Alex Koga got off a to a strong start to the season with two made field goals and 11 points overall. 
 
For Puget Sound, senior Silas Washington ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 23 total attempts. As a team though, Lewis & Clark held the visitors to just 100 rushing yards. 
 
After the Pioneers forced a Loggers punt on their first possession of the season, Lewis & Clark drove down the field with a 12-play drive to take a 7-0 lead. 
 
With the Pioneers having second and goal from the seven, Montana found Guest in the right side of the end zone for the Pioneers first touchdown of the season. 
 
Lewis & Clark forced a second-straight punt and quickly put the Loggers down by 14. This time it was five-straight rushes that carried L&C into the end zone. Navarrete accounted for 3 of the five, including a nine-yard rush to make it 14-0 with 2:54 left in the first quarter. 
 
After a 64-yard drive put the Pioneers inside the 10, Koga made it 17-0, when he easily hit an 18-yard field goal. 
 
Puget Sound finally got on the board midway through the second quarter, when Washington broke a 48-yard run to cut the deficit to 17-7.
 
Lewis & Clark added to their lead before halftime thanks to a big fourth-down stop at midfield with two minutes to go. 
 
Montana drove the Pioneers down the field in four plays (48-yards) to extend the lead to 24-7. After a huge pass down the field found Holton inside the red zone, Montana scrambled outside the pocket, extended the play and lofted a perfect pass to Daffy in the left corner of the end zone for a 13-yard score. 
 
Elijah McGee came up with one of the biggest plays of the game early in the third quarter. With the Pioneers inside the Puget Sound 10 and a chance to put the game away, the Loggers forced a fumble and Max Arneklev picked up the fumble and looked like he may have a chance to return it for a Loggers touchdown. McGee raced back, punched the ball loose from behind and then dove on it at the Pioneers 35 to keep possession and keep the Loggers from stealing the momentum. 
 
The play would prove to be extremely important. Montana found Ben Burnham for a huge 22-yard gain on 3^rd and 21. Three plays later, junior transfer Elijah Washington raced past the Loggers defense for a 39-yard rushing touchdown and a 31-7 advantage. 
 
Lewis & Clark added their fifth and final touchdown of the game late in the third, when Montana kept the ball himself and ran it in for four yards to open up a 38-7 advantage. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Joe Bushman earned a win in his first game as the Pioneers head coach. He is in his fourth year on staff, after previously serving as the offensive coordinator and associate head coach. 
• The Pioneers have now won three-straight games over the Loggers and averaged 40 points per game in those contests. 
• Freshman Jay'Den Dock was the Pioneers lone freshman starter on Saturday. The freshman defensive end recorded seven tackles (second on the team) and one tackle for loss. 
• Daffy finished with two catches for 23 yards in nine games last season. In one game this year, he posted two catches for 20 yards and a touchdown. 
• The Pioneers amassed 416 yards (6.1 yards per play) and held Puget Sound to just 248 (4.2 yards per play). Lewis & Clark controlled the ball for 35:23. 
• Sophomore Auzzie Ankai paced the team with two pass breakups. 
• While the two teams only had one fumble apiece, Lewis & Clark dominated fourth-down conversions. Lewis & Clark went 2-2, while limiting Puget Sound to 2-6. 
• With his 11 points on Saturday, Koga (77 points) moved within two points of Ford Morishita ('76) for sixth-place all-time in school history. He is now 14-18 on field goals and a perfect 35-35 on point after attempts.
• Lewis & Clark has now won three-straight home openers for the first time since 2010-2012.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
The Pioneers will have their bye week, before traveling to California on Saturday, September 17 to take on Whittier College at 11 a.m. Lewis & Clark will be looking to improve to 2-0 for the first time since they started 4-0 in 2012.