PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College football raced out to a 24-0 halftime lead and came up with several late stops to defeat George Fox University 24-21 in both teams Northwest Conference openers. 
 
THE BASICS
 
Lewis & Clark 24, George Fox 21
(Lewis & Clark 2-2, NWC 1-0) 
(George Fox 2-2, NWC 0-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Saturday's NWC opener was a tale of two halves. Lewis & Clark dominated the opening 30 minutes, while George Fox had the upper hand for the final two quarters. In the opening half, Lewis & Clark outscored George Fox 24-0 and held a 256-34 yard advantage in total offense. The Bruins turned the tides in the second half and outgained the hosts 296-61 while scoring all 21 of their points. For the game, George Fox held a narrow 330-317 edge in total yards, with Lewis & Clark holding a 30:46-29:14 edge in time of possession. Both teams finished with 21 first downs. 
 
First year quarterback Oa Kamakawiwoole earned his first collegiate win after accounting for two of the team's three touchdowns. Kamakawiwoole finished 22-34 with 201 yards and one touchdown pass. He added eight rushes for 13 yards and a touchdown run. 
 
Sophomore Chili Stephens led the Pioneers rushing attack with 14 rushes for 70 yards and a score. Isaac Glover tacked on six rushes for 18 yards and Jordan Lahusky posted eight rushes for 15 yards. 
 
Senior Ben Burnham led Lewis & Clark with eight catches for 85 yards. Senior Devon Guest chipped in four catches and 56 yards and junior Garrett Lee added a career-high five catches for 30 yards. 
 
Junior Mitchell Sarmento paced the Pioneers defense with nine tackles (three solo). Senior Silas Ticeson added eight tackles (three solo) and graduate student Justin Hope and Darryl Scott each registered six tackles. Junior Charlie Murrin came up with a huge interception and senior Conner Hilberg added a key eight-yard sack and finished with five tackles. 
 
Lewis & Clark played one of their best halves of the season in the opening 30 minutes. 
 
After punting on their opening possession, Lewis & Clark forced George Fox to punt after five plays and got the ball back at their own 32. The Pioneers used an 11-play, 68-yard drive to take the lead for good. Kamakawiwoole connected with Burnham (twice) and Guest for first-downs. On second and goal from the nine, Kamakawiwoole scrambled out of the pocket to his right and dove at the plyon for a nine-yard rushing touchdown. 
 
The Pioneers defense forced a second-straight punt and the offense cashed in to make it 14-0. Lee came up with two big catches for 22 yards and Stephens accounted for 24 yards on the ground, including punching it in from six-yards out to make it 14-0 with 14 minutes left in the half. 
 
Lewis & Clark got the ball after three plays once again. On third and five from their own 39, Josh Arcayena's pass rush forced George Fox quarterback DeMontre Thomas II to throw a deep, contested ball and Murrin ripped the ball away from a Bruins receiver on a contested catch down field. 
 
The Pioneers would drive down the field and get inside the Bruins 10-yard line before a George Fox sack forced a field goal. Sophomore Thien Hoang's kick was easily good from 37-yards out to make it 17-0. 
 
Lewis & Clark forced the Bruins third punt of the half on the next possession and scored for a fourth-consecutive drive. The Pioneers drove the ball down to George Fox's 13-yard line but the Pioneers were forced to line up for another field goal. Hoang's kick from 30-yards out was good, but a roughing the kicker call gave Lewis & Clark a first down with 25 seconds left in the half. Kamakawiwoole ran for five yards on first down and then found a wide-open Julius Walker for a touchdown with six seconds left. 
 
George Fox completely changed their game plan in the second half and committed to the run. The Bruins trio of Taylor Saben, William Moffit and Thomas II combined for 130 of their 153 rushing yards in the second half. 
 
George Fox used up nine minutes and six seconds on their opening 15-play, 69-yard drive. The Bruins had the ball on the Pioneers seven-yard line with a third down and two. Kahiau Chang came up with a big stop on third down and Ticeson and Scott combined to stuff Saben on fourth down for a turnover on downs. 
 
The Bruins finally got on the board with 1:27 left in the quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Thomas II to Moffitt. 
 
George Fox added another touchdown on their next drive, when Moffitt broke a pair of tackles in the back field and raced down the far sideline to make it 24-14 with 10:29 left in the game. 
 
Saben added a second rushing touchdown, from four yards out, to cut the deficit to 24-21 with 6:19 to go. 
 
Lewis & Clark managed their second first down of the half on their next drive, but the Pioneers were forced to punt once again. George Fox recorded two first downs to get out towards midfield but Lewis & Clark forced a pair of incompletions to force a turnover on downs. 
 
George Fox would get the ball back one final time with 56 seconds left and 90-yards to go. Two quick completions pushed the ball out the George Fox 43-yard line but on the next play Hillberg came through with an eight-yard sack to essentially end the game. On the final play of the contest, Rylen Kahahawai broke up a deep ball at the Lewis & Clark 30-yard line to seal the victory. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• After losing eight-straight games to the Bruins, the Pioneers have won back-to-back thrilling conference games against George Fox. Lewis & Clark is now 3-8 all-time against George Fox. 
• Hoang moved into a tie for third-place in program history in made field goals (13-14). He is also just one point shy (97) of moving into a tie for fourth-place in program history for career points. He is 4-4 on field goals and 16-16 on PATs to start his sophomore season. 
• Hope is now one solo tackle shy of 100 for his career (99) and nine shy of 200 total tackles (191) for his career. 
• Burnham is sitting on 99 career catches and 1,486 yards after his eight-catch performance. 
• Lewis & Clark has now won their NWC opener in five of the past seven seasons. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to take on #19/21 Linfield University on Saturday at 1 p.m.