TACOMA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College football raced out to a 42-14 halftime lead and never looked back in a 55-28 win over the University of Puget Sound on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lewis & Clark 55, Puget Sound 28
(Lewis & Clark 4-5, Northwest Conference 3-3)
(Puget Sound 2-7, NWC 1-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite wet conditions and a muddy field, Lewis & Clark racked up 543 yards on offense to earn their first road win of the year.
First year quarterback
Oa Kamakawiwoole went 18-25 for 272 yards and four touchdowns. He led Lewis & Clark on nine scoring drives, including seven in a row (six touchdowns, one field goal) from the first quarter into the third.
Junior
Jordan Lahusky had a banner day for the Pioneers. He posted a career-best three touchdown in the contest including two rushing and one receiving. Lahusky rushed for 90 yards on just four touches, including a 56-yard touchdown run. He tacked on three catches for 43 yards and two kick returns for another 53 yards. He finished the contest with 152 total yards for the contest.
Sophomore
Chili Stephens led the backfield with 13 rushes for 134 yards – an average of 10.3 per carry. First year
Gio Borea added four rushes for 15 yards, junior
Anthony Hooker tacked on two carries for 15 yards and junior
Isaac Glover added six rushes for seven yards and a touchdown.
Senior
Devon Guest led the Pioneers receivers with three catches for 107 yards and a score. Fellow senior
Ben Burnham added four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown of his own. Sophomore
Keegan Zaso (23 yards), Stephens (20 yards) and sophomore
Julius Walker (19 yards) all added two catches.
Senior
Justin Hope and junior
Josh Arcayena led Lewis & Clark defensively with seven stops apiece. Hope (five) and Arcayena (six) combined for 11 solo stops and Hope tacked on a pass break-up.
Jordan Delgado,
Charlie Valencia and
Mitchell Sarmento all added four tackles.
Thomas Reagan,
JT Chavez and
Jack Warren each posted a sack and
Andrew Baum notched an interception (31-yard return) and two pass break-ups.
Sophomore
Thien Hoang set the program record for career made field goals (19). He finished 2-2 with field goals of 37 yards and 23 yards.
Lewis & Clark took the lead on their first drive of the game when Glover broke the deadlock with a one-yard rushing touchdown. After Puget Sound tied the game on their second drive of the game, Lewis & Clark scored 35 unanswered points to take a 42-7 lead with 1:51 left in the first half.
Burnham gave the visitors the lead for good with a 10-yard touchdown reception with 5:36 to go in the first quarter.
Stephens made it 21-7 with just 12 seconds left in the quarter, when he caught a pass from Kamakawiwoole for a nine-yard touchdown catch.
The Pioneers forced a turnover on downs on the next Puget Sound possession when
Wil Powell II and Sarmento combined to stuff Henry Hernandez on fourth and two from the Pioneers 25. Lewis & Clark needed just two plays to add another touchdown. On second and 10 from their own 25, Guest got behind the Loggers defense and raced down the far sideline for a 75-yard touchdown reception.
Lewis & Clark tacked on a second-straight, two-play drive on their next possession. Lahusky picked up 11 yards on a first-down catch and then raced to the house on a 56-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 35-7 with 7:25 to go in the half.
Puget Sound tried to stop the run on their next drive but again faltered just outside the red zone. Facing a fourth and four from the Pioneers 33, Puget Sound tried to find Hernandez but Hope came through with a huge pass break-up to give the offense the ball back.
Lewis & Clark scored their fifth-consecutive touchdown with 1:51 to go in the first half. This time it took the Pioneers four plays, with Lahusky grabbing an 18-yard touchdown catch to push the lead to 42-7.
Lahusky added his third touchdown of the game on Lewis & Clark's first drive of the second half. He posted a 31-yard rushing touchdown to stretch the lead to 49-21.
Hoang added a 37-yard field goal with 7:39 left in the third to tie the program record for career made field goals (18). He set the program record and capped off Lewis & Clark's scoring with a 23-yard field goal with 8:32 to go in the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Lewis & Clark has now scored 50 or more points against Puget Sound in three-straight contests. The Pioneers have won seven of their past eight meetings with the Loggers and are averaging 48.1 points per game during that stretch.
- Lahusky's three touchdowns on Saturday doubled his career total for touchdowns. He posted three touchdowns as a sophomore (two rushing, one return) and his three scores against Puget Sound were the first three of his junior year.
- Kamakawiwoole went over 2,000 yards passing for his season/career. The first year is averaging 310.5 passing yards in his six starts.
- Guest is 10th in program history for receiving yards in a single-season. He has posted 825 yards on 52 catches and added eight receiving touchdowns. With 175 yards in the regular-season finale against Willamette, he would become the fifth player in program history to post 1,000 receiving yards in a single-season.
- Hope is up to 231 tackles for his career. The senior has recorded a new single-season high for solo tackles (38) and is tied for his career-high with 66 total tackles.
- Hoang passed Andrew Foote (2006-09) and Alex Koga (2019-22) for the most made field goals in program history.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will host Willamette University on Saturday for Senior Day. The contest will start at 2:30 p.m., with the Senior Day ceremony happening prior to the kickoff.
