PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College football recorded their most interceptions in nearly seven years, to earn a 58-21 win over the University of Puget Sound in their 2025 Northwest Conference Opener. 
 
THE BASICS 
 
Lewis & Clark 58, Whitman 21
(Lewis & Clark 4-0, Northwest Conference 1-0) 
(University of Puget Sound 0-4, NWC 0-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Pioneers defense intercepted three of the Loggers' first eight pass attempts and finished the game with five picks. Lewis & Clark turned each of the turnovers into touchdowns to race out to a 21-0 lead and the Pioneers finished off the game with a second 21-0 run. With the win, Lewis & Clark moved to 4-0 for the 10^thtime in program history. 
 
Senior linebacker Mitchell Sarmento recorded the team's first and fourth interceptions of the day. He led the team with eight tackles (three solo) and the first two INTs of his career. 
 
Fellow seniors Charlie Valencia (five solo tackles) and Andrew Baum (two tackles) each added long interception returns. Senior Zaren Crockett chipped in the team's fifth interception. 
 
Senior Josh Arcayena finished second on the team with six tackles (four solo). Junior Logan Wacker chipped in five tackles and one sack. Senior Jack Warren added three tackles, one sack and a blocked PAT that was returned for a Pioneers two-point conversion. 
 
Offensively, Lewis & Clark started and finished the game with a flourish. Eight different Pioneers accounted for the team's eight scores in the contest. 
 
Sophomore Dashiell Weaver finished the game 16-30 for 226 yards and four touchdowns. Graduate student Sam Simril threw a 34-yard touchdown pass on his only attempt of the game. 
 
Senior Garrett Lee led the receiving corps with three catches for 84 yards and a score. Junior Rio Cruz finished with a team-high four catches for 40 yards. Sophomore Daunte Henderson Jr. (34-yards), Logan March (23-yards) and Jordan Lahusky (19-yards) all posted touchdown receptions on their lone catches of the game. Junior tight end Julius Walker tacked on two catches for 19 yards and a score. 
 
11 different players accounted for rushes in the game, as Lewis & Clark piled up 190 rushing yards and three scores. Junior Chili Stephens made his season debut and led the team with 33 yards and a touchdown on six carries. Lahusky tacked on seven rushes for 31 yards and first year Sytyn Lasconia scampered for 30 yards on his lone rush of the game. Sophomore Westin Wade  (20-yards) and junior Mateo Maehara (five-yards) each scored on their lone carry of the game. 
 
Lewis & Clark jumped all over the Loggers in the first 6:32 to rush out to a 21-0 lead. 
 
On the second play from scrimmage, Sarmento jumped in the passing lane to pick off Hayden Teeter just shy of midfield. Four plays later, Weaver made it 6-0 on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Lee on 4^th and 11.
 
Teeter threw his second interception on the third play of the second drive, when he threw a jump ball into coverage down the sideline. Valencia leapt up to high-point the ball and then returned the ball 29 yards into Loggers territory. The second Pioneers drive only took three plays, as Weaver found March wide open in the end zone and March made a nice adjustment to get back to the ball and get his hands underneath the pass before it hit the turf for a 23-yard score. 
 
Puget Sound's third drive was cut short on a Baum interception. The senior jumped the route and returned the ball 39 yards to the Loggers six-yard line. On the second play for Lewis & Clark, Weaver connected with Walker for a six-yard score. 
 
The Loggers finally got on track on their fourth possession and cut the deficit to 21-6 just five seconds into the second quarter. On the PAT, Warren burst through the line to block the PAT and first-year Quincy Cortez scooped up the ball and motored down the sideline for a 95-yard return to push the lead to 23-6. 
 
After both teams failed to score on their next drives, Weaver added his fourth touchdown pass of the half with 4:04 to go before half. On 3^rd and 5 from the 19, Lahusky leaked out into the flat all alone and was able to walk into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown catch. 
 
The Loggers cut the deficit to 30-16 just before halftime on a Teeter touchdown pass with four seconds to go in the half. 
 
Lewis & Clark extended their lead to 37-14 midway through the third quarter when Maehara took a direct snap from the four-yard line and raced to the pylon on the far side. 
 
Puget Sound cut the deficit back to two scores with 92 seconds left in the third quarter when Dre Dukes posted a two-yard rushing touchdown. 
 
The Pioneers put the game completely out of reach with a 21-0 fourth quarter. 
 
It was all Stephens on the first drive of the stanza. The senior running back carried the ball three times and brought the Pioneers from the 22-yard line into the end zone with rushes of 10, seven and five-yards. 
 
The Pioneers made it 51-21 with 9:37 to go. Weaver connected with junior Tyler Tolles for a 16-yard gain on 4^th and 10 to extend the drive. On the next play, Wade tiptoed along the sideline and somehow avoided what looked like a sure tackle, for a 20-yard rushing touchdown. 
 
On the final scoring drive drive, first year MJ Leggett rushed for 22 yards on three carries to push the Pioneers to the Puget Sound 34. Simril found Henderson Jr. behind the Loggers defense for a 34-yard touchdown pass. It was the first collegiate touchdown for Henderson Jr. and the first touchdown pass of Simril's career as a Pioneer. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Lewis & Clark is 4-0 for the first time since the 2012 season. The Pioneers went 4-0 to start the 2011 and 2012 seasons. 
• The Pioneers five interceptions are their most since October 6, 2018 when they also recorded five interceptions against the Loggers. 
• Wade and Henderson Jr. each scored their first collegiate touchdowns in the win. 
• Lewis & Clark scored touchdowns on all five of their trips into the red zone. They also scored touchdowns off all five interceptions.
• Sophomore Trevor Koo hit all eight of his point after attempts to tie his single-game high. He is now 24-24 on the season and has racked up 27 points in the team's first four games. 
• The Pioneers have now five-straight over the Loggers. They have outscored Puget Sound 294-114 (58.8-22.8). 
• Sarmento is the first Pioneers to post multiple interceptions in a game since Tawayne Malone tied the program record with three picks against Puget Sound on November 16, 2019. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to Salem on Saturday at 1 p.m. to take on rival Willamette University. The Pioneers will be aiming to win the Wagon Wheel Rivalry Game for an eighth-consecutive season.