Pioneers drop season opener to Stags

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Lewis & Clark Pioneers battled a balanced passing and rushing game from the visiting Claremont Mudd-Scripps Stags in a 37-16 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Griswold Stadium.

The game was the season opener for both teams, which marks the second straight season the two schools have opened their respective football campaigns against each other. 

The Pioneers were led by dual quarterbacks, junior Mike Machado (5 of 10, 76 yards) and freshman Sawyer May (15 of 27, 162 yards).

However, it was May who played the entire second half as Lewis & Clark's signal caller leading the Pios to a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns.

Sawyer engineered a 10-play, 88-yard drive that resulted in a 2-yard pass to junior tight end Dallas Garreaud. Junior running back Cory Hincks led the Pios in rushing with 25 yards, 20 of them on a gallop with 4:51 remaining in the game.

In the second quarter, the Stags opened up a streak of scores. After a scoreless opening quarter, CMS finished what they started at the end of the first quarter, cashing in a short Lewis & Clark punt of 26 yards and converting a 35-yard drive on a 2-yard touchdown run by Shane Pico for a 6-0 lead. Mitchell Allan missed the PAT attempt. CMS ran the ball 10 times during the 11-play drive, the longest drive (5:19) of either team on the day. 

The Stags accumulated 355 total yards, 174 on the ground for its fifth straight win against the Pioneers.

After a Lewis & Clark punt, CMS kept its momentum, engineering a 5-play, 80-yard drive in 2:14 for a 13-0 lead on Nick Parise's 22-yard reception.

The home team scored their first points of the season in unusual fashion when senior linebacker Remington Campbell sacked Stags' quarterback Sam Healy at 5:30 of the quarter.

After Lewis & Clark failed to convert on its 12-play, 37-yard drive that took 4:30 off the clock and missed on a fourth down conversion, CMS put together a quick 4-play, 70-yard drive taking a mere 47 seconds as Healy connected on a 51-yard pass play to Chris Cziesla and a 20-2 advantage heading into halftime.

Healy threw for 178 yards on 12 of 20 passing and three touchdowns on the day.

Claremont-Mudd Scripps added 17 points in the second half, a touchdown in the third quarter and another 10 points in the final quarter to round out the scoring.

The Pioneers defense was led by Campbell with six tackles and one sack, as well as junior defensive back Tawayne Malone with five tackles. 

The Lewis & Clark offense generated 280 yards of the total offense. However, 12 penalties hurt both sides of the ball resulting in 78 yards. The loss is the 33rd consecutive loss for the Pios.

Lewis & Clark travels to Pomona-Pitzer on Sept. 16 for a noon kickoff and returns to Griswold Stadium in three weeks to begin Northwest Conference play against the Willamette Bearcats.