Box Score | Coach Buckley's Postgame Comments
FOREST GROVE – Pacific posted the best rushing day since the program's return in 2010 on Saturday, running for 386 yards in a 68-28 rout of Lewis & Clark in Northwest Conference football action at Lincoln Park Stadium.
Rushing accounted for the majority of the Boxers' 560 yards of total offense on the afternoon and was just short of the school single game record of 409 yards set against Pacific Lutheran in 1952. Seven of the Boxers' touchdowns came on the ground as Pacific scored on 10 of their 13 possessions and was forced to punt just once.
"The offensive line did a great job of opening up some holes," Pacific Head Coach Keith Buckley said of the great rushing performance. "There were some plays where our running backs weren't in traffic until six, seven, eight yards down the road. They got through some holes and made some space."
It is the third time since the program's 2010 reinstatement that Pacific had score more than 60 points in a game and the second time this season, bettering the 67 the Boxers scored against Occidental on Sept. 14. Lewis & Clark (1-7, 1-4 NWC), meanwhile, gave up 50 or more points for the third consecutive game.
"We wanted to start fast and I think our guys answered the call," Buckley said. "We put the ball down and got after it right off the bat. That's big step for us because moving forward against Willamette and Linfield we have to play a full 60 minutes to be competitive with them."
Gunther Schultze (Sr., Bellflower, Calif.) led the ground attack, finishing with 12 carries for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Deven McKinney (Jr., Stanaway, Wash.) added 59 yards on four carries. Quarterback P.J. Minaya (Sr., Wahiawa, Hawaii) led a comparatively muted Pacific air attack, completing 9 of 14 for 129 yards and three touchdowns. Jordan Fukumoto (Jr., Mililani, Hawaii) caught four of those passes for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Brandon Harms (Jr., Canby, Ore.) was a force on defense and on special teams, leading the Boxers with five tackles and two of the Boxers' 12 tackles for loss. He also had two punt returns for 73 yards, including a long return of 42 yards in the second third quarter.
Moses Villareal-Gomez (Jr., Stockton, Calif.) made eight extra points, tying his own school record that he set in 2012 and tied earlier this season against Puget Sound.
Keith Welch paced the Lewis & Clark offense as the quarterback completed 26 of 39 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns, but was limited to 34 yards rushing. Andrew Frisina caught eight passes for 94 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Darrel Nelson finished with 163 yards of total offense, including 103 yards on four kickoff returns.
Schultze opened scoring for the Boxers with the first big play of the day, rushing for 30 yards to compete a four-play drive just five minutes in. Minaya made it a 13-0 game when he found Fukumoto for a 33-yard scoring pass with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
The Pioneers found the end zone on their next possession, with Welch completing to Frisina for a 2-yard pass that made it 13-7 at the end of the first.
Pacific replied on a score fueled by a 39-yard run by McKinney and a 12-yard scoring run by Schultze. On their next possession, quarterback T.C. Campbell (Jr., Kaimuki, Hawaii) needed just one play to score after a short L&C punt, rushing 32 yards for the touchdown.
Lewis & Clark kept it close, reducing the advantage to 27-14 when Welch found Darrell Nelson for the 33-yard touchdown pass.
Pacific closed out the half with their longest drive of the game, moving 63 yards in 4 minutes, 45 seconds. Minaya capped the series with a 21-yard scoring pass to Jakob Lawrence (Jr., Sherwood, Ore.) that put the Boxers up 34-14 at the half.
Pacific broke the game open with four touchdowns in the third quarter. The barrage began on the opening drive. Schultze broke off a run of 23 yards and Bobby Ladiges (So., Escalon, Calif.) added runs of 25 yards and a five-yard scoring run to make it 40-14 with 1:15 gone.
Harms gave Pacific great field position on their next drive as he returned the L&C punt 42 yards to the Pioneers' 28-yard line. A 27-yard pass play to Fukumoto was followed by a short one-yard McKinney scoring run to make it 47-14. Lewis & Clark scored on their next possession, with Welch finding Frisina for an 11-yard touchdown run with 8:33 to go.
The Boxers needed 1:18 to score on their next drive, with Ladiges rushing in for the 20-yard touchdown run. McKinney then added his second touchdown of the game when his 13-yard rush ended a four-play, 1:19 drive. L&C added one more score late in the quarter as Jacob Constantino rushed 11 yards to the end zone. Pacific added one more touchdown early in the fourth quarter, with Minaya completing a seven-yard scoring pass to Caleb Roher (Jr., Gresham, Ore.).
In addition to harms' five tackles, Craig Bailey (Sr., Fairfield, Calif.), Jaquari People (So., Merced, Calif.), Devin Lagorio (Sr., Stockton, Calif.) and Alex Willeford (Jr., Keizer, Ore.) each had four tackles. Both Lagorio and Willeford earned credit for a sack and two tackles for loss. Lucas Rogers finished with eight tackles to lead Lewis & Clark.
Pacific now prepares for the toughest stretch of the regular season against two of the conference's toughest teams. The Boxers closed out their road schedule next Saturday, traveling to Willamette for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. The game will be aired live in the Portland area on 1360 AM KUIK and online at GoBoxers.com.
Pacific Runs Around Lewis & Clark On Near Record Rushing Day
/seasons/2013/boxscores/20131102_un23.xml
2013
Lewis and Clark
28
Pacific
68
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis and Clark (1-7) | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| Pacific (7-1) | 13 | 21 | 27 | 7 | 68 |
Nov 02, 2013