PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College football erupted for 51 points and 622 yards and the Pioneers defense and special teams came through with clutch plays, to help Lewis & Clark earn a 51-37 win over Pacific University as part of Homecoming weekend at Griswold Stadium.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 51, Pacific 37
(Lewis & Clark 3-3, Northwest Conference 2-1)
(Pacific 3-3, NWC 1-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a rematch of the two teams Oregon Cup contest, football raced out to a 27-7 halftime lead and made enough plays down the stretch to avenge a 34-24 week two loss.
Senior wide receiver Devon Guest put together the best game by an NWC receiver this season. He racked up the third-most receiving yards in a single-game in program history with 236 receiving yards. Guest caught eight of his 12 targets and found the end zone from 89 yards, 49 yards and eight yards out.
First year Oa Kamakawiwoole posted his second 400-yard passing game in three career starts. Kamakawiwoole went 25-38 for 414 yards and four touchdowns. The rookie who was playing in his first career Homecoming game helped Lewis & Clark score on all six of their red zone trips and the team went 7-13 on third down conversions (2-2 on fourth down). Senior Trey Morris went 1-1 for 31 yards and added a one-yard touchdown run and a 34-yard catch.
Sophomore Julius Walker posted five grabs for 94 yards, including a 31-yard catch on fourth and one in the opening quarter. Senior Ben Burnham went over 1,500 career receiving yards in the first quarter and finished the game with five catches for 54 yards. Junior Jordan Lahusky tacked on four catches for 30 yards. Junior Garrett Lee posted his first career touchdown with a nine-yard grab.
Sophomore Chili Stephens carried the ball 18 times for 109 yards and one touchdown. Junior Isaac Glover (21 yards) and Lahusky (15 yards) combined for 10 rushes.
Sophomore kicker Thien Hoang had the best game of his collegiate career. He went 3-3 and hit all six of his PATs to finish with a career-high 15 points. He hit field goals of 42 yards, 33 yards and 27 yards.
Senior Justin Hope and junior Mitchell Sarmento tied for the team-lead with 10 tackles apiece. Hope posted six solo tackles, one tackle-for-loss and a pass break-up. Sarmento added two solo tackles and two pass break-ups. Sophomore Charlie Murrin notched six tackles and a team-high three pass break-ups. Junior Daryl Scott (four solo) and Wil Powell II (three) each added five tackles.
Senior Donovan le Fevre (field goal) and sophomore JT Chavez (PAT) each came through with blocked kicks on special teams. First year Kris Adams added an onside kick recovery at the end of the first half, when the Boxers failed to handle a squib kick.
Lewis & Clark scored on five of their six possessions in the first half to grab a 27-7 lead at the break.
After forcing a three-and-out on the opening Pacific drive, Lewis & Clark drove down the field and converted on a 27-yard Hoang field goal to take the lead. With the Pioneers facing a fourth and one at their own 41, Morris found Walker wide open in the flat and Walker took off for a 31-yard gain.
The Pioneers made it 10-0 on their next drive. Stephens posted 30 of the Pioneers' 66-yards, including punching it in with a one-yard rush.
Pacific put together their best drive of the game early in the second quarter. After punting on each of their first three drives, the Boxers took advantage of a short field and moved the ball into the red zone, before settling for a 33-yard field goal. Le Fevre got a hand on the field goal, to keep Pacific off the board.
The Pioneers made it 17-0 eight plays later. Kamakawiwoole connected with Walker for a 40-yard gain to bring Lewis & Clark inside the 10-yard line and Morris made it 17-0 with a one-yard QB sneak.
Pacific cut the deficit to 17-7 with a touchdown with just under two minutes to go in the half. That would prove to be plenty of time for Lewis & Clark to score twice more.
Kamakawiwoole moved the Pioneers down the field with 65 passing yards and found Guest from eight yards out to extend the lead to 24-7 with 15 seconds left in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Beno Boda's squib kick caromed off a Boxers player and Adams dove on top of the ball. Kamakawiwoole hit Burnham for a 17-yard catch and then rushed for five yards to set up a Hoang 42-yard field goal as time expired.
The Pioneers would make it 34-7 on the first drive of the second half. Lewis & Clark scored for the first time on a 41-yard pass from Stephens to Morris but the touchdown was wiped out for a penalty. Four plays later, Kamakawiwoole found Lee at the back of the end zone for a nine-yard touchdown.
Pacific would make it a game with back-to-back touchdowns in a 3:26 span. Brody Bantolina scored on a three-yard run and the Boxers added a second score on a two-yard run from Kalai Pasi. Chavez blocked the PAT to keep the score at 34-20 with 4:15 to go in the third.
With the momentum firmly against them and facing a 3rd and 12 from their own 11, Kamakawiwoole found Guest streaking down the sideline for an 89-yard touchdown catch to make it 41-20 game.
The Boxers would add two more touchdowns on their next two drives to cut the deficit to 41-34 with 13:12 to play.
Lewis & Clark would put together a five-minute drive but had to settle for a Hoang 33-yard field goal to make it 44-34 with 8:06 left.
Pacific answered with a field goal of their own with 3:27 to play to make it a one-score game (44-37).
Lewis & Clark put the game away on their next drive. Stephens rushed for 17 yards on his first three carries to take the game to the two-minute timeout. With the Pioneers facing a third and four from the 49, Lewis & Clark surprised the Boxers with a pass and Kamakawiwoole found a wide-open Guest for a 49-yard touchdown catch.
Senior Nando Magallanes sealed the game with a pass breakup on fourth and 10 from the Pioneers 29 to set off the celebration.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Guest's 236 receiving yards are the third-most in program history and sit only behind Aidan Verba-Hamilton (331) and Nick Bodeman (258). Guest is the only receiver in the NWC to go over 200 yards this season.
- Hoang moved into third place in program history for career points by a Pioneers kicker. He is just two field goals away from tying the program record for made field goals (18) and five points away (118) from tying the points record.
- The Pioneers 622 yards are the ninth-most yards in a single-game in program history.
- Kamakawiwoole leads the NWC with two 400-yard passing games this season. No one else in the NWC has thrown for more than 382 yards in a game this year (Mason Binning, Puget Sound).
- Guest's 236 receiving yards are the eighth most by a receiver this year in NCAA DIII.
- Lewis & Clark has now won four of their past five Homecoming games.
- The Pioneers had a season-high attendance of 1,917.
- Lewis & Clark honored their Hall of Fame Class at halftime of today's contest.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will host Pacific Lutheran University in a key NWC showdown. The Pioneers and Lutes finished tied for third in the conference last season and enter Saturday's matchup tied for third at 2-1 in conference play.