PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College football outscored rival Willamette University 24-0 in the fourth quarter to earn a 38-7 win over the Bearcats in their 2023 home opener and their first-ever Oregon Cup game.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 38, Willamette 7
(Lewis & Clark 1-1)
(Willamette 1-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After seeing their 14-0 lead cut to seven late in the third quarter, Lewis & Clark dominated the final 15 minutes to capture their first win of the season and extend their winning streak to a program-record six in a row over the Bearcats. In the final stanza, Lewis & Clark outgained the Bearcats 174-19 and the defense forced their first turnover of the season to turn the game into a laugher.
A week after giving up 42 points on the road, the Pioneers defense put together a strong showing across the board.
Senior Ward Anderson led the defensive line with five tackles (tied for the team lead), one sack (tied for the team lead) and a team-high two quarterback hits. Sophomore Andrew Baum added five tackles (three solo) to tie with Anderson for the team lead and a half-a-sack.
Sophomores Charlie Valencia and Brian Kincade and senior Justin Hope all added four tackles and sophomore Thomas Reagan chipped in with two tackles, a sack, a pass breakup and a 29-yard interception return.
On the offensive side of the ball, senior quarterback Cruz Montana just missed out on his second-straight 300-yard passing game with 296 yards on 34 attempts. He passed for three touchdowns and threw one interception.
Sophomore Jordan Lahusky led the rushing attack with 71 yards on nine attempts and one touchdown. Senior Elijah Washington added 20 yards on the ground, 36 yards on five catches and a receiving touchdown. Montana (24 yards), freshman Chili Stephens (17 yards) and sophomore Anthony Hooker (11 yards) all added double-digit rushing yards.
For the second-straight week, senior Devon Guest led a talented and deep receiving corps. Guest finished with five catches for a 105 yards. Fellow senior Ben Burnham led the team in receptions (eight) and totaled 96 yards and a touchdown. Senior Elijah McGee notched a pair of receiving touchdowns on four catches for 77 yards.
Saturday's home opener followed a very different script than the Pioneers regular-season opener last weekend.
The Pioneers marched down the field on their first drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Montana led the Pioneers on a 10-play, 58 yard drive with the senior quarterback using a QB sneak to convert on the team's lone third down of the drive. With the Pioneers facing second and goal, Montana found Burnham from four yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Willamette threatened to tie the game up with their first drive of the contest. The Bearcats, who were coming off a road win in their 2023 opener, converted on a pair of fourth downs to get the ball inside the Pioneers 30. Lewis & Clark's defense forced a pair of Willamette incompletions on third and fourth down to force a turnover on downs.
Both defenses would be stingy from there and neither side would put together a long drive until midway through the second quarter. The Pioneers used an eight-play, 99-yard drive to double their lead. With the team backed up to their own endzone after a great Bearcats punt, Lewis & Clark trusted their seniors to drive down the field. Montana found Guest in the flat from his end zone for a six-yard gain and then found Guest running in behind the defense on the next play for a 65-yard gain. With Lewis & Clark facing third and 12 from the 18, Washington came out of the backfield and made a great catch along the far sideline before scampering into the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown catch.
The Pioneers nearly added to their lead late in the half, but Thien Hoang's field goal attempt from 42 yards hit the right upright.
Willamette scored their lone touchdown of the game late in the third quarter. The Bearcats used a strip sack of Montana and a long return to begin a drive at the Pioneers 22-yard line. Freshman quarterback Micah Ho'Omanawanui found Tyler Epefanio on the next play for a 22-yard touchdown pass to halve the Pioneers lead with 4:05 to go in the quarter.
Facing their first real test of the game, Lewis & Clark would react in a big way.
On their next drive, Lewis & Clark would drive the ball to Willamette's 37 to end the quarter. On the first play of the final stanza, Montana found McGee over the middle for a 37-yard touchdown to make it 21-7.
Four plays later, Reagan intercepted Ho'Omanawanui and raced the ballback 29 yards to the Willamette 32. The Bearcats defense were able to hold the Pioneers out of the end zone, but Hoang made it 24-7 with a 24-yard field goal.
After Lewis & Clark's defense forced a punt, Lahusky showed off his track speed with a 35-yard rushing touchdown to give the Pioneers a 31-7 advantage with 8:12 to play.
A poor Willamette punt gave the Pioneers the ball at the Bearcats 28 after a three-and-out. The Pioneers needed just one play to make it 38-7. Senior Trey Morris found McGee at the 20-yard line and McGee shrugged off a would-be-tackler and raced the ball in to cap off a spurt of 24-straight points in a span of 8:26.
BY THE NUMBERS
- With the win, Lewis & Clark extended their program record streak to six-straight over Willamette. The previous longest winning streak against the Bearcats was four games. Saturday's game was not for the Wagon Wheel, which the two teams play for every season. The home of the Wagon Wheel until the next meeting will happen the final week of the regular season, when Lewis & Clark travels to Willamette on November 11.
- The Pioneers dominated the Bearcats in every statistical category. Lewis & Clark held a 452-175 advantage in total yards, went 8-14 on third downs (1-1 on fourth) while holding Willamette to a 2-15 mark (2-4 on fourth down) and owned a 21-10 edge on first downs.
- Lahusky (first touchdown) and Reagan (first interception) each recorded a collegiate first in the victory.
- The Pioneers have now won four-straight home openers dating back to the 2019 season. During that four-game winning streak, Lewis & Clark has outscored their opponents 189-77 (28 points per game).
- Montana is just one touchdown away from reaching 50 collegiate touchdowns. The senior has thrown for 648 yards and seven scores (eight total TDs) in the first two games of his fourth collegiate season.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will close out non-conference play on Saturday, when they travel to Montana Western (NAIA). The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start in Montana (Noon PDT).