PORTLAND, Ore.—Lewis & Clark College football notched their first shutout since 2010, to earn their ninth-straight Wagon Wheel Rivalry win over Willamette University on Saturday afternoon.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 34, Willamette 0
(Lewis & Clark 4-1, Northwest Conference 2-0)
(Willamette 1-4, NWC 0-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The River Otters raced out to a 27-0 halftime lead and held the visiting Wildcats to 2.3 yards per play (120 yards on 52 plays) to move to 2-0 in conference play for the second-straight season. With the win, Lewis & Clark earned their 10
th-straight win over the Bearcats and kept the Wagon Wheel on Palatine Hill for a 10
th-straight year.
Lewis & Clark's defense combined to rack up 10 tackles-for-loss, one sack, one interception, seven pass break-ups and six QB hurries in the win. The defense kept Willamette in check all afternoon. The visitors had 12 drives and nine ended in punts, with their other three drives ending with an interception, downs and the end of the first half. Nine of Willamette's 12 drives ended in four plays or less and three drives resulted in the Bearcats losing yards. Willamette's best drive of the game saw them rack up 46 yards on seven plays, before Diego Franco was intercepted at the Lewis & Clark 15.
Senior
JT Chavez and sophomore
Luke Griffin tied for the team lead with six tackles apiece. Chavez posted three solo stops, a team-high 2.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack for a loss of nine yards and a QB hurry. Griffin, who was making his first start of the year, added two solo stops, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and a pass break-up. Senior
Mitchell Sarmento added five tackles and finished tied with Griffin with 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
Sophomores
Cody Strozyk (four tackles),
Owen Panu (two solo tackles) and
Ethan Koo (one solo tackle) and junior
Kristopher Adams (two tackles) all added a tackle-for-loss. First year
Tevita Heimuli notched four stops and 0.5 tackles-for-loss. Sophomore
Draven Lopez added his first collegiate interception after senior
Logan Wacker tipped a Bearcats pass.
Three Lewis & Clark quarterbacks combined to throw for over 300 yards in the win. Junior
Dashiell Weaver went 14-21 for 173 yards and two touchdown passes in the first half. He added four rushes for 18 yards and his team-leading fifth rushing touchdown of the season. Graduate student
Sam Simril registered 115 passing yards on 6-13 passing and tacked on a passing touchdown. First year
Trevor Schoolfield went 4-6 for 26 yards and had a passing touchdown wiped out for a pair of penalties.
Sophomore
Sytyn Lasconia led the River Otters with seven catches for 122 yards. Senior
Tyler Tolles earned his first collegiate start and posted his first collegiate touchdown. The senior finished with a line of four catches for 67 yards and a score. Senior
Rio Cruz added three catches for 46 yards and an additional 50 yards on punt returns. Senior
Julius Walker tacked on three catches for 15 yards and a pair of touchdown catches.
Juniors
Gio Borea and
Westin Wade led Lewis & Clark's rushing attack. Borea rushed for 5.1 yards per carry as he posted 11 carries for 58 yards. Wade tacked on six rushes for 28 yards and a touchdown and added on two catches for 28 yards.
Lewis & Clark needed just 10 plays to take the lead. The River Otters marched down the field on their opening drive thanks to 30 rushing yards from Borea and first-down catches from Lasconia and Tolles. With the hosts facing a 2
nd and Goal from the nine-yard line, Weaver dashed through the Willamette defense on a designed quarterback run to make it 7-0 just 4:19 into the game.
After three-straight punts between the two teams, Lewis & Clark added a second score before the end of the quarter. Weaver connected with Lasconia (39 yards) and Cruz (24 yards) to move the ball inside the five-yard line. Willamette forced a 4
th and Goal but Weaver found Walker cutting across the middle for a five-yard touchdown to make it 13-0.
Lewis & Clark doubled their lead with two more touchdowns just before halftime.
Weaver capped off a 10-play, 66-yard drive with his second touchdown pass of the game to make it 20-0. The River Otters ate up over six minutes of clock and Weaver found Tolles in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard score.
After a Bearcats three-and-out, Simril led the River Otters on their fourth scoring drive of the half. The River Otters started the drive at midfield after a 14-yard punt return by Cruz. Simril immediately found Tolles for a 42 yard catch to put the ball on the eight-yard line. Simril found Walker wide open in the end zone on 3
rd and Goal for a 10-yard score to make it 17-0 with 1:52 to go before halftime.
Lewis & Clark added one final scoring drive to start the fourth quarter. Simril found Wade for a 25 yard catch and run and then Lasconia for a 16 yard gain. Wade capped off the drive with a 21-yard rushing touchdown to make it 34-0.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Saturday's shutout was the program's first since October 2, 2010 when Lewis & Clark shutout Pacific University 48-0 on Homecoming. The shutout marked just the fourth time Lewis & Clark has shutout an opponent this century. Lewis & Clark shutout Colorado College (37-0) and Macalester College (34-0) in 2001 and 2002.
- Lewis & Clark held Willamette to 2-14 on third down conversions and 0-1 on fourth downs in the game. The River Otters went 4-11 on third downs and 1-3 on fourth downs and scored touchdowns on all four of their trips into the red zone.
- Lasconia posted his fifth-straight, 100-yard receiving game to start the season and seventh of his career. He ranks 18th in program history with his 1,421 career receiving yards.
- After losing 15-straight games to the Bearcats from 2001-16, Lewis & Clark's streak of nine-straight wins in the Wagon Wheel Rivalry is the second-longest streak in the history of the series.
- Junior kicker Trevor Koo moved into a tie for sixth in program history for career points (84) on Saturday. He went 4-5 on point after attempts in the win.
- Fifth-years Alex Litaea-Sniffen, Kahiau Chang and Sarmento all improved to 5-0 in their careers in the Wagon Wheel Rivalry.
- In two home games this season, Lewis & Clark has outscored their opponents 76-14 in the first half.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will look to avenge their only loss of the season, when they host George Fox University on Saturday at 1 p.m. for Homecoming.
