Lewis & Clark College

PORTLAND, Ore.—In one of the wildest back-and-forth games in program history, Lewis & Clark College football used a 21-0 rally to close the game, to earn a 49-35 Homecoming win over George Fox University at Griswold Stadium. 

THE BASICS 
 
Lewis & Clark 49, George Fox University 35
(Lewis & Clark 5-1, Northwest Conference 3-0)
(George Fox University 3-3, NWC 0-3) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The River Otters avenged their lone loss of the season behind a pair of historic performances on offense and a defense that forced seven turnovers and a blocked punt. The teams combined for over 1,000 yards of offense and traded the lead three times. Saturday's game was characterized by huge momentum swings with neither side gaining full control until the fourth quarter. 
 
Graduate student quarterback Sam Simril and sophomore wide receiver Sytyn Lasconia each put together top-10 performances in program history.
 
Simril, who was making his first start of the season, threw for 429 yards on 20-32 passing. The graduate student threw for three touchdowns and two interceptions and his 429 passing yards put him into a tie for 10^thin program history for passings yard in a single-game. Lasconia added a career-high 247 receiving yards to move into third all-time for a single game. The sophomore wide receiver racked up eight catches and one touchdown and posted the longest reception of his career (75 yards). 
 
Senior Tyler Tolles finished second in receiving yards. The senior notched a touchdown for a second-straight game as he pulled in a 74-yard score. Junior Dante Washington added three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. 
 
Junior Westin Wade led the River Otters in rushing yards. Wade posted 13 rushes for 71 yards and a touchdown. He also added three catches for 39 yards. Junior Gio Borea piled on a career-high three rushing touchdowns and totaled 12 rushes for 39 yards. 
 
The River Otters offensive line of seniors Iggy Marquez, Ty Sheffler, Alex Litaea-Sniffen, junior Ramses Packer and sophomores DaHani Jones and Blaze Manley held the Bruins vaunted defensive line without a sack in the contest. 
 
Senior Charlie Murrin and junior Kristopher Adams led a River Otters defense that saw players make impact plays on all three levels. Murrin posted a team-high nine tackles (five solo), and added two sacks for 19 yards, a 52-yard interception return and a quarterback hurry. Adams had a huge game of his own. The junior cornerback posted an interception, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, two pass breakups and four tackles (two solo) for the hosts.
 
Senior linebacker Mitchell Sarmento (six solo) and sophomore Maddox Maehara finished tied for second on the team with seven tackles. Sarmento added a five-yard interception return and a quarterback hurry.
 
Sophomore defensive end Cody Strozyk (20-yard return) added an interception in the win. Junior Ocean Freeman and sophomore Jordan Perez each recorded fumble recoveries for Lewis & Clark. Sophomore Luke Griffin posted a forced fumble and sophomore Ethan Koo notched a punt block and a punt recovery. Fellow sophomores Curtis Tucker (1.0) and Lorenzo Webb (0.5) and senior Jordan Delgado (0.5) all posted tackles-for-loss. 
 
The start of the contest would be a sign of things to come. Lewis & Clark went for an onside kick to open the game but the Bruins recovered. On the third play of the opening drive, Strozyk stepped in front of a Bruins receiver for an interception and returned the ball across midfield. Lewis & Clark would drive the ball to the George Fox seven-yard line but a pass at the goal line deflected up and into the hands of a Bruins defender to give the ball right back. 
 
George Fox took a 7-0 lead on their next drive when starting quarterback JJ Leman connected with Karsen Denault for a 12-yard touchdown catch with 9:54 to play in the quarter. 
 
Lewis & Clark went three-and-out on their next drive and then forced a Bruins punt. Koo flew right at the kicker and managed to block the George Fox punt and jump on top of it to swing the momentum back to the home team. 
 
The River Otters needed just four plays to tie the game. Wade weaved his way through traffic for a 10-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:33 to play in the first quarter. 
 
George Fox marched down the field on their next drive and looked primed to retake the lead. On First and Goal from the one-yard line, the Bruins muffed the snap and J. Perez emerged from the bottom of the pile with the ball to give Lewis & Clark their second turnover of the quarter. 
 
Lewis & Clark drove the ball down the field with a seven-play, 99-yard drive to take their first lead of the game. Simril found Lasconia for a 47-yard pass to push the ball close to the red zone and Simril connected with Washington for a 25-yard touchdown pass on a flea flicker. The touchdown gave Lewis & Clark a 14-7 edge with 12:34 to go in the second quarter.
 
The visitors tied the game four plays later. George Fox used two big passing plays to get to the one-yard line and Tucker Land posted a rushing touchdown to tie the score at 14-14 with 10:28 to go before halftime. 
 
Lewis & Clark grabbed the lead back thanks to another big pass from Simril to Lasconia. On Fourth and Two from the River Otters 43-yard line, Simril found Lasconia on the right side of the field in one-on-one coverage. Lasconia juggled the ball as he ran past the defender and then took off for a 47-yard touchdown catch. 
 
The two teams would trade punts on their next two possessions. Leman tossed his second pick of the half on the next Bruins drive and Murrin returned the ball 52 yards to give Lewis & Clark the ball inside the George Fox 10. Borea needed two rushes to punch it in, as the junior notched a seven-yard rushing touchdown to make it 28-14 with 56 seconds left in the half.
 
The visitors would find a way to completely turn the game on its head over the next three minutes of game action. First year quarterback Austin Ramsey cut the deficit to 28-21 just before halftime thanks to two big receptions from Denault. The pair connected for a 10-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to seven with seven seconds left in the half. 
 
George Fox registered an interception on the River Otters first play from scrimmage in the second half. Ramsey tied the game at 28 when he scampered in from four yards out to tie the game just 1:51 into the second half. 
 
The Bruins then recovered an onside kick and immediately took the lead. Lyal Viers bulldozed his way in from 37-yards out, on the first play of the drive, to give George Fox a 35-28 lead with 12:55 to go in the third quarter. 
 
Lewis & Clark needed just two plays to grab the momentum back. On the second play from scrimmage, Simril sent a pass over the middle to Tolles. The senior reached up and grabbed the ball at midfield, bounced off a would-be tackler, and raced towards the alumni tailgate behind the end zone to tie the game at 35. The touchdown would cap off a streak of five combined touchdowns in 4:03 of gametime. 
 
Both defenses would stiffen from there and the two teams each punted twice in a row. On the final play of the third quarter, Ramsey found Luke Carli at the Lewis & Clark 42 but Carli was stood up and Adams forced a fumble and jumped on top of it to give the hosts the ball and a huge energy jolt. 
 
Lewis & Clark turned the ball over on downs on their first drive of the fourth quarter. The River Otters defense stood tall and forced a fourth-straight punt. The hosts started with the ball on their own 12-yard line. On Third and 10, Simril found Lasconia at the 32 and the sophomore weaved his way through the Bruins defense for a 75-yard gain. Borea needed three rushes to cap off the drive. The junior scored from one yard out to make it 42-35 Lewis & Clark with 8:49 to play. 
 
On the next kickoff, Griffin jarred the ball out of the hands of the George Fox returner and Freeman pounced on the loose ball at the Bruins 29. Borea would add his third touchdown of the game on the drive. The junior posted gains of five yards, six yards and five yards on the final three plays to make it 49-35 with six minutes to play. 
 
The River Otters defense would seal the win. Adams and Sarmento registered interceptions on the next two drives to cap off the win. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Lewis & Clark is 3-0 to start conference play for the first time since 2011. 
• The River Otters defense held George Fox to just 61 yards and recorded two interceptions and a fumble recovery (on special teams) in the fourth quarter. On the flip side, Lewis & Clark gained 172 yards on offense in the deciding quarter. 
• Lasconia's 247 yards are the third-most receiving yards in a single-game in program history. He trails only Aidan Verba-Hamilton (331) and Nick Bodeman (258). Lasconia beat his previous career-high in receiving yards (186) by 61.
• Simril's 429 passing yards puts him in a tie for 10^th in program history for receiving yards in a single-season. He missed his career-high for passing yards by one – after he posted 430 passing yards last season against Pacific Lutheran. Simril joins L&C Hall of Famer Mike Fanger (6x), Scott McCord (2x) and Oa Kamakawiwoole (2x) as the only quarterbacks to post multiple 400-yard passing games. 
• Adams is enjoying a breakout junior season. He leads the team with four interceptions, seven pass break-ups and is tied for the team lead with one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. 
• Lasconia eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season (1,007) to become only the fifth receiver in program history to reach that mark in a season. He needs just 66 yards to break Aaron Schmidt's record-breaking season. Schmidt posted 1,072 yards in the 1998 season. 
• Lewis & Clark has now won five of their last seven homecoming games. The River Otters had a season-high attendance of 1,559.

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to defending Northwest Conference Champions Whitworth University on Saturday at 1 p.m.