PORTLAND, Ore.—After trailing 14-0 at halftime, Lewis & Clark cut the deficit to 14-7 and had the ball near midfield midway through the fourth quarter, but #21 Linfield University forced three River Otters turnovers in the final quarter to close out a 24-7 win.
THE BASICS
#21 Linfield 24, Lewis & Clark 7
(Lewis & Clark 6-2, Northwest Conference 4-1)
(Linfield 6-1, NWC 5-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
#21 Linfield jumped out to an early lead in the de facto Northwest Conference Championship game but Lewis & Clark hung with the Wildcats until the final five minutes of Saturday's game against Griswold Stadium. The highly anticipated matchup between the final two undefeated teams in the NWC was played in front of a season-high crowd of 1,803 people.
Junior
Westin Wade put together the best game of his collegiate career to lead the Lewis & Clark offense. The running back posted his first collegiate 100-yard rushing game with 12 rushes for 114 yards. He added three catches for 43 yards and three kick returns for 54 yards to finish with a career-high 211 all-purpose yards on just 18 touches.
Sophomore
Sytyn Lasconia led the River Otters in receiving yards. He posted six catches for 95 yards. Senior
Julius Walker placed third on the team with two catches for 34 yards. Fellow tight end
Dante Washington added three catches for 21 yards and the team's lone touchdown of the game.
Graduate student
Sam Simril and junior
Dashiell Weaver split time at quarterback for Lewis & Clark. Simril played the majority of the second half and finished 9-16 for 114 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Weaver earned the start and went 8-18 for 102 yards and an interception in the first half.
Sophomores
Maddox Maehara and
Cody Strozyk tied for the team lead with seven tackles apiece. Maehara posted four solo stops and a QB hurry. Sophomore
Curtis Tucker (four solo tackles) and senior
Mitchell Sarmento (three solo) tied for third on the team with five tackles. Tucker topped the team with two QB hurries.
Sophomore
Owen Panu registered the lone sack on the day for Lewis & Clark and added a forced fumble on special teams. Seniors
Jordan Delgado and
Charlie Murrin each added a tackle-for-loss. Delgado tacked on his second career interception in the loss.
Linfield took the lead after just three plays. On the River Otters first play from scrimmage, Reid Gray intercepted a pass and returned the ball to the Lewis & Clark 8-yard line. Wildcats junior running back Matthew Spurbeck posted an eight-yard rushing touchdown on the next play to give Linfield a 7-0 lead just 19 seconds into the game.
Lewis & Clark would bounce back on their next possession. The River Otters used a pair of catches from Lasconia (42 yards) to move the ball to the Wildcats red zone. Lewis & Clark pushed the ball to the Linfield 11-yard line but the Cats posted stops on third and fourth down to snuff out the Lewis & Clark drive.
Linfield tried a deep pass on their next drive but Delgado came over the top on a pass down the sideline to pick off Linfield's Luke McNabb.
After a pair of punts, Lewis & Clark started with their best field position of the game when Lasconia returned a punt 30 yards to the River Otters 47. Lewis & Clark faced a 4
th and 5 from the Linfield 20 to start the second quarter but the Wildcats recorded a sack to force a second turnover on downs.
Linfield used an eight-play, 69-yard drive to double their lead. Spurbeck capped off the drive with an 11-yard rushing touchdown to make it 14-0 with 10:57 to go before halftime.
The score would stay that way until the end of the third quarter, as the Lewis & Clark defense held strong against one of the top offenses in the conference.
Lewis & Clark reached the Linfield red zone for a third-straight drive but were forced to settle for a field goal. Junior
Trevor Koo attempted a career-long, 40-yard field goal but that kick went just wide.
Both teams were forced to punt on their next two drives to keep the game 14-0 at halftime.
Linfield had two chances to extend their lead in the third quarter but both field goal attempts sailed wide.
Lewis & Clark responded with an eight-play, 80-yard drive on their second possession of the second half. Simril found Walker for an 18-yard catch and Wade broke through for a huge 40-yard rush to bring the ball down to the Linfield 3-yard line. After a penalty backed Lewis & Clark up to the 12, Simril found a leaping Washington for a 12-yard score with three seconds left in the third quarter.
The visitors drove the ball to the Lewis & Clark 27 but went backwards on their next three plays. Andrew O'Dell attempted a 47-yard field goal but his attempt went wide left to keep the score 14-7.
Lewis & Clark's next drive was full of controversy. Wade opened the drive with an eight-yard gain to move the ball to the Lewis & Clark 38. On the next play, Simril was whistled for an intentional grounding after a lengthy discussion. The River Otters would gain the yards back and a first down when Simril drew a roughing the passer call that forced him out of the game for one play. On the next play, the Wildcats forced a fumble and pounced on the ball at the Lewis & Clark 43-yard line.
Spurbeck extended the Wildcats lead to 21-7 with an eight-yard rushing touchdown with 5:27 left. The touchdown run capped off a six-play, 42-yard drive.
The visitors forced an interception and a turnover on downs on Lewis & Clark's next two drives to seal the win.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Wade averaged 9.5 yards per carry and finished the game averaging 11.7 yard per touch.
- First year John Murphy and junior Kristopher Adams each posted pass break-ups for Lewis & Clark.
- Delgado posted his first interception since November 11, 2023 when he recorded an interception against Willamette in the Lewis & Clark season finale.
- Lasconia and Julius Walker are both approaching major receiving milestones. Lasconia is 43 yards shy of 2,000 career receiving yards and Walker needs just 14 yards to reach 1,000 receiving yards of his career.
- Sophomore Damon Perez posted three punts for 115 yards and recorded a coffin corner punt that pinned Linfield inside their own 10-yard line.
- Lewis & Clark outgained the Wildcats 343 yards to 303 for the contest. The River Otters averaged 5.5 yards per game but couldn't overcome two interceptions, one fumble and three turnover on downs.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will look to bounce back next weekend, when they travel to Pacific Lutheran University for a 1 p.m. game. The River Otters will be aiming for their first win against the Lutes since 2019.
