Lewis & Clark College

PUYALLUP, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College football junior running back Westin Wade exploded for a career-high 190 rushing yards and three touchdowns, to lead the River Otters to a 46-31 road win over Pacific Lutheran University. 
 
THE BASICS 
 
Lewis & Clark 46, Pacific Lutheran 31
(Lewis & Clark 7-2, Northwest Conference 5-1) 
(Pacific Lutheran 3-6, NWC 2-4) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Lewis & Clark used runs of 19-0 and 20-2 to grab control and cruised to their first win over the Lutes since 2019. With the win, the River Otters reached the seven-win mark for the first time since 2011 and for only the 12^th time in program history. 
 
Fresh off his first career 100-yard rushing game, Wade racked up 190 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on just 15 carries. He averaged 12.7 yards per rush and recorded the longest rush of his career when he scored on a 46-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. Junior Gio Borea tacked on eight rushes for 24 yards and another 24 receiving yards on four catches and first year Dillan Davis added a 22-yard rush. As a team, Lewis & Clark registered 34 carries for 268 yards for an average of 7.1 yards per carry. 
 
Graduate student quarterback Sam Simril went 18-27 for 204 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Sytyn Lasconia notched his eighth 100-yard receiving game of the season. Lasconia posted seven catches for 125 yards and two scores. Borea (24 yards), senior Julius Walker (20 yards) and senior Rio Cruz (20 yards) all finished with 20 or more receiving yards. 
 
Senior linebacker Mitchell Sarmento put together a big game to lead the defense. He posted seven tackles (four solo), two sacks, a forced fumble and caused a safety. Senior defensive lineman JT Chavez (1.5 sacks) and sophomore Maddox Maehara (0.5 tackles-for-loss) matched Sarmento for the team lead with seven tackles. Chavez added two QB hurries and a pass break-up. 
 
Sophomore linebacker Curtis Tucker (one sack) and senior linebacker David Fresneda (0.5 tackles-for-loss) placed fourth on the team with six tackles apiece. First year John Murphy and senior Rylen Kahahawai each added forced fumbles and sophomores Cody Strozyk and Luke Griffin and senior Jacob Kleppin each notched fumble recoveries. As a team, Lewis & Clark racked up a season-high seven sacks and three forced fumbles and matched their season-high with three fumble recoveries. 
 
Pacific Lutheran opened the scoring on their first drive of the game with a Dallas So'oto 39-yard rushing touchdown. After Lewis & Clark went three-and-out on their opening drive, the River Otters forced a fumble on the ensuing punt return and Griffin dove on top of it to give the visitors the ball at the PLU 29. Lewis & Clark scored four plays later when Simril connected with Lasconia for a nine-yard touchdown catch. 
 
The River Otters grabbed a 14-7 lead on their next drive. Lewis & Clark used an 11-play, 98-yard drive with Simril finding Cruz, Borea and Lasconia for key first-down catches. Wade covered the final 22 yards with rushes of six yards and 16 yards to give Lewis & Clark the lead for good with 35 seconds left in the first quarter. 
 
Lewis & Clark tacked on a safety on the first play of the Lutes next drive. Pacific Lutheran was called for a delay of game that pushed them back to their own 6-yard line to start the drive. On the first play, Sarmento chased the Lutes quarterback into the end zone and the Lutes QB attempted to throw the ball away and was whistled for an intentional grounding to make it 16-7. 
 
Lewis & Clark tacked on a field goal to begin the second quarter. The River Otters drove the ball inside the Lutes five-yard line but couldn't punch it in. Junior Trevor Koo delivered with a 19-yard field goal to make it 19-7 with 11:48 to go before halftime. 
 
Pacific Lutheran briefly cut into the deficit when So'oto found Dayton Savea for a 45-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-14 with 6:21 left in the quarter. 
 
Wade would record his second rushing score of the game before the break to extend Lewis & Clark's lead to 26-14. Wade (38 yards) and Lasconia (22) combined for all 60 yards on the four-play drive. The junior back carried the ball in for an 18-yard score to make it 26-14 with 3:57 left in the half. 
 
Pacific Lutheran recorded a safety on the first drive of the second half when the River Otters were whistled for an intentional grounding in the end zone.
 
Lewis & Clark responded with back-to-back forced fumbles on the Lutes' next two drives. On the first PLU drive, Kahahawai forced a fumble at midfield and Kleppin jumped on the ball. The Lutes would drive down to the Lewis & Clark one on their next drive. After having a touchdown waived off for an illegal formation penalty, Sarmento sacked So'oto and forced a fumble and Strozyk recovered it to deny Pacific Lutheran the chance to make it a one-score game. 
 
The River Otters used a pair of big plays from Wade and Lasconia to push their lead to 33-16. Wade (31-yard rush) and Lasconia (44-yard catch) helped Lewis & Clark get the ball down to the PLU one-yard line. Two plays later, Simril found junior Dante Washington for a four-yard touchdown catch.
 
The hosts drove the ball into Lewis & Clark territory to start the fourth quarter. Sophomore Quincy Cortez and Chavez combined for an eight-yard sack on second down and sophomores Ethan Koo and Mana Antoque added a sack on fourth down to end the drive. 
 
Lewis & Clark extended the lead to 39-16 two plays later. Borea posted a six-yard gain on first down and senior offensive lineman Iggy Marquez pounced on the fumble. On the next play, Wade weaved his way through the Lutes defense for a 46-yard touchdown run with 13:51 to play. 
 
The River Otters would add one final touchdown on their next drive. Simril connected with Lasconia in behind the Lutes defense for a 26-yard touchdown to make it 46-23 with 7:05 to play. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 

• Wade's 190 rushing yards are the most by a Northwest Conference player this season. He ranks 19^th in program history for most rushing yards in a single- and posted the most yards by a Lewis & Clark player since 2018 when Michael Abraham racked up 198 yards against Whittier College. 
• Lasconia went over 1,400 receiving yards on the season on Saturday. He leads all of NCAA DIII in receiving yards this season (1,421 yards) and ranks in the top-10 in receiving touchdowns (13). 
• Football joined the 1950 (9-0), 1954 (8-2), 1956 (7-3), 1962 (7-1-1), 1963 (8-0), 1966 (8-1), 1967 (7-2), 1976 (7-2), 1989 (7-3), 1991 (7-2-1) and 2011 (7-2) teams in reaching seven wins in a single-season. 
• Lasconia reached the 2,000 receiving yard milestone (2,082) on Saturday. The sophomore is the seventh receiver in program history to reach the 2K mark and the only non four-year player on the list. He also sits tied for second all-time with 24 receiving touchdowns.
• Walker became the 33^rd player in program history to reach 1,000 career receiving yards (1,006) on Saturday. 
• Koo reached 100 points (105) for his career on Saturday. He is the fifth kicker in program history to reach 100 career points. He also moved into fifth-place in program history for points in a single-season (56).  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will host Pacific University on Saturday at 1 p.m. in their regular-season finale. Football will honor their 25 seniors prior to the contest on Senior Day. With a win, the River Otters can finish the season as one of four teams in program history to reach eight wins in a season.