NEWBERG, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College football built a 10-point lead before the George Fox Bruins scored 21 unanswered points in Saturday's 28-20 loss in the Oregon Cup Championship at Stoffer Family Stadium.
THE BASICS
George Fox 28, Lewis & Clark 20
(George Fox 2-0) (Lewis & Clark 1-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Sytyn Lasconia's 33-yard touchdown reception and Trevor Koo's 30-yard field goal produced 10 points on the Lewis & Clark River Otters first three drives. The visitors took a 10-0 lead in the final minute of the first quarter after forcing three-and-outs on George Fox's first two drives.
Lasconia caught the first of his six receptions for 106 yards on the game's opening drive. On the sixth play of the series, Lasconia hauled in a 33-yard touchdown pass from Lewis & Clark starting quarterback, Dashiell Weaver, and the River Otters led 7-0.
Lewis & Clark punted to end its second possession before piecing together an 8-play, 73-yard drive that ended with Koo's first field goal attempt of the season. Mateo Maehara's 44-yard reception on the fourth play of the drive moved the River Otters into George Fox's red zone. Westin Wade's 15-yard rushing touchdown on the next play was disallowed after a holding penalty, which forced Lewis & Clark to settle for three points. The game was the season debut for Wade.
After George Fox mounted its best drive (8 plays, 29 yards) to that point on the next possession, Lewis & Clark was forced to punt after three plays. Punter Damon Perez watched the snap sail over his head and land inside the George Fox 15. Perez kicked the ball out of the end zone, and the Bruins elected to accept an illegal kicking penalty to set up 1st-and-goal from Lewis & Clark's 3.
Tucker Land scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 3-yard rushing touchdown, for the Bruins' first points of the game that cut the deficit to 10-7.
Deja vu struck the River Otters on the next possession. On the fifth play of the drive, Lewis & Clark lined up to punt again, and once more, the snap sailed over Perez's head. Perez made the same play and was called for an illegal kicking penalty again, which gave the ball to the Bruins at the Lewis & Clark 2.
Two plays later, Bruins quarterback JJ Leman threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Bupe Chisanga Jr. for a 14-10 lead.
After another Lewis & Clark 3-and-out, ended on Weaver's 45-yard pooch punt, George Fox assembled a 12-play, 88-yard touchdown drive with less than a minute left in the second quarter. Leman found Kaelan Frey for a 24-yard gain before Brody Snyder scored on a 16-yard run to give the Bruins a 21-10 lead.
Lewis & Clark started its next drive from its own 17. An 18-yard pass to Julius Walker, a 27-yard catch by Rio Cruz, Weaver's 15-yard run and Gio Borea's 22-yard catch and run drove the River Otters to the George Fox 1 with five seconds remaining in the first half. On 2nd-and-goal, George Fox's Jacob Erickson and Kuyper Assink sacked Weaver for a 16-yard loss that ended the half.
The River Otters held George Fox to back-to-back 3-and-outs to open the second half. In between, Lewis & Clark drove 8 plays before Weaver threw a long pass that was intercepted by Ty Borde at the River Otters 7.
On the next Lewis & Clark possession, the River Otters completed an 11-play, 61-yard drive capped off by Weaver's 3-yard rushing touchdown, his third of the season, which closed the gap to 21-17. Lewis & Clark originally looked to go for two points on the conversion attempt, but a false start penalty prompted Koo's PAT. It was one of 10 penalties accepted against the River Otters.
After George Fox scored on the next possession (Chisanga Jr. 21-yard TD reception), which began with a 38-yard reception by Karsen Denault, one of his game-most seven receptions on the day, Lewis & Clark answered with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that netted a 22-yard field goal by Koo. Lasconia caught a 44-yard pass to open the drive.
George Fox converted two third downs on its final drive and expired the final six minutes of the game. The Bruins were 7-of-12 on third down, while Lewis & Clark converted 2-of-11.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Weaver completed 14-of-18 for 253 yards and rushed for 63 yards, while Leman finished 14-of-24 for 151 yards and two touchdowns
- Lewis & Clark had one tackle for loss, a sack by Cody Strozyk, while George Fox had four sacks, 2.5 by Erickson, and eight tackles for loss overall
- Borea finished with 71 yards, 51 in the second half, on 19 carries for a 3.7 yards per carry average
- George Fox (3.6) outgained Lewis & Clark (1.6) in rushing average, helped by the significant losses on the two high snaps during punt attempts
- Walker finished with 53 yards on four receptions, while Maehara and Cruz had two catches apiece
- Curtis Tucker led the River Otters with six tackles and one pass breakup, plus nearly had a pick-six for the second consecutive week
- Mitchell Sarmento, Jordan Delgado, JT Chavez and Strozyk also had a pass breakup, while Strozyk and Owen Panu had quarterback hurries
- Avi Rajbhandari averaged 51.3 yards per kick on three kickoffs
- John Murphy made his debut and started at cornerback
WHO'S NEXT
The River Otters open the home schedule with a visit from Pomona-Pitzer on Sep. 19 with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. at Griswold Stadium. Last year, Lewis & Clark defeated the Sagehens. 21-3, in southern California. The teams have split the last four meetings.
