Lewis & Clark College

TACOMA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College football put together a banner day in their Northwest Conference opener. Lewis & Clark erupted for 10 touchdowns and two safeties to score the most points in a single-game in the 81-year history of the program. 
 
THE BASICS 
 
Lewis & Clark 74, Puget Sound 14
(Lewis & Clark 3-1, Northwest Conference 1-0)
(Puget Sound 0-3, NWC 0-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The River Otters broke a 16-year program record for most points scored in a single-game and dominated the hosts Loggers from start-to-finish. Lewis & Clark racked up 10 touchdowns and 2 safeties and notched the 11^th-most yards in a single-game (619) and tied for the fifth-most passing yards in a single-game (490) in program history. Eight different River Otters found the end zone and three quarterbacks posted touchdown passes in the win. 
 
"Anytime you score that many point it's a testament to the entire team," head coach Brett Elliott said. "Our defense added 11 of their own, and our young guys showed why we are so excited for the future." 
 
Junior Dashiell Weaver was incredibly efficient. Weaver carved up the Loggers for 388 yards and four touchdowns on just 16 completed passes (16-19). Weaver added two rushes for 12 yards and a rushing touchdown. Graduate student Sam Simril came in and was kept the ball moving. Simril finished 7-9 for 70 yards and a passing touchdown. First year Trevor Schoolfield made his collegiate quarterback debut and went 1-3 for 19 yards and a touchdown. Fellow first year Eli Duff made his collegiate debut as well and went 1-1 for 13 yards. 
 
Sophomore Sytyn Lasconia continued his torrid pace to start the year. Lasconia posted 175 receiving yards and two touchdowns on six catches. Lasconia added an 11-yard rushing touchdown for his second-straight game with three touchdowns or more. Seniors Rio Cruz (four catches for 76 yards) and Julius Walker (two catches for 62 yards) finished second and third on the team in receiving yards. Sophomore Danzel Mercado (39 yards), first year Dillan Davis (19 yards), junior Austin Case (five yards) and junior Westin Wade (one yard) each posted their first collegiate receiving touchdowns in the win.  
 
Junior Gio Borea led the River Otters rushing attack with six rushes for 43 yards and a touchdown. 
 
The River Otters offense line played a key part despite having players out with injury. The starting quintet of Iggy Marquez, Ramses Packer, DaHani Jones, Ryan Rodriguez and Alex Litaea-Sniffen helped Lewis & Clark post 40 or more points for the third time in four games to start the season.  
 
The offense wasn't the only ones to score on Saturday. First year corner back John Murphy posted his first collegiate interception and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. Murphy added five tackles (three solo), a half-sack and a pass breakup. Sophomores Owen Panu and Cody Strozyk each chipped in a safety. Panu matched Murphy with five tackles and recorded a sack. Strozyk finished with three tackles and a sack. 
 
Sophomore Curtis Tucker led the Lewis & Clark defense with eight tackles (five solo) and 1.5 tackles-for-loss. Seniors JT Chavez (two solo tackles, 0.5 sack) and Logan Wacker finished tied for second with five tackles. Junior Kristopher Adams and sophomore Luke Griffin each posted interceptions in the win. Sophomore Ethan Koo tacked on a fumble recovery, four solo tackles and a tackle-for-loss. 
 
For the second-straight game, Lewis & Clark's offense came out firing on all cylinders. The River Otters scored 28 points in the first quarter to take a 28-7 lead. 
 
Weaver found Mercado for a 39-yard touchdown pass on the first Lewis & Clark drive of the game to make it 7-0. After a three-and-out, Borea scored on a 29-yard rush on the first play of Lewis & Clark's second drive. Puget Sound briefly cut the momentum with a touchdown drive but Lewis & Clark responded back immediately. Weaver found Lasconia in behind the defense on the first play of the third drive for a 66-yard touchdown catch. Murphy broke up a pass on 4^th and 4 on the next Loggers drive, to give the River Otters the ball near midfield. Weaver found Lasconia for a nine-yard touchdown catch with seven seconds left in the quarter to make it 28-7. 
 
Lewis & Clark opened the scoring in the second quarter thanks to their defense. After a long River Otters drive was cut short due to a fumble in the red zone, Panu brought down Loggers quarterback Cam Reed for a six-yard sack in the end zone to make it 30-7. Lasconia recorded Lewis & Clark's fifth touchdown in six drives with an 11-yard rushing touchdown for his third score of the game. 
 
Puget Sound scored just before half to cut the deficit to 37-14. 
 
Lewis & Clark kept the momentum going in the second half. Weaver finished off a five-play drive to start the half with a one-yard rushing touchdown. Two plays later, Strozyk brought down Puget Sound quarterback Brady Beck in the end zone for another safety (46-14). 
 
Weaver notched his fourth passing touchdown of the game on the next drive when he found Wade for a one-yard score with 10:08 to go in the third quarter. 
 
Murphy capped off a 23-0 third quarter for Lewis & Clark when he intercepted a Beck pass and returned it 62 yards to make it 60-14 with 22:30 left in the game. 
 
Simril connected with junior transfer Austin Case for a five-yard touchdown catch on the first drive of the fourth quarter to make it 67-14. 
 
After another Loggers turnover, a pair of Lewis & Clark first years connected for the record-setting score. Schoolfield found Davis for a 19-yard touchdown catch with 10:14 remaining in regulation to make it 74-14. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 
 

• Lewis & Clark broke the former program record for points in a single-game that was set in 2010. The River Otters racked up 68 points in a 68-64 win over Puget Sound that season. 
• Football scored a touchdown on nine of their 11 full drives. They either scored a touchdown, fumbled (2x) or had the ball at the end of the half on their 12 total drives on Saturday. 
• Lasconia has racked up 638 receiving yards and nine touchdowns (eight receiving) in just four games to start his sophomore year. Chad Carlson owns the program record for receiving touchdowns in a single-season with 15 in 1993 and Aaron Schmidt set the single-season record for receiving yards with 1,072 in 1998. 
• In his last two games, and really closer to the last 4+ quarters he's played, Weaver has gone 35-44 for 720 yards, 10 touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown. 
• The defense posted season-highs with three interceptions (tied for most), one fumble recovery, 10 tackles-for-loss, four sacks and two safeties. 
• Junior Trevor Koo went a perfect 10-10 on point after attempts on Saturday. He now sits tied for seventh in program history with 80 career points. 
• First year Tevita Heimuli (one sack) added a nine-yard sack in the win. 
• Fourteen Lewis & Clark players posted receptions in the win and eight players notched carries. Jayden Moss, Cameron Hadman Watts, Sammy Sousa, MJ Leggett, Zede Campbell and Davis all recorded their first collegiate catches. Noah Solo, Campbell and Schoolfield each recorded their first collegiate rushes.

 
WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will host rival Willamette University on Saturday at 1 p.m. in their 2026 conference home opener. The River Otters have won the Wagon Wheel Rivalry Game a program-record eight-straight times.