Lewis & Clark College

TACOMA, Wash.—Lewis & Clark College football rushed out to a 21-0 halftime lead and rushed for four touchdowns, in a 42-21 season-opening win over the University of Puget Sound on Saturday in both teams' season opener. 

THE BASICS 
 
 Lewis & Clark 42, Puget Sound 21
(Lewis & Clark 1-0) 
(Puget Sound 0-1) 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED 
 
Juniors Gio Borea and Dashiell Weaver each rushed for two scores to lead Lewis & Clark to their third-straight Northwest Scholar Series victory. 
 
Borea put together a huge performance in his first collegiate start. The River Otters starting running back posted 26 rushes for 124 yards and two touchdowns to lead the backfield. 
 
Weaver and graduate student Sam Simril split time at quarterback. Weaver finished the game 12-16 for 210 yards and a touchdown. He tacked on three rushes for 17 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns. Simril went 6-9 for 73 yards and led Lewis & Clark on touchdown drives to start and end the game. 
 
Sophomore wide receiver Sytyn Lasconia put together one of his best career games. The All-Conference sophomore posted a career-high 178 yards on seven catches and tacked on a touchdown catch. Seniors Mateo Maehara (four catches, 42 yards) and Julius Walker (two catches, 31 yards) finished second and third on the team in receiving yards. 
 
Six different River Otters notched five or more tackles to lead the defense. Sophomore Draven Lopez led the team with six tackles (three solo). Sophomore Curtis Tucker, who making his first collegiate start, registered five tackles (four solo) and a 30-yard interception return for touchdown. Junior Kristopher Adams (five solo and four pass break-ups), sophomore Cody Strozyk (two solo), fifth-year Mitchell Sarmento (three solo, one tackle-for-loss) and senior Logan Wacker (one solo, 0.5 tackles-for-loss) all tacked on five stops. 
 
Senior Jordan Delgado and sophomores Maddox Maehara and Nick Harden each notched a tackle-for-loss. Harden posted the team's lone sack on the afternoon. 
 
The host Loggers drove the ball down to the Lewis & Clark 20-yard line on their opening drive. After a four-yard rush on first down, Lewis & Clark forced three-straight incompletions to turn the ball over on downs. 
 
Lewis & Clark used a 12-play, 80-yard drive to take the lead for good. Borea led the attack with eight rushes for 46 yards. Simril connected with Walker for a 15-yard gain to put the ball on the Loggers four-yard line. Borea needed two more rushes to punch the ball in for a two-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead with 1:52 to go in the first quarter. 
 
The River Otters extended the lead to 14-0 on their next drive. Weaver and Lasconia connected for gains of 41 and 34 yards to double the lead with 12:02 to go before halftime. 
 
Lewis & Clark forced back-to-back turnover on downs on the next two Loggers drives. Senior JT Chavez dragged down a Puget Sound wide receiver a yard-short of the line to gain on the first drive. With the Loggers inside the red zone on their next drive, Adams came through with a pass break-up on a fourth and four play. 
 
Lewis & Clark used a nine-play, 89-yard drive to cap off the first half. Weaver found Lasconia for a 34-yard gain to push the ball across midfield. Borea (10-yard rush) and Walker (16-yard catch) each added first downs and Weaver scrambled for a 12-yard touchdown run on third and 10 to make it 21-0 with 30 seconds left before halftime. 
 
Puget Sound scored the only points in the third quarter. De'Andre Dukes Jr. rushed for a five-yard touchdown with 5:11 to go in the quarter to make it 21-7. 
 
After forcing the fourth Loggers turnovers on down of the day, Lewis & Clark extended the lead to 28-7 to start the fourth quarter. Weaver found Lasconia over the middle for a 44-yard pass to put the ball on the Loggers 11-yard line. Borea covered 10 yards on two runs and Weaver punched it in from one-yard out to make it 28-7 with 12:41 to go in regulation. 
 
Loggers quarterback Brady Beck connected with Demari Ross for back-to-back touchdown passes to make it 28-21 with 6:37 to play. The hosts used an onside kick to get the ball back  after the first score and posted the two touchdowns two minutes apart. 
 
The River Otters recovered the ensuing onside kick and used a nine-play, 43-yard drive to regain control. Simril connected with Borea for an eight-yard gain on third down and then found senior Mateo Maehara for a 17-yard catch. On third and 10, Simril and senior Rio Cruz came through with a 14-yard catch to put the ball on the Loggers two-yard line. Borea came through with his second two-yard rush of the game to make it 35-21 with 2:30 to play. 
 
On the second play of the Loggers drive, Tucker intercepted a Beck pass and returned it 30-yards to ice the game. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS 
 

• Football has now won three-straight season openers and four out of the five Northwest Scholar Series matchups. Lewis & Clark has posted six-straight wins over the Loggers to tie the all-time series at 23-23.
• Lasconia's 178 receiving yards are the 17^th-most receiving yards by a Lewis & Clark player in a single-game. The sophomore has recorded 51 catches for 839 yards and 12 touchdowns in his first 11 career games. 
• Junior Trevor Koo went 6-6 on point after attempts. First years Avi Rajbhandari (53.3 yard average) and sophomore Joseph Yankosky (47.5 average) split kickoff duties. Junior Damon Perez posted one punt for 46 yards. 
• Lewis & Clark finished the game 6-8 on third downs and a perfect 4-4 on red-zone scoring chances. On the flip side, Puget Sound went 3-14 on third downs and 2-4 on red-zone opportunities. 
• Borea more than doubled his career rushing yards on Saturday. The junior came into the day with 22 rushes for 108 yards. Lewis & Clark has had back-to-back games with a 100-yard rusher (Jordan Lahusky) for the first time since November 9-16, 2024. 
• First year Tevita Heimuli was the lone newcomer to earn a start on Opening Day. The defensive lineman posted one solo tackle. 
• Junior transfers Austin Case (20 yards) and Jayden Moss (six yards) each recorded a punt return in their Lewis & Clark debut. Sophomore MJ Leggett handled kickoff return duties and posted two returns for 30 yards. 
• Lewis & Clark has won three-straight season openers for the first time since 1988-1991.  

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will travel to take on George Fox University on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. for the Oregon Cup Championship Game. The two teams both went 2-1 over the past three years against Oregon Cup participants (Willamette University, Pacific University, GFU, L&C) to earn spots in this year's title game.