Oct. 10, 2006

FOOTBALL: Lutes Face Northwest Conference Newcomer Menlo

THIS WEEK: PLU at Menlo, Saturday, noon.

RECORDS: Pacific Lutheran is 1-4 overall and 1-1 in the Northwest Conference. The Lutes opened the season with non-conference losses at home to Cal Lutheran and Wisconsin-River Falls and on the road to Chapman. In Northwest Conference games they have defeated Puget Sound on the road, 32-28, and lost to Whitworth at home, 19-7. Menlo is 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference with a 41-35 home loss to Willamette and a 38-28 road win against Lewis & Clark, its only away game so far this season.

SERIES HISTORY: Saturday’s game is the fifth meeting between the two schools. The Lutes have won three of the four previous games, including 48-24 at Sparks Stadium in 2005. Menlo won the first-ever meeting, 32-29 in overtime, in San Jose, Calif., in 2002.

THE NEWCOMER: Menlo is a newcomer to the Northwest Conference, added this year as a football-only member. With the addition of the Oaks, there are now seven NWC teams, meaning the conference champion gets an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III national playoffs. Prior to this year, Northwest Conference teams made the national playoffs only in an at-large capacity.

THE COACHES: Scott Westering is in his third season as PLU’s head coach and has a 10-13 overall record. He previously was an assistant coach for 23 years – 21 as the offensive coordinator – under his father, Frosty Westering. Scott Westering was a three-year letterman and an All-America tight end at PLU after transferring from UCLA, and he was a member of the 1980 NAIA Division II national championship team. Mark Kaanapu was named the Menlo’s sixth head coach in December 2000 and owns a 24-29 record in his sixth season.

2005 GAME: PLU rolled up 632 yards of total offense – just 21 yards shy of the school record – in a 48-24 non-conference victory over Menlo. The Lutes averaged 9.6 yards per play, gaining 174 yards on the ground and 458 through the air. Quarterback Chris Maine completed 10-of-17 passes for 347 yards, with half of his completions going for touchdowns. His five TD passes came within one of tying a school record shared by Craig Kupp and Marc Weekly. Maine also led the running attack with 80 yards on five carries. Chase Reed was the top receiver with 167 yards on eight catches, including three touchdowns. The Lutes spotted Menlo a 3-0 lead on Brandon Gresham’s 26-yard field goal with 6:52 remaining in the first quarter, then scored three times via the pass and once on the ground to take a 27-3 lead at the half. The teams traded three touchdowns each in the second half.

LUTES LAST WEEK: Whitworth controlled the ball, the clock and the Lutes in taking a 19-7 Northwest Conference victory at Sparks Stadium. The visiting Pirates had possession for 43 minutes and 22 seconds compared to just 16:38 for the Lutes. Whitworth ran 89 plays for 442 yards while the Lutes ran just 44 plays and gained 200 yards. The Pirates took a 10-0 halftime lead and increased its advantage to 13-0 in the third period before the Lutes had their one shining offensive moment. Starting at their own 29-yard line, PLU scored in two plays, the first a 42-yard pass from senior quarterback Chris Maine (Lynnwood, Wash. / Edmonds-Woodway HS) to junior wide receiver Craig Chiado (Albuquerque, NM / St. Pius X HS). Maine, who had lined up as a wide receiver, took a lateral pass from starting quarterback Brett Gordon (Yakima, Wash. / Eisenhower HS) and threw downfield to Chiado, who leaped above two defenders to catch the pass. On the next play, junior halfback Chase Reed (Orting, Wash. / Orting HS) took a handoff, bounced off a defender, and went around the left end on a 29-yard touchdown run. That was it for the Lute offense, which had only one drive that lasted more than four plays. On defense, the Lutes were stalwart, holding the Pirates to just 19 points despite spending nearly three-quarters of the game on the field. Junior linebacker Chad Blau (Puyallup, Wash. / Puyallup HS, Western Oregon Univ.) had a huge game with 19 total tackles, 12 of them solo, two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and a tipped pass that led to an interception. Senior linebacker Jon Hergert (Seattle, Wash. / Evergreen HS) had 10 tackles, and junior defensive lineman Robert Thomsen (Olympia, Wash. / Timberline HS) had eight tackles and two quarterback sacks.

OAKS LAST WEEK: The Oaks, playing on the road for the first time, won their first Northwest Conference game by outscoring the host Lewis & Clark Pioneers, 38-28. Jihad Mahasin, who finished the game with 227 all-purpose yards, returned the opening kickoff 64 yards, setting up a 24-yard touchdown pass from A.J. Brown to Mike Wennerlind. Lewis & Clark rallied to take a 20-14 lead, but Mahasin provided a momentum-shifting 94-yard kickoff return, giving the Oaks a 21-20 advantage. Menlo added two more touchdowns to take a 35-20 lead, and held on from there.

BLAU EARNS NWC HONOR: Chad Blau earned Northwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for his incredible 19-tackle performance against Whitworth. He leads PLU defenders with 50 total tackles, 31 of which are solo. He also leads all Northwest Conference defenders with 12 tackles for loss.

PLU BY THE NUMBERS: PLU comes into the game averaging 19.0 points and 298.6 yards – including 243.6 passing – per game while giving up an average of 26.0 points and 347.2 yards per contest. While the PLU offense has turned the ball over 18 times, the Lutes defense has been opportunistic with 16 takeaways. Individually, quarterback Brett Gordon has completed 75-of-144 passes for 1,019 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. Craig Chiado is the leading receiver with 38 catches for 545 yards and four touchdowns. Chase Reed has 22 catches for 297 yards and three scores, and he leads the running attack with 191 yards on 59 carries. As a team, PLU averages just 1.9 yards per rushing attempt. Defensively, linebacker Chad Blau leads the Lutes with 50 tackles and 12 tackles for loss. Senior linebacker Jon Hergert (Seattle, Wash. / Evergreen HS) has 39 tackles this season, and junior lineman Andrew Eisentrout has 36 total tackles, including five quarterback sacks.

MENLO BY THE NUMBERS: Menlo averages 25.4 points and 276.8 yards per game while giving up 21.8 points and 298.6 yards (exactly the number that the Lutes average) per game. Adam Hazel and Gregg Parker have nearly matching numbers in sharing the quarterback role, Hazel throwing for 472 yards and Parker for 414 yards. Keith Marin is the leading receiver with 19 catches for 260 yards, and Drew Faria leads the running attack with 158 yards on 55 carries. Defensively, Asti Merino leads the team with 37 total tackles, and Mike Mather has eight quarterback sacks among his 22 total tackles.

PLU INJURY REPORT: Sophomore defensive tackle Andy Holden (University Place, Wash. / Tacoma Baptist HS) suffered a fractured wrist against Whitworth and likely will miss at least one game, if not more. It is possible that Holden could return to action if fitted with a soft cast. Sophomore defensive back Aaron Todd (Cashmere, Wash. / Cashmere HS) has a sore left knee and will likely miss at least one game. Junior defensive lineman David Nicoli (Tigard, Ore. / Tigard HS) is unavailable at least one more week because of a chronic knee injury. On the positive side, junior halfback Anthony Canger (Post Falls, Idaho / Post Falls HS), who missed three games with a knee injury, returned last week and had one carry. Team co-captain and senior tight end Adam Nichols (Bellingham, Wash. / Squalicum HS), who missed the first four games of the season, also returned last week against Whitworth.

RADIO/INTERNET COVERAGE: All PLU football games will be broadcast in the Tacoma area on KLAY 1180 AM. The broadcasts will also be on the worldwide web at http://www.plu.edu/~lutecast. Steve Thomas handles the play-by-play and Karl Hoseth provides commentary.

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