Oct. 14, 2006

Lutes Rally for 34-10 Northwest Conference Win at Menlo

Game Statistics

ATHERTON, Calif. – Pacific Lutheran spotted Menlo College a 10-point second quarter lead, then came to life on both offense and defense in rolling to a 34-10 Northwest Conference football victory on Saturday afternoon at Connor Field.

The Lutes (2-4 overall, 2-1 conference) struggled in the first 18 minutes as the host Oaks raced out to a 10-0 lead. Pacific Lutheran responded with a pair of second quarter touchdowns to take a 14-10 lead at halftime, and then iced the game with a dominating offensive and defensive effort in the second half.

Craig Chiado - a touchdown among his eight catches

PLU scored its first touchdown with 7:24 left in the second quarter on a 7-yard run by junior slotback Chase Reed. That play capped a 12-play, 69-yard drive. After getting the ball back following an interception by senior safety Andy Hamilton, the Lutes drove 20 yards in seven plays, scoring on an 11-yard run by junior quarterback Brett Gordon. The touchdown came with 1:41 left in the half.

An interception deep in the PLU end of the field by Lute senior cornerback Brent Frank on the final play of the half assured the Lutes of the halftime lead.

With junior defensive end Andrew Eisentrout and junior safety Jeff Ebel wreaking havoc in the Menlo offensive backfield, the Lutes controlled the second half. Eisentrout had 4.5 tackles for loss including 2.5 quarterback sacks among his six total tackles, while Ebel had three tackles for loss with two quarterback sacks among his six tackles.

With Menlo unable to sustain any offensive threat, the Lutes continued to put points on the scoreboard. Gordon hooked up with junior receiver Craig Chiado on a 20-yard touchdown pass at the 11:47 mark of the third quarter, putting the Lutes on top 20-10. The play capped a six-play, 70-yard drive. About three minutes later, PLU made it 27-10 when Gordon connected with senior tight end Adam Nichols on a 2-yard scoring pass. Nichols, one of the team’s senior co-captains, missed all of last season and the first four games this season because of injury.

The Lutes closed out the scoring with 9:06 left in the game on a 2-yard run by senior fullback Craig Stahl, a score set up by Stahl’s 53-yard run one play earlier.

The Lutes finished the game with 364 yards of offense to just 124 for the Oaks. Gordon completed 16-of-23 passes for 236 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Chiado was the leading receiver with eight catches for 132 yards, while Chase Reed added five catches for 79 yards. Stahl led the PLU rushing attack with 68 yards on eight carries.

PLU's defense came up with six quarterback sacks and limited the Oaks to 17 net rushing yards on 27 attempts. In addition, Menlo was just 3-of-13 on third down conversions and 0-of-3 on fourth down conversions.

- PLU -