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Oct. 13, 2007 Reed Scores Three More Touchdowns as Lutes Roll Past Menlo, 48-19
PUYALLUP, Wash. – Pacific Lutheran celebrated its 2007 Homecoming on Saturday afternoon with a 48-19 Northwest Conference football win over the Menlo Oaks at Sparks Stadium. The 48 points matches the Lutes' point totals in consecutive season-opening road wins over Cal Lutheran (48-17) and Wisconsin-River Falls (48-37). The Lutes (5-1 overall, 2-1 NWC) took a quick 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a 28-yard pass from Brett Gordon to Chase Reed, and they never looked back. On Menlo’s second drive junior linebacker Neal Chalmers intercepted a pass that led to PLU’s second touchdown, a 3-yard toss from Gordon to Craig Chiado. A 23-yard field goal by Kainoa Lemke following a Pacific Lutheran fumble at the 11-yard line gave Menlo (1-6 overall, 1-2 NWC) its first points before the Oaks had even gained a first down. By that time, however, the Lutes already led 20-0 following a 1-yard scoring run by Reed. PLU sandwiched two more scoring drives around another Lemke field goal of 28 yards to take a 34-6 lead halfway through the second quarter. Jacob Schonau-Taylor scored PLU’s fourth touchdown on a 10-yard run, and Gordon hit Greg Ford in stride with a 50-yard pass for the Lutes’ fifth score of the half. Menlo scored its first touchdown of the game with less than a minute left in the first half on a 4-yard pass from Tony Rehn to Kyle Mosby. At halftime, the Lutes held a 34-13 lead and had gained 283 yards to 178 for the Oaks. Gordon finished 12-for-19 with 244 yards for the game, adding a second touchdown pass to Reed in the first drive of the second half. That 8-yard reception was Reed’s third touchdown of the contest, his seventh in the past two PLU home games and his 10th this season. PLU head coach Scott Westering had already inserted some of his reserves into the game in the second quarter, and after the first team offense played the initial series of the third quarter, they were done for the day. The PLU defensive reserves also played a significant portion of the second half. Junior Luke Absher caught a 28-yard touchdown pass, his first as a collegian, from Michael Byrne for the Lutes’ final score of the game on the first play of the final quarter. Absher finished with two receptions for 37 yards and was one of seven Lutes to catch a pass. The game experience could be valuable for some of the backup wide receivers who could see some time in the coming weeks after Chiado left in the second quarter with a shoulder injury. Before sustaining the injury, Chiado put up solid numbers with 87 yards and one touchdowns on three catches. PLU ran the ball 36 times in the game, gaining 168 yards and scoring two touchdowns. A total of 11 different Lutes had carries, with senior Anthony Canger leading the team with 79 yards on only nine carries. Chalmers and senior Keith Sparks both had six tackles on defense for the Lutes, with Chalmers forcing a fumble and intercepting one pass. The Lute defense sacked the quarterback six times for a loss of 35 yards, constantly pressuring both Menlo quarterbacks who played in the game. Rehn and Angel Molina did complete 30-of-45 passes for 261 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Molina threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Dino Arancibia with 13 seconds left to close out the scoring. The Lutes return to action next Saturday at Linfield at 1:30 p.m. - PLU - (Box score currently unavailable because of computer malfunction)
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