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Oct. 30, 2007 FOOTBALL: Lutes Hope to Get Healthy Over Bye Week THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran (6-2, 3-2) has a bye before its last game of the season. SENIOR RECOGNITION: The Lutes recognized all 28 seniors on this year’s team before the game started, lining them up with their parents on the track and announcing their names to the home crowd at Sparks Stadium. Head Coach Scott Westering offered each senior and his parents a warm embrace and a small gift thanking them for their commitment to PLU football.
SPREAD OFFENSE: The Lutes are typically known for getting the ball in the hands of their key playmakers, but with injuries keeping a couple senior starters off the field on Saturday the Lutes turned to some lesser-known players. Three different quarterbacks took snaps in the game, passing the ball 16 times to a total of eight different players. Senior Ryan Alwert led the team with six receptions, gaining 44 yards and scoring the first touchdown of his PLU career in his final home game. Junior tight end Monroe Samifua caught two passes for 24 yards, joining freshmen Greg Ford and Kyle Whitford as Lutes with multiple receptions. Seniors Jens Gilbertson and Jason Simonetti, junior Luke Absher and freshmen Isaac Moog each caught a pass against the Pioneers. In the ground game, 12 Lutes had an opportunity to run the ball a combined 35 times for a total 190 yards and three touchdowns, with no player scoring more than once. LAST WEEK: Facing off against a Lewis & Clark team that had lost 24 straight games stretching back to 2004, Westering called conservative plays and gave 20 different players chances to touch the ball en route to a 39-0 home victory. Against a Lewis & Clark defense that has given up an average of 52 points and more than 500 yards to each opponent coming into this game, it kept the game from developing into an even greater blowout than 39-0. The Lutes led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter in spite of possessing the ball for just over three minutes in the period. After forcing the Pioneers to punt on their first possession, the Lutes took over at their own 48-yard line and drove 52 yards on seven plays for their first score, taking 3:16 off the clock. PLU’s second score came when senior linebacker Chad Blau busted through the Lewis & Clark line and sacked Pioneers quarterback AJ Brown. Brown fumbled the ball on the play, and senior defensive back Jeff Ebel picked it up and took it 64 yards the other way for the PLU touchdown. Blau’s sack marked the only time the Lutes tackled the Pioneers’ quarterback behind the line, but the defensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, taking down Lewis & Clark players behind the line 13 times for a loss of 32 yards. The PLU defense held running Joevonte Mayes, Lewis & Clark’s best offensive weapon and the Northwest Conference’s all-purpose yardage leader, to only 51 yards on 15 carries for a 3.4 yard average. The Lutes also limited Mayes in the passing game to only one seven-yard reception and kicked away from him several times to hold his return yardage to 47 yards on four returns. PLU’s modest 300 total offensive yards on 57 plays reflected the attitude of a team that gave virtually all of its players a chance to play in a game that was essentially decided shortly after it began. All six touchdowns were scored by different players: junior running back Aaron Murphy, senior quarterback Brett Gordon and junior quarterback Michael Byrne all rushed for touchdowns while Alwert caught the only touchdown pass of the game (from Gordon), and Ebel’s fumble return and junior defensive back Matt Wolford’s punt return touchdowns reflected a game in which it seemed like every Lute on the roster contributed. LUTE NOTES: • The Lutes are ranked No. 31 in this week’s edition
of Don Hansen’s Football Gazette Division III rankings. - PLU - |
