Setting the Scene: Pacific Lutheran opened the season with a big shutout win over Simpson on the road last Saturday, and looks to carry that performance into today, welcoming Minnesota's Concordia College to Sparks Stadium in the home opener.
Series History: This is just the third all-time meeting between the Lutes and Cobbers. The two schools met last season in Moorhead, Minnesota, coming up short 26-21. The only other meeting was back in the 1973 season with the Cobbers earning a 45-6 victory at Franklin Pierce High School.
About the Lutes:Â Darius Chaffin tossed four touchdowns, including a 94-yard strike to Thor Stepina on the first play from scrimmage as the Pacific Lutheran University football team dismantled host Simpson University 43-0 on Saturday night inside Bill Johnson Community Stadium.
It was an inauspicious start for the Lutes (1-0), starting the game on the one-yard line. An offside call against the Red Hawks (0-2) gave PLU some breathing room before Chaffin hit Stepina for a 94-yard touchdown to set the tone for the night.
Kyson Young blocked a Simpson field goal the ensuing drive, setting up the offense at their own 43-yard line. PLU needed just five plays to find the endzone with Chaffin hitting Jase Ellamar on a 17-yard pass and Steele Swinton on a 32-yard pass before Jacob Schuh rumbled in from two yards out to make it 13-0.
Chaffin hit Jacob Schuh with 13:23 left in the second quarter, putting the Lutes up 20-0 to cap off a four-play, 52-yard drive. Later in the quarter, Chaffin hit two-way threat Sam Morasch for a 12-yard touchdown strike, taking a 27-0 advantage into the halftime break.
Stepina tallied his second touchdown of the day midway through the third quarter scoring from 22-yards out off a Chaffin pass to put an exclamation point on a seven-play, 77-yard drive.
Kalen Davis-White recorded a safety with 50 seconds left in the third to push the PLU edge to 36-0 before Swinton hauled in a 34-yard touchdown strike with four minutes left in the fourth for the final score of the night.
Chaffin connected on his first nine passes of the night, finishing the night 21-for-24 with 340 yards and four touchdowns. Stepina led the receiving corps with 116 yards and two scores while Swinton had three receptions for 76 yards. Jase Ellamar was the most popular target with a team-high five receptions. ON the ground, Schuh tallied 48 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per touch.
Sam Morasch did a bit of everything, scoring on offense while also getting an interception and four tackles. Davis-White led the defense. In addition to the safety, the senior had nine tackles and three TFLs while Layne DePeralta and Cole Becker had seven tackles. Becker also had two sacks and a fumble recovery.
"Proud of how our guys responded to the game situations we found ourselves in. Simpson did some good things and got after us and our guys kept bouncing back," said Head Coach Brant McAdams.
"Winning on the road is always tough and our guys traveled well and kept a business mindset throughout the trip. We executed some things really well and there is also plenty to learn from on film so we're back at it this week for the home opener versus a good Concordia team."
PLU was simply dominant, rolling up 478 yards of total offense while limiting Simpson to just 269 yards, including a paltry 1.9 yards per rush on the ground. It was the Lutes' largest win since thumping Willamette University 62-7 in week three of the Northwest Conference season last fall and the program's first shutout win since victimizing the Bearcats 53-0 back on Oct, 29, 2022.
Meet the 2024 Team Captains
This year's team captains are Jacob Schuh and Nico Skinner on offense and Nico Golla and Karen Davis-White on defense.
About the Cobbers: Concordia (0-1) had its season opener spoiled last Saturday, falling at home 21-10 to University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
The game was tied at halftime after the hosts used an 11-play, 87-yard drive to knot the score at 7-7. Neither team was able to score in the third with Concordia booting a 32-yard field goal with 8:42 remaining in the game to take a 10-7 advantage. The visiting Blugolds answered with a time consuming 6:31 drive, scoring on a one yard run to make it 14-10 UWEC with just over two minutes to play. The Blugold defense sealed the victory in the final minute with a Peyton Erikson pick-six giving UWEC an insurance score to make it 21-10.
Cooper Mattern threw for 241 yards and a touchdown but had three interceptions. Owen Miller was Mattern's top target with eight catches for 66-yards and a score. Jordan Summers led the ground attack with 62 yards on 17 attempts.
Defensively, Jaiden Musse finished with eight tackles, two sacks, and an interception while Stuart DeMerit has six stops and Lawrence Edouarzin had two pass breakups.
Concordia outgained UWEC 329 to 222, and limited the visiting Blugolds to just 55 yards on the ground.
Weekend Rewind
Relive the touchdowns, goals, and kills from last weekend in Luteville. It was a weekend that saw football shutout Simpson in California, volleyball win two matches in Texas, and women's soccer net two ties against nationally prominent opponents.
Get in the Game! NMDP Registry
Today, the Lutes are partnering with the National Marrow Donor Project and Get in the Game with a bone marrow donor drive.
Founded in 2010 by former Villanova University Head Football Coach Andy Talley, the organization has helped bring awareness and lifesaving donors to blood cancer patients, including the three most common blood cancers— leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.
Patients with blood cancers have only a 30 percent chance of being a match with a family member which means most rely on an anonymous donor to get the needed lifesaving transplant.
PLU first became involved in the registry and the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation in the spring of 2022 with Head Football Coach Brant McAdams and Head Baseball Coach Nolan Soete collaborating to run the first donor registration event during Division III Week that year.
Since starting the drive, three Lute student-athletes have been matched and have donated live saving bone marrow. Those super heroes are former Lute quarterback Erik Bainter, current assistant coach Jai Alapai, and baseball alum Rowan Amann who donated marrow last spring during the baseball season.
NWC Coaches' Poll
This August, the Lutes were picked to finish fourth in the NWC standings in the annual coaches' poll. Last fall, PLU finished tied for third in the league standings.
Welcome to Luteville Chase!
The PLU football team grew a bit bigger this fall, signing 13-year old Chase Grover from Team Impact in a special draft day ceremony.
Sam Morasch Mic'd Up
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace last fall through the department's partnership with Opendorse. But don't stay on the sidelines, get involved and connect with PLU student-athletes on the Luteville Marketplace: LINK
The Luteville Marketplace is the first dedicated NIL marketplace in Division III on the Opendorse platform that directly connects student-athletes with fans, supporters, and business partners in an easy to use website.
Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University athletic department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Next Home Game:
Oct. 5 vs. Whitworth (Homecoming) at 1 p.m.
PLU Non-Discrimination Policy: Pacific Lutheran University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Jennifer Childress-White; 253-535-7361; TitleIX@plu.edu