Setting the Scene: Pacific Lutheran returns home riding a three-game win streak, welcoming Oregon rival George Fox University to Sparks Stadium.
Series History: The Lutes and Bruins have met nine times since the George Fox program was started in 2014 with George Fox owning a 5-4 edge in the series.
Pacific Lutheran has dropped four of the last five meetings with the last victory a 13-12 thriller in Newberg during the 2022 season. Last year, the Bruins earned a 35-25 victory in Newberg, scoring the opening 21 points of the game.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (5-2, 3-1 NWC) returns home on a three-game win streak after downing Lewis & Clark College 31-28 last Saturday in a barnburner in Portland.
Neither team was able to score in the opening quarter before Lute quarterback Darius Chaffin broke the seal four seconds into the second quarter, scoring from 10-yards out to put the visitors up 7-0. Chaffin would throw for two touchdowns later in the quarter, giving PLU the 21-7 halftime advantage.
That lead extended to 28-7 in the third with Jase Ellamar hauling in his second touchdown pass of the game, cruising in from 34-yards out.
Cole Sargent booted a season-long 36-yard field goal in the third, extending PLU's lead to 31-14. Lewis & Clark would score twice, including with 13:07 left in the game, making it 31-28. The Pioneers missed two field goals on their final drives of the game— first from 42 yards out and another from 40 yards out as time expired as the Lutes held on for the win.
Darius Chaffin finished with 223 yards through the air, throwing for three scores and no interceptions. Chaffin added another TD on the ground while rushing for 41. As a team, PLU had 214 yards on the ground with Jacob Schuh leading the way with 73 yards.
Jase Ellamar was the top receiver with seven catches for 115 yards and two scores.
Defensively, Nico Golla had five quarterback hurries while Kawika Lopez, Kellen Meade, and David Waters led the team with six tackles apiece. PLU's swarming defense limited L&C to just nine rushing yards on the day, limiting the Pios to just 0.5 yards per rush.
Darius Chaffin has thrown for 1,339 yards this season, tossing 11 touchdowns with just four interceptions and a 64.9 percent completion percentage.
PLU averages 174.3 yards per game on the ground with Jacob Schuh leading the way with 431 yards and four scores. Chaffin and Raysen Motoyama both add five touchdowns on the season.
Thor Stepina leads the team through the air with 30 catches for 466 yards and five touchdowns. All told, six different Lutes have caught a touchdown pass this fall.
Kalen Davis-White is the team leader on defense in tackles with 50 on the season, including 34 solo takedowns. Nico Golla has a team-high 11.5 tackles for loss while Cole Becker had 5.5 sacks and Zachary Gable adds 4.5.
All-Star Attaways: Cole Sargent scored seven points last Saturday and on Monday became the second Lute this fall to win NWC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The senior hit all four of his extra points while banging in a season-long 36-yard field goal in the 31-28 win over Lewis & Clark. Sargent is the fourth Lute to win an NWC award this fall with Connor Meade landing NWC Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 14 while Sam Morasch (9/16) and Kalen Davis-White (9/9) earned NWC Defensive Player of the Week.
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 Bruins: George Fox (4-3, 2-2 NWC) heads to Sparks Stadium having won two of its last three games. The Bruins pummeled University of Puget Sound 40-14 on Oct. 12 before ending on the wrong side of a 47-7 scoreline against nationally-ranked Linfield University the following weekend.
Last Saturday GFU was back in the win column with a 28-7 victory on the road against Willamette University. Taylor Saben had three touchdowns while the Bruin defense limited the Bearcats to just eight first downs and only 75 yards of total offense.
George Fox enters Saturday averaging 337 yards of total offense per game. A bulk of that is done through the air with signal caller DeMontre Thomas II tossing for 1,462 yards and seven touchdowns with eight interceptions on the year. Elias Polanski is his top target with 23 catches for 346 yards and one touchdown.
On the ground, Taylor Saben has eight touchdowns on the season with 371 total yards while William Moffitt and Thomas II have four and three touchdowns, respectively.
Noah Tack is the leading tackler with 52 on the season with 12.5 TFLs and 8.5 sacks. Nash Wylie had 49 tackles while Super Assink has eight TFLs and four sacks.
Weekend Rewind
Check out all the highlights from another busy weekend in Luteville that included four wins over Lewis & Clark!
Football Volunteers in the Community
During fall camp the PLU football squad continued a Lute tradition of service by volunteering at the Tacoma Communities in School's "Stuff the Bus School Supply Drive."
During this event, the PLU football team helped set up booths for vendors, hand out backpacks and school supplies to children, pass out food to families, and many other tasks necessary for this event to run smoothly.
"I'm from Tacoma… and it just feels great to give back to the community. I see a little bit of myself in each one of these kids out here and it's awesome to be around it," said Kellen Meade.
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.
Last spring PLU became just the second Division III school in the nation and the first school in any division in the State of Washington to partner with Athlete's Thread. Athlete's Thread allows every Lute student-athlete to sell customizable gear and jerseys with their name and number and receive monetary compensation for a portion of each sale. Check out the link above to order your gear today!
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:
Nov. 16 vs. Puget Sound 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