PUYALLUP, Wash. - A field goal at the end of the second quarter to tie things at halftime and 20 unanswered points in the second half propelled the No. 11 Cal Lutheran football team past Pacific Lutheran, 37-23, in the season opener for both squads.
CLU jumped out to a 14-0 lead after the opening period, but PLU battled back and took a 17-14 lead with 37 seconds to play in the second quarter. Cal Lutheran kicker David Sandler countered with a 40-yard field goal of his own as time expired to knot things up at the break.
The Kingsmen rattled off 20 points for their total of 37 and held on for the victory despite a Lutes 2-yard touchdown run in mid-way through the fourth.
Early on, PLU had a pair of touchdowns negated by penalties and Cal Lutheran was able to capitalize on a fumble that James Emma recovered on the PLU 22 yard line. Senior quarterback Kevin Ramay completed passes to Donald Senegal and Vance Cramer to set up a two-yard touchdown run for freshman Romello Goodman, the first of his collegiate career and the first of the season for the Kingsmen, with 1:17 remaining in the first. Sandler finished off the play for a 7-0 lead.
In tight man-to-man coverage on the next series, Cal Lutheran junior defensive back Vincent Minor picked off PLU quarterback Dalton Ritchey, returning the interception for a 34-yard score. Again Sandler finished it off for the Violet and Gold.
Pacific Lutheran's scoring came in the same sequence in the second quarter as it did for CLU in the first. It began with a CLU fumble, recovered by the home squad. The Lutes marched 70 yards down the field into the end zone to cut the Cal Lutheran lead in half on a four-yard run. The second PLU score of the came via an interception, finishing with a one-yard rushing TD
On the next possession, a 3-and-out for the Kingsmen, Sandler saved a high snap and got a punt off seconds before being blocked with 4:52 in the opening half.
The ensuing PLU drive started at the PLU 41-yard line and after running 4:15 off the clock concluded with a 25-yard field goal by Nick Kaylor, putting the Kingsmen at a three-point deficit.
Starting on their own 25 yard line with 37 ticks to play Ramay completed a pass to Frankie Jones who went out of bounds just shy of a first down. He then completed a pair of passes to preseason All-American Eric Rogers for 22 and 16 yards, respectively, before rushing for six more to set up Sandler for the FG attempt.
After the intermission CLU held the Lutes to a single yard on the opening possession, aided by a PLU miscue. A muffed punt snap gave the Kingsmen the ball on the PLU 30-yard line. Goodman quickly rushed for 15 yards before Ramay ran 15 yards into the end zone for his first TD of the season. The PAT was wide left to give CLU a 23-17 advantage.
The lead improved to 30-17 when Ramay and Rogers connected for the longest completion of the game, a 47-yard touchdown pass. Sandler again capped off the play with a PAT.
Rounding out the scoring for the Kingsmen was Senegal who grabbed a seven yard pass from Ramay for the final TD of the day. Sandler concluded his day with another PAT to finish with seven points.
Ramay went 13-for-36 for 262 yards with two touchdowns in his first start. He was intercepted twice. The offensive line of Jordan Austin, Ty Olson, Bryan Moss, Zack Vanderzel and Andrew Pankow did a good job protecting Ramay as he was sacked just once.
Overall CLU gained 399 yards on offense. Rogers was responsible for 11 catches for a game-high 177 yards. Goodman caught five passes for 34 yards out of the backfield and the freshman running back led all ball carriers with 88 net yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
Free safety Broc Galbreth was all over the field for CLU, finishing with a game-high 10 tackles, eight of them solo. The Kingsmen had three quarterback sacks and nine tackles for loss. Steven Keezer was credited with three tackles for a loss, including a sack, pushing the Lutes back 20 yards. Bryant Chirinos had a sack and Andrew Worthley and Rian Younker combined for the third. Tim Cozine finished with nine tackles, five solo, and Dontaie Ferguson had seven, four solo. Caius Radu grabbed the second interception of the game.
Sean Bellotti kicked off five times for CLU and Sender took one kickoff.
The Lutes compiled 385 yards of total offense, including 337 through the air on 22-for-43 accuracy by Ritchey, a sophomore making his first collegiate start. Kellen Westering had seven catches for 111 yards for PLU.
Cal Lutheran (1-0) will return to William Rolland Stadium for the season home opener on Saturday, Sept. 15 against No. 5 Linfield (2-0) at 12:30 p.m. The Wildcats defeated Hardin-Simmons 49-35 today.
Box Score: CLU 37, PLU 23
