THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The No. 18 Cal Lutheran Kingsmen scored 17 points in the second half to erase a 10-point deficit against No. 12 Pacific Lutheran, but the Lutes got a seven-yard touchdown pass from Dalton Ritchey to Lucas Sontra with 3:48 left to play and escaped Saturday's season-opener with a 31-24 victory. The Kingsmen got 142 rushing yards from running back Wayne Chapman and two touchdowns from Ryan Zirbel but Ritchey lifted the Lutes to the victory by throwing for 194 yards and two touchdowns while also running for 89 and two more scores.
Cal Lutheran entered the game as the underdog but it was the Kingsmen offense that caught PLU by surprise, marching down the field on a 10-play, 81-yard opening drive that ended in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Deen to tight end Alix Moise. Donning the Violet and Gold for the first time, Deen went 5-for-5 for 65 yards on the drive including three completions to Moise.
Leading 7-0, the Kingsmen defense forced a punt on PLU's initial drive after a high snap led to Christian Bradley corralling Ritchey for an 18-yard loss.
On the following drive, Chapman, who was also making his debut for the Kingsmen, rushed for 18 yards on first down and then 11 a play later. Two plays later, Chapman again burst through the line for a 19 yard gain that got CLU down to the PLU 30-yard line. Pacific Lutheran would respond however with a sack on the following play and CLU's drive ultimately stalled.
PLU got on the scoreboard four minutes into the second quarter after a 14-play, 76-yard drive that ended in a seven-yard touchdown scamper from Ritchey.
Following the PLU kickoff, Cal Lutheran fumbled on its first play of the drive and the Lutes fell on the ball at the CLU 37-yard line.
The Lutes then advanced down to the CLU 12-yard line after long runs from Ritchey and Brandon James. Despite that, the Kingsmen defense held strong, stopping PLU for no gain on the following two plays and then forced an incompletion on third down. On fourth down, PLU kicker Nick Kaylor booted in a 25-yard field goal and gave the Lutes their first lead at 10-7 with 8:10 left in the first half.
After a Ca Lutheran three-and-out, the Lutes drove down to the CLU five-yard line. With the first half winding down and PLU facing a first and goal, Ritchey bobbled the ball before it fell to the turf but was able to reel it just before a Kingsmen defender could pick it up. Karma would rear its head on the following play however as Ritchey again fumbled the snap and this time it was scooped up CLU free safety Derrick Romo.
Thanks to the defense's heroics, the Kingsmen were able to run out the rest of the first half clock and head into halftime trailing by just three.
To open the second half, it looked as though CLU would retake the lead when PLU kickoff returner Kelly Morgan coughed up the opening kickoff and Jhaylyn Hall was able to pounce on the fumble, placing CLU at PLU's own 18-yard line.
Unfortunately for CLU, Pacific Lutheran linebacker Jordan Patterson picked off a Deen pass inside the 10 and returned it out to the Lutes' 33-yard line.
The Lutes would later get into CLU territory after James broke lose through the right-side for a 55 yard gain before being knocked out of bounds by Josh Bartley at the CLU one-yard line. PLU then scored on a one-yard plunge from Ritchey and went up 17-7.
Trailing by 10 points with 11:33 left in the third quarter, Cal Lutheran mounted its best drive of the game. The Kingsmen started at their own 21-yard line and used four straight carries from Zirbel to gain two first downs. Deen would then connect on two consecutive passes to wide receiver Andrew Worthley to get the Kingsmen out to midfield. Then following a sack, CLU got a bit of luck when it converted on a 3rd-and-18 after the ball deflected out of Worthley's hands into fellow CLU receiver Jacob Scott's for a 22-yard gain. CLU then went back to the ground, giving Zirbel four more carries as he advanced the Kingsmen down to the PLU 17.
On 2nd-and-10, Deen found Sean Bellotti on a 12-yard crossing-pattern that put CLU inside the five and two plays later Zirbel capped the 19-play, 79-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown and pulled Cal Lutheran back to within three at 17-14.
PLU would quickly get its lead back up to seven, scoring on its first play after the kickoff when Ritchey hit Kyle Warner who was streaking down the sideline for a 66-yard touchdown.
Needing to get back in the game quickly, CLU again turned to Chapman who bulldozed his way to 34-yard carry on the first play of the drive. After Zirbel spelled Chapman for a play and gained eight yards, the senior transfer from Texas A&M Corpus-Christie broke into the secondary before narrowly being tripped up just before the end-zone. Zirbel would punch in his second touchdown of the afternoon on the following play and CLU was back trailing by three at 24-21 with 27 seconds left to play in the third quarter.
Riding the momentum of the touchdown, the Cal Lutheran defense got its second turnover of the day on the following PLU drive when cornerback Randy Lee stepped in front of a Ritchey pass and picked it off at the CLU 45.
Driving for the possible go-ahead score, CLU took to the ground with Chapman churning out 20 yards on four carries and moved the ball down to the PLU 41. On 2nd-and-4, Deen dropped back to pass before being flushed out of the pocket and scrambling for a 14-yard gain.
However, CLU would allow two costly sacks on the following two plays and was forced to try a 45-yard field goal. Bellotti, who had never attempted a field-goal in his collegiate career, calmly nailed the kick and tied the score at 24-24 with 13:54 remaining in the game.
Cal Lutheran would be unable to hold the lead for long as Pacific Lutheran responded with a 10-play, 83-yard scoring drive that took 5:28 off the clock and ended with Ritchey's second TD pass of the day.
The Kingsmen, who only had one timeout remaining, saw their valiant effort come to an end as PLU would get two more sacks and force a punt.
With the clock ticking, CLU had one final shot when it got the ball at its own 42 with 31 seconds remaining but an incompletion and another sack ended CLU's chances at an upset.
Deen finished the day 14-of-23 for 140 yards and a touchdown. Moise led all CLU receivers with three catches for 50 yards while Justin Bloom had three receptions for 17 yards. Zirbel finished with 17 carries for 66 yards.
Kingsmen linebacker Chris Cabrera led CLU in tackles with nine including two for loss. Romo was second with six stops while Bryce Henderson had four.
In addition to Ritchey's numbers, James rushed five times for 86 yards while Warner hauled in six catches for 125 yards to lead the Lutes.
Defensively, Greg Hibbard led PLU in tackles with 7.5.
Cal Lutheran (0-1) continues its difficult non-conference schedule when it travels up to No. 3 Linfield (Ore.) next Saturday, Sept. 21. Kickoff is set for 12:30pm.
Box Score: PLU 31 CLU 24
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