THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Cal Lutheran football coach Ben McEnroe only needed to see one category on the stat sheet to know why his team lost.
The Kingsmen were run over by Willamette (Ore.) on Saturday afternoon in their home opener at William Rolland Stadium.
The Bearcats outgained CLU 455-101 on the ground and eventually wore the Kingsmen into submission.
Using fly sweeps and inside handoffs for big gains, Willamette outscored CLU 21-0 in the second half to run away with a 42-24 nonconference victory.
"They just ground us down and did a better job blocking and tackling than we did," McEnroe said. "I thought we abandoned our run game too soon and didn't adjust well enough to stop their run game. Guys had opportunities to make plays and they didn't."
Willamette senior Dylan Jones, a Righetti High graduate, rushed 26 times for 177 yards and three touchdowns to pace the Bearcats' ground attack.
After making significant gains in the first half, CLU's aerial attack couldn't extend drives in the second half to keep the ball away from Willamette (2-0).
The game-changing sequence came midway through the third quarter with CLU (0-2) holding a 24-21 lead.
The Kingsmen had fourth-and-1 from the Willamette 9-yard line. CLU quarterback Nick Isham ran a keeper, but was stopped by Willamette linebacker Benjamin Jahn for no gain.
Willamette (2-0) took over and grabbed its first lead on the ensuing drive when Shawn Wong raced 54 yards for a touchdown on a first-and-20 play.
The Bearcats never looked back, tacking on touchdown runs by Austin Jones and Dylan Jones in the fourth quarter while CLU's offense failed to produce any points.
"That was definitely a massive momentum swing because we had been moving the ball pretty well up to that point and everything kind of screeched to a halt," McEnroe said. "If I had to do it over again, I probably would have kicked the field goal. That is on me as a head coach. It's my responsibility."
Isham finished 24 of 53 for 402 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The Westlake High graduate went the distance for CLU because fellow junior quarterback David Rico was sidelined with an injured index finger he suffered in the season-opening loss to Pacific Lutheran.
Isham led CLU to a touchdown on its first offensive possession when he found Andrew Worthley for a 16-yard score. Worthley finished with seven catches for 170 yards.
The Kingsmen took a 24-14 lead in the second quarter after Jojo Curiel returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.
But Willamette responded with a 45-yard touchdown on a sweep by Beau Smith to spark a run of 28 unanswered points to end the game.
After scoring 24 points in a little more than a quarter of play, CLU's offense was held scoreless for the final 42 minutes of the game.
"I think we just needed to execute better and make the plays that were open," Isham said. "We just didn't execute to the best of our ability on offense. They started to bring blitzes and I needed to take a little bit more control out there."
CLU missed a few opportunities that could have resulted in a bigger first-half advantage.
Wong was ruled down on an apparent fumble during a kick return, and the Bearcats went on to score their first touchdown on a tackle-breaking run by Dylan Jones.
On CLU's ensuing possession, tight end Alix Moise Jr. fumbled while trying to stretch the ball over the goal line and Willamette recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
The Kingsmen will have an extra week to review the film from their season-opening losses with a bye on their schedule before beginning SCIAC play on Oct. 4 against Whittier.
"We are playing for a conference championship. That is all that matters," McEnroe said. "These two games were good measuring sticks to see where we are at, and we are not very good right now. But we have two weeks to get better and I have faith in our coaches and faith in our kids that we will get better."
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