THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - For the fourth consecutive season the Cal Lutheran football team squared off against Pacific Lutheran, and for the first time since 2012, defeated the Lutes with a come-from-behind 30-26 victory at Rolland Stadium on Saturday night.
After losing the last two years by just a touchdown, a battle was expected between the two teams. PLU exhibited a strong passing attack early and often as quarterback Jon Schaub threw for over 308 yards on the night. The Kingsmen answered with a strong running game led by CJ Washington who rushed 23 times for 122 yards and a touchdown.
CLU opened the game with a deep 75-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Michael Butler. In his first career start, Butler found Trever Wood down field for the score and took an early 7-0 lead. The Lutes, however, were quick to respond and tied the game up 7-7 at the end of the first.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, Butler would unfortunately leave the game with an injury, prompting sophomore Adam Friederichsen to step up and fill his shoes.
Although CLU headed into the half trailing 26-10, the second half would see a new and reenergized Kingsmen team as they were able to shut the Lutes offense down.
A critical Josh Bartley interception in the third would shift the momentum for the Kingsmen and a rush by Isaac Seymour to complete the next drive would cut the Lutes lead to 26-17. Cal Lutheran was able to convert on yet another second and goal with a rush by Washington to put the Kingsmen within three at 26-23.
Dalton Santos came through with a big sack for a loss of 13 yards, forcing PLU to punt with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. In less than a minute and a half the Kingsmen were able to supply a three-play, 43-yard drive capped off by a 39-yard go-ahead touchdown pass from Friederichsen to Wood with 3:03 left to play.
The remaining few minutes of the game saw clutch defense from the Violet and Gold as they were able to hold off the Lutes. Making his CLU debut, Laz Ford tied with senior Ronny Camacho for a team-high 8.5 tackles and sophomore Trever Roe added six in the game.
Senior Jack McFarland also played a big role in the battle of field position, totaling six punts for 225 yards and pinning four inside the 20-yard line.
Overall, CLU had a total of 358 offensive yards to PLU's 362, and although the Lutes out-passed CLU 308-178, the Kingsmen's running game proved much better totaling 180 yards to the mere 54 the Lutes put up.
The Kingsmen will be on the road Saturday, Sept. 19 as they travel to Salem, Ore. to take on the Willamette Bearcats at 12:30 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 30, PLU 26
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