THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - In the first home game of the season, the Cal Lutheran football team dropped a heartbreaker 28-24 to Willamette after the Bearcats rallied from a 21-point deficit early and scored a touchdown with less than a minute remaining to top the Kingsmen at Rolland Stadium on Saturday.
CLU came out of the gates strong and used a 12-play, 92-yard drive to find the end zone on its first series of the game. Foorever Campbell highlighted the drive with four rushes for 28 yards, including a long of 17 yards, and hauled in a 10-yard reception from quarterback Adam Friedercishen. On first-and-goal from the one-yard line, junior Chris Beeson charged past the goal line to give the Kingsmen an early 7-0 lead.
The Violet and Gold doubled up their lead to 14-0 after Friederichsen connected with Aaron Lacombe for a 17-yard touchdown pass to start the second quarter. The score capped off a 10-play, 62-yard drive that featured a big 18-yard catch from Lacombe along with a 15-yard reception by Josh Mooney.
On the next Bearcats possession, Nate Thompson made a stellar defensive interception and returned the ball 12 yards, setting up the Kingsmen offense just 18 yards from the end zone.
Friederichsen and Lacombe connected once more, this time on a 23-yard pass, to put the Kingsmen ahead 21-0 midway through the second quarter.
Everything seemed to be falling into place for the Kingsmen, who came up with yet another defensive stop forcing a Willamette punt near the end of the first half. On the next offensive possession for CLU, however, the Bearcats snagged an interception of their own and ran it back 68-yards to the Kingsmen one-yard line. After running it in for a touchdown on the next play, Willamette found itself on the scoreboard and gained some momentum heading into halftime.
To start the second half, neither team could gain any traction offensively as the Kingsmen and Bearcats traded the football after a series of three-and-outs.
Late in the quarter, the Bearcats were able to break through with an 8-play, 69-yard drive that lasted over three minutes and cut the CLU lead to 21-14 after a three-yard touchdown run.
After a 22-yard field goal by Nick Covey gave the Kingsmen a 24-14 advantage with 10:16 remaining, the Bearcats found the end zone again two minutes later to make it 24-21 CLU.
The next Kingsmen drive showed promise after a 12-yard completion to Diego Hernandez, but CLU was halted one-yard short of a first down a few plays later and forced to punt.
Trailing by three, the Bearcats marched down the field, converting a fake-punt play on fourth-down, and later completed a 15-yard touchdown pass with just 59 seconds left to win the game.
Friederichsen finished 21-of-39 passing for 254 yards and two touchdowns for the Kingsmen while Willamette quarterback Ryan Knowlton went 26-for-48 for 231 yards and one touchdown. Friederichsen also led CLU in rushing with 41 yards on 10 carries. Campbell ended up with 39 yards on 16 rushes.
Lacombe led the receiving group with five catches and 94 yards along with Mooney who added four catches for 47 yards and Wendell O'Brien's three catches for 46 yads.
Defensively, Acquarey Eddington was all over the field and finished with a game-high 12 tackles including a sack to force a loss of 11 yards. Trevor Roe and Nick Gordon added seven apiece and Obasi Dees tallied six.
The Bearcats were led by Taylor Wyman, who rushed 21 times for 60 yards and two touchdowns, and Alex Israel who caught seven passes for 109 yards and a score.
Cal Lutheran (0-2) will have a bye next week before beginning Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action against the defending conference champions, La Verne (0-2), on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:00 p.m. inside Rolland Stadium.
Box Score: WU 28, CLU 24
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