TACOMA, Wash. - The Puget Sound Loggers survived the elements
but couldn't survive the 22nd-ranked Willamette Bearcats in a
Northwest Conference football game on Saturday afternoon on Peyton
Field at Baker Stadium in Tacoma, Wash.
The Bearcats, ranked 22nd in the latest D3football.com Top 25,
got on the scoreboard first when Brian Widing connected on a
three-yard pass to Scott Schoettgen with 6:41 left in the first
quarter and the PAT by Mitchell Rowan was successful for a 7-0
Bearcat lead. Willamette made it 14-0 with just 49 seconds
remaining in the opening period when Jamiere Abney scampered in
from three yards out to cap a nine-play, 64-yard drive.
Willamette made it 21-0 with 4:28 to play in the first half when
Schoettgen caught a six-yard pass from Kevin Ramay. It was
deja vu a few minutes later as Schoettgen and Ramay connected again
for a six-yard touchdown pass with 32 second left in the second
quarter to give Willamette a 28-0 lead heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Bearcats continued to pile it on,
using a 27 yard field goal by Rowan to make it 31-0 and then a
34-yard pass reception from Ramay to Schoettgen that made it
37-0. The excitement reached a pinnacle in the end of the
third quarter when a strong thunderstorm converged upon Tacoma and
game officials delayed the start of the fourth quarter by 57
minutes.
The game did continue just after 4:00 p.m. local time but
neither team was done playing. Willamette made it 43-0 with
13:03 left in the game on an eight-yard run by Jake Turner and then
the Loggers earned their way onto the scoreboard with 9:29 left to
play as Spencer Crace (Wilsonville, Ore.) connected with Tim
Fogarty (Pacifica, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral) but the PAT was
no good as the Loggers trailed 43-6.
The final tally came with 4:04 left to play as Jose Green ran
the ball in from two yards out as the Bearcats collected the win,
50-6.
Puget Sound struggled offensively on the day, earning just 125
yards total offense. Crace finished the game five-of-18
passing for 26 yards and the touchdown. Casey Larson
(Coupeville, Wash.) led the Loggers on the ground with 12 carries
for 43 yards. Defensively, the Loggers were led by 10
tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, from Tyler Vlasak (Sumner,
Wash.).
Willamette was led by 196 yards passing on 10-of-15 attempts
from Ramay. Widing ended the game with 137 yards in the
air. Abney led the Bearcats on the ground with 13 attempts
for 61 yards and Schoettgen finished the game with nine catches for
135 yards and four touchdowns. The Bearcats collected 552
yards of total offense on 80 plays.
The Loggers will conclude the 2009 season next Saturday when
they travel down to Portland, Ore. to take on Lewis & Clark.
