View photos from today's game
TACOMA, Wash. – Perfect. Head coach Jeff Thomas can now
say he is perfect as a head coach with the Puget Sound football
team's season-opening 36-19 win over visiting Pacific on Saturday.
The Loggers jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and
never looked back to end their nine-game winless streak.
From the opening moments, the Loggers had things going their way
as Brian
Marshall returned the opening kickoff 70 yards to the Boxers'
16 yard-line. From there, it took just two plays for the Loggers to
get on the board. Kapuno Park picked up 11 of his 18 yards on the
day on the drive, capped by a nine yard run into the end zone.
The defense kept all the momentum on the Logger sideline by
forcing a three-and-out on the first Boxer possession. Duncan White took over for
the Loggers, scrambling for 26 yards on the second play of the
drive. White also completed his first three passes to get the
Loggers inside the Boxers' 5-yard line. Senior Casey Larson pounded the
ball in on second-and-goal to give the Loggers a 13-0 lead.
The defense refused to allow anything to the Boxer offense
throughout the first quarter. The Boxers never reached Logger
territory until late in the opening frame. The defense received a
bit of help from Tyler Schaner when he
pinned the Boxers on their own 2-yard line.
The defense made sure to keep the Boxers back against the wall
as they narrowly missed a safety when preseason All-American Tyler Vlasak and Micah Marter took
down the Boxers' running back inside the one. On the very next
play, the Loggers jumped on a fumble to take over one the Boxer one
yard-line.
It took just one play for White to find Adam Kniffin on a fade
route in the end zone to give the Loggers a 20-0 lead. That proved
to be all they would need and the Loggers never looked back as they
cruised to victory.
White shined in his first start as a Logger. The senior captain
went 19-for-28 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. Larson, another
senior captain, led the ground attack with 55 yards rushing on 10
attempts.
White's second touchdown pass came in the middle of the second
quarter when he connected with Thiesen Chang on a
24-yard touchdown pass. Chang led the Logger receivers with 94
yards and seven catches.
Coach Thomas opened up the trick-play book in the second half
when he called John
Martino's number. Martino caught a lateral on the far sideline
and found Lukas
Diesing wide open behind the defense for a 22-yard touchdown
strike.
The Boxers settled for four field goals in the game, thanks to a
stingy Logger defense, before finally finding the end zone with
1:21 remaining in the game. Vlasak led the Loggers with nine
tackles in the game, including one sack and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
He was part of an assault on the Boxer backfield by the front line
of the Logger "D". The Loggers racked up 10 tackles-for-loss and
three sacks to stall the Boxer defense. Casey Coberly was a
regular in the backfield with a sack of his own and a team-leading
two TFLs.
Taylor Firman
recorded 5.5 tackles and recorded the only pick in the game when he
stepped in front of a Boxer pass and returned it 27 yards before
finally being dragged down near midfield.
The defense allowed just 35 yards on the ground and kept the
Boxers to just six points in the first half.
The Loggers continue the 2010 campaign next Saturday when they
travel down to Los Angeles, Calif. for a non-conference matchup
with Occidental College. The game will be at 7 p.m. on Sep. 11.
