TACOMA, Wash. – In their final non-conference matchup for the season, the Puget Sound football team sought to secure another victory before entering Northwest Conference play. However, the game against SCIAC opponent University of La Verne, turned into another back-and-forth contest with La Verne finishing on top by a score of 26-21 on Saturday.
La Verne struck first with a 40-yard pass following a Logger interception. Then, mid-way through the second quarter Puget Sound's defensive back
Matai Suitonu returned the favor with an interception returning it to the end zone to even up the score 7-7.
The Loggers weren't done with the first half scoring another touchdown at the 4:39 mark off a pass from
Mason Binning to senior
Izaiah Jerenz to take the Loggers into the locker room up 14-7.
La Verne relied on the rushing game in the third quarter to regain the lead with two touchdowns by running back Andre Maldanado. The Leopards entered the fourth quarter leading 20-14.
Puget Sound quickly responded with a touchdown of their own, as Binning connected with Jerenz again for the score. Kicker
Jordi De La Torre converted the extra point, putting the Loggers back in the lead at 21-20. Once again, La Verne secured their third rushing touchdown of the game to seal the victory.
Jerenz led all Loggers in yardage with 111 receiving yards, while
Nick Fernandez gained 36 rushing yards on the ground before leaving the game. Binning went 27-40-2 on the day for a total of 270 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, both
Michael Toa and
Tyler Evars led the team with seven tackles each.
"We, unfortunately, had several preventable penalties today that put us in bad spots", said Puget Sound Head Coach, Jeff Thomas. "We will use the next two weeks to redouble our efforts to play our brand of football."
The Loggers go into the bye-week with a record of 1-1. Up next is a NWC match up against the Pacific Boxers on September 30
th in Forest Grove, Ore. Kick off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
