Football team wins final home game of season
Football team wins final home game of season
by David KolekLewis & Clark College finished its final home game of 1997 in style, beating the Whitworth College Pirates 20-7 before about 1,000 fans.
Neither squad scored in the first quarter, but LC started a drive toward the end zone just after the second period began.
Jesse Ortiz caught a pass from Drew Jordan for 20 yards to start the drive. Two plays later Jordan connected with LC’s reliable receiver, senior Casey Easterly, for a 43-yard gain.
The Pioneers found themselves deep within Pirate territory at the 19-yard line. Ortiz broke open for 14 yards, and then for 4 more which put the Pioneers on the one. Two plays later LC found themselves still one precious yard from scoring.
LC called a time-out and decided to take a chance and go for the touchdown. Jordan came out and calmly found Benjamin Reim in the end zone for the one-yard touchdown.
The extra point by Kyle Jefferies was blocked, but the Pioneers still found themselves up 6-0.
The LC defense took center stage on the following Whitworth possession. They caused a fumble on the first play of the Pirate drive which was recovered by LC freshman defensive end Lee Thomas on the Whitworth 22-yard line.
Jordan hit Tony Jones for 17 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Jordan connected with Aaron Schmidt from the five-yard line for LC’s second touchdown of the game.
The Pioneers failed to complete a two-point conversion attempt but held the lead at 12-0.
Just before the second period came to a close, the Pioneers added their final points of the day. In the last 45 seconds, Jordan worked almost exclusively with Schmidt to put LC in the end zone again. Starting from the Whitworth 32, Jordan found Schmidt for an 18-yard gain. On the very next play, Schmidt took Jordan’s pass the final 14 yards for LC’s third touchdown of the period, and Schmidt’s second.
Whitworth finally broke LC’s shut out at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a touchdown, but it would not be enough to change the balance on this day.
Ortiz was named the NCIC Player of the Week for his performance on Nov. 1. He turned in a balanced attack and finished with 347 yards of total offense. He had 104 on the ground, collected another 115 receiving and 128 on kick returns.
Jordan continued his strong showing completing 20 of 31 passes for 278 yards. Jordan, a freshman, remains second in the NCIC in both passing and total offense.
Schmidt finished with two touchdowns and stands at fourth overall in the NCIC in scoring, averaging almost a touchdown per game.
On defense, freshman Lee Thomas had ten tackles, two of which were for losses, one for a fumble recovery, and one for a sack.
Another freshman on the defense, David Hurt, had 12 tackles and broke up two passes.
Jeremy Cox, a senior playing in the final home game of his LC career, finished with 13 tackles, including three for losses, and knocked down one pass.
The Pioneers finish the 1997 season on the road against the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers on Nov. 8 in La Grande, Oregon. With a victory the Pioneers could close the season at an even 3-3 in the NCIC.
