PUYALLUP - St. Olaf rushed for 298 yards and quarterback John
Haberman threw four touchdown passes on a hot Saturday afternoon as
the visiting Oles defeated Pacific Lutheran, 46-7, in the Lutes'
season opener at Sparks Stadium.
With game-time temperatures in the mid 80s and the field turf
hotter than that, the Lutes fell behind 14-0 after the first nine
minutes of their season opener and never could get back into the
game against the Oles, who improved their record to 2-0. The 46
points allowed was the most given up by a Pacific Lutheran team in
a season opener in the program's history.
On the other side of the ball, the PLU offense ended the game
with negative 79 rushing yards, 66 of them coming on three
shotgun formation snaps that went over the head of the quarterback,
including one that resulted in a safety.
St. Olaf led 24-0 at halftime on three Haberman touchdown tosses
and a 28-yard field goal by Josiah Powell. Haberman, who finished
the game completing 17-of-27 passes for 147 yards with one
interception, had scoring tosses of seven yards to Jared Mueller
and 20 and 29 yards to Carson Jones.
Leon Clark, who compiled 166 of St. Olaf's rushing total, scored
on a 4-yard run three minutes into the second half to give his team
a 30-0 advantage after the extra point try sailed wide left.
Pacific Lutheran scored its only points on a 63-yard
catch-and-run from AJ Palazzolo to Greg Ford, who adjusted to the
slightly underthrown ball and then raced into the end zone.
Kevin Foss scored the Oles' final two touchdowns, the first on a
4-yard pass from Haberman and the final one on a 6-yard run.
The Oles finished the game with 463 total yards compared to just
104 for the Lutes. PLU netted 183 passing yards, including a
12-of-26 performance for 145 yards by Palazzolo, but the inability
to establish a running game prevented the Lutes from keeping
possession of the ball for any significant length of time. PLU,
playing without four starters because of illness and
injury, turned the ball over four times, three by fumble, and
St. Olaf enjoyed enjoyed a 41 minute to 19 minute possession
advantage.
PLU returns to action next Saturday when it plays Cal Lutheran
in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
- PLU -
