PUYALLUP – Third time's the charm. That was the story for kicker Nick Kaylor and the 17th-ranked Pacific Lutheran football team Saturday, as Kaylor shook off a pair of fourth-quarter field goal misses to send the game-winner through the uprights in the closing seconds to give PLU the 17-16 win over previously undefeated Pacific.
Pacific Lutheran improves to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Northwest Conference play. Pacific takes its first loss to match PLU's 5-1 overall and 2-1 conference marks after the Boxers won their first five games of the season for the first time in program history.
"We had a really hard-fought game today against Pacific," Kaylor said. "The entire team battled their hearts out and absolutely played amazing. Fortunately it came down to that field goal situation, but I would have had no way to get into that position without my team."
The chances seemed slim for PLU following the two missed field goals. The first came early in the fourth quarter as PLU reached the Pacific 1-yard line before taking an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and moving back 15 yards. Kaylor's 33-yard attempt sailed wide right, as Pacific clung to its slim 16-14 lead. His second attempt capped a 12-play PLU drive that took 8:33 off the clock and reached fourth-and-9 at the Pacific 12 with less than three minutes to play. That one had no chance, as the Boxers broke through the line and blocked the kick.
With one timeout and 2:39 on the clock, the PLU defense stepped up to force a three-and-out, punctuated with a seven-yard sack of quarterback T.C. Campbell on third-and 4. But even then, Pacific was punting back to the Lutes with 53 seconds remaining and PLU lacking a single timeout.
Things appeared to take a turn for the worse when Connor Cummings fumbled the Pacific punt and it rolled backwards 15 yards to the 22, but Cummings promptly corralled the ball and took off down the right sideline up to the Pacific 42. Suddenly the PLU offense had a glimmer of hope, even with only 25 seconds to work with.
PLU quarterback Dalton Ritchey completed all four of his pass attempts – disregarding a pair of clock-stopping spikes – as the Lutes made their way all the way to the Pacific 3-yard line with five seconds left in the game. At that point Kaylor lined up for his third field goal try, this one a 20-yarder with all the Lutes' hopes on the line.
Sure enough, Pacific got a hand on the ball again as it sailed up and over the line. Only this time, the Boxers could not get a clean block, and the fluttered over the uprights to give PLU the 17-16 advantage with only two seconds to go. Kaylor fittingly capped the win on the ensuing kickoff, forcing Boxer return man Deven McKinney out of bounds to seal the deal.
Ritchey finished the game with 269 yards passing, completing 22 of 31 pass attempts. Kellen Westering led the PLU receiving corps with 86 yards on six catches, while Kyle Warner grabbed six passes for 62 yards. Niko Madison rushed for 42 yards and a touchdown and Va'aselau Logotala added 11 yards and a score on the ground.
Cummings and Jordan Patterson led the defensive effort with six tackles apiece. Cummings grabbed one of PLU's two interceptions in the game – Sean McFadden snagged the other – and Patterson finished with 1.5 tackles for-loss. The teams finished with nearly identical yardage totals, as PLU narrowly out-gained Pacific 345-to-335.
Campbell and P.J. Minaya combined for 246 yards passing for the Boxers with one touchdown and a pair of interceptions. Jordan Fukumoto tallied a game-high 113 receiving yards on five catches, while Deven McKinney rushed for 52 yards on only six attempts.
The Lutes took a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter following rushing touchdowns by Madison and Logotala. Pacific got on the board on its next drive with a field goal, and the Boxers scored their first touchdown of the game one possession later as Campbell connected with James Berry from nine yards out. Another Pacific field goal at the end of the half made it 14-13 at the break, and the Boxers' final points came on their third field goal of the game midway through the third quarter to cap a 14-play, nearly-eight-minute drive.
"I'm so proud of every single one of them," Kaylor said of his teammates. "From here we just have to continue working on practicing perfect and continue to play as hard as we can, trying to be our best self and continue, hopefully with some wins."
Pacific Lutheran heads back out on the road next week, traveling to Oregon for a 1:30 p.m. matchup against No. 22 Willamette. Pacific returns home to host University of Chicago in its final nonconference game of the season.
