FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Pacific Lutheran took its first lead of the day midway through the fourth quarter, but Pacific scored on its next drive and the Boxers defeated the 18th-ranked Lutes for the first time since 1972 with a 31-28 Northwest Conference football win Saturday afternoon at Hanson Stadium.

Pacific Lutheran fell to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in conference play with the loss, while Pacific improved to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in the NWC. The Lutes had previously won 17 consecutive games against the Boxers. PLU returns home next weekend to host Willamette on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Sparks Stadium.

Dalton Ritchey passed for three touchdowns while completing 14 of 25 pass attempts for 127 yards, and the senior quarterback also carried the ball 13 times for a team-high 72 yards. Niko Madison rushed 11 times for 63 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 49 yards.

Kyle Warner caught seven passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns and also completed a 36-yard pass to Madison, and Lucas Sontra caught a scoring pass for the Lutes. On defense, Greg Hibbard tallied 10 tackles and Travis McCarthy, Joel Teats and Cody Tupen all picked up sacks.

Warner Shaw was nearly perfect for the Boxers, completing 21 of 24 pass attempts for 244 yards and three touchdowns. Jakob Lawrence caught two of those scoring passes as part of a seven-catch, 92-yard day, while Jordan Fukumoto caught the other TD pass. Kamana Pimental rushed 18 times for 72 yards.

Pacific Lutheran took the opening kickoff and moved 49 yards down the field before a fumble brought the drive to an end on the Pacific 22-yard line. The Boxers took advantage of the turnover and put together a 12-play, 78-yard drive covering 6:49 to put the first points on the board on a touchdown pass from Shaw to Lawrence.

The Pacific defense forced a three-and-out on the Lutes' next drive, but PLU got the ball back quickly as Joel Anthony recovered a Pacific fumble and returned it 35 yards to the Pacific 23. The Lutes took only three plays and 40 seconds to tie it up on a 1-yard run by Madison.

Pacific followed with the longest possession of the day, as the Boxers held the ball for nearly half the second quarter in a 13-play, 69-yard drive that took 7:13 of the clock. They reclaimed the lead 14-7 on a scoring pass to Fukumoto.

Following stalled drives for each team, the Lutes took possession at their own 32-yard line with only 1:13 remaining before halftime. PLU took only six plays and 51 seconds to drive down the field and tie it again on Ritchey's 25-yard touchdown pass to Warner.

Pacific opened the second half with an eight-play, 66-yard scoring drive to take a 21-14 lead. PLU marched right back down the field, taking almost six minutes before Ritchey again found Warner in the end zone, this time from 10 yards out.

The Boxers' next drive took almost seven minutes off the clock but stalled fourth-and-goal at the PLU 2-yard line. Pacific settled for a 20-yard field goal to go up 24-21 early in the fourth quarter. Ritchey completed all three of his pass attempts and rushed for 36 yards on PLU's next possession, taking 6:15 off the clock while giving the visitors their first lead of the game on a 1-yard scoring pass to Sontra.

Pacific responded with one of its quickest drives of the day, moving 73 yards on six plays covering 2:26 to score the decisive touchdown on an 18-yard pass to Lawrence. That made it 31-28 Pacific with 4:09 remaining. PLU turned the ball over on downs on the next drive as four straight Ritchey passes fell incomplete, and the Boxers were able to run the clock all the way down to one second before the Lutes' last chance fell incomplete.