TACOMA – Pacific Lutheran compiled 534 yards of total offense and averaged more than seven yards per play as the Lutes downed cross-town rival Puget Sound 42-27 in Northwest Conference football action Saturday afternoon at Baker Stadium.

With the win, Pacific Lutheran improved to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Puget Sound fell to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the NWC. The Lutes return home for the final two games of the 2014 season and will host Whitworth Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. at Sparks Stadium.

Following a six-touchdown performance in the Lutes' record-breaking win against Willamette one week earlier, Dalton Ritchey threw for 265 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for 80 yards to lead the PLU offense. Niko Madison ran for 137 yards and a touchdown on only 16 carries and added a touchdown catch, and Kyle Warner caught 10 passes for 142 yards and three scores.

Joel Teats led the PLU defensive effort with 12 tackles, including one sack, while Blake Petersen tallied five tackles and an interception. The Lute offense followed last weekend's perfect yardage split with 269 rushing yards and 265 passing yards on Saturday.

Braden Foley threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns with one interception on 54 pass attempts for Puget Sound. Foley was also the Loggers' leading rusher with 46 yards on the ground as PLU limited UPS to 77 rushing yards. Kevin Miller caught 10 passes for 122 yards and two scores.

The Lutes got on the board first as they took the opening kickoff and moved 65 yards down the field on nine plays to go up 7-0 on a 5-yard scoring pass from Ritchey to Madison. The Loggers made it 7-3 right before the end of the first quarter on a 25-yard field goal.

A Marc Gallant 2-yard scoring run made it 14-3 midway through the second quarter before Foley hit Miller for a 53-yard score. The Loggers converted a two-point conversion to pull within 14-11 with one minute remaining before halftime.

One minute was plenty of time for the PLU offense, which drove 71 yards on seven plays in only 42 seconds before scoring on a 22-yard Madison touchdown run. That gave PLU a 21-11 lead going into the break.

The Lutes made it 28-11 on their first drive of the second half as Ritchey found Warner from 19 yards out, and a UPS turnover set up the Lutes' next score as Ritchey and Warner connected from 31 yards out to give the visitors a 35-11 lead.

Puget Sound got two more short scoring passes from Foley and a 28-yard field goal to keep the game from getting out of hand, but Ritchey found Warner for their third touchdown connection of the half late in the fourth quarter as PLU surpassed 35 points for the fifth time this season.