PUYALLUP, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University football team had Whitworth University against the ropes heading into the fourth quarter but two late scores sealed the Lutes fate, falling 28-10 in the squad's Northwest Conference home opener on Saturday at Sparks Stadium.

Defense ruled the opening quarter with the Lutes (0-2) and Pirates (2-0) battling to a scoreless opening 15 minutes that included the PLU defense forcing a three and out and a turnover on downs. Whitworth got on the scoreboard midway through the second, turning an interception into a 10-play, 59-yard drive that was capped off with a 13-yard touchdown recption by Ethan Peloquin.

Whitworth doubled the lead just five minutes later with an eight-play, 56-yard drive that was finished off with a one-yard plunge from Brayden Corona. The Lutes made the most of the final three minutes before halftime, piecing together a 12-play, 76-yard drive that culminated in a 37-yard field goal by Peiyton Hilliard. Quarterback Kellan Kranc engineered the scoring drive with a 13-yard strike to Alex Rendon to start things off before finding Wesley Nixon on a clutch third down conversion. Kranc came through again on third down with a 33-yard toss to John Walker before finding Jac Keim on a 25-yard reception as the Lutes trailed 14-3 at the intermission.

PLU needed just five plays to march 97 yards down the field late in the third quarter. Pinned on the three-yard line, Kranc again connected with Walker on a long passing play, with Walker hauling in a 43-yard catch. The drive appeared to be stalled on a fourth-and-two before quarterback Erik Bainter found the seam on fourth and scampered for 46-yards to the endzone as the Lutes trailed 14-10 heading into the final stanza.

Whitworth's Ethan Peloquin hauled in another touchdown pass, this time on a deflection with 9:24 left in the game, bumping the Pirate advantage to 21-10 before Jaedyn Prewitt added an insurance score with 51 seconds left on a 29-yard run to account for the final 28-10 scoreline.

Erik Bainter led the ground attack with six carries for 62-yards and a score. Kranc threw for 173 yards on the day with Rendon his most popular target, hauling in seven passes. Walker led the team in receiving yards with 84 on just three catches. Punter Max Boekenoogen turned in a strong performance, deftly avoiding a safety and scampering 18-yards for a first down on a botched snap while booting the ball seven times with a 40.9-yard average. That included a mammoth 71-yard boot in the first quarter.

Defensively, Kalen Davis-White had a team-high 12 tackles, including two TFLs while Chase Rhinelander netted 11. Kord Tuttle notched 10 tackles while Noah Dunham came up with a fumble recovery.

Saturday was senior day as the program honored its 15 senior student-athletes.

"It was great to get to honor our seniors on our first day back in Sparks in 470 days," said Head Coach Brant McAdams.

"This is a group that has elevated our culture of team and work. They showed it by how they led this team over the last two weeks so we could grow from week one to week two and we did that today. We put ourselves in position to get a win against a good football team and we're looking forward to another week of growth this week."

The Lutes are back in action next Saturday, playing under the lights in a rare night game against crosstown rival University of Puget Sound. Action inside Sparks Stadium gets underway at 6 p.m.