PUYALLUP, Wash. — The Pacific Lutheran University football team maintained its perch atop the Northwest Conference standings on Saturday, unseating Whitworth University 28-7 at Sparks Stadium to move to 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 2010 season.

"Today was a good feeling putting all three phases of football together," said Head Coach Brant McAdams.

"We did a better job of playing complimentary football today by getting on the board early in the game and then our defense finding ways to get off the field and give our offense another opportunity."
 
The Lutes (4-2, 3-0 NWC) got things rolling in the opening quarter with Erik Bainter hitting John Walker on a three-yard touchdown pass, capping off an eight-play, 63-yard drive.
 
Bainter connected with Walker again early in the second quarter on a nine-yard pass, extending PLU's lead to 14-0. The visiting Pirates answered on their ensuing drive, marching 81-yards to close the gap to a single touchdown. 
 
The Lutes squeezed in one more score before halftime, with Manuel Felan accounting for 54 of the team's 59 yards on the drive, including a 21-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds left on the clock. 
 
Whitworth (3-3, 1-2 NWC) was driving early in the third quarter before Cheyn Tam-Switzer picked off a Logan Lacio pass , rumbling 43-yards to the Pirate 24-yard line. 
 
The Lute offense pounced on the short field, hitting John Walker on an 11-yard pass to open the drive. It was a steady dose of Jonathan Tyrell-Smith after that with the freshman scoring from one-yard out for his first collegiate touchdown, giving the Lutes' the 28-7 lead.
 
The Lute defense took over from there with a sack-fumble by Kaysen Higa, stalling a Whitworth drive that was in the red zone before making two more fourth down stops to preserve the win and keep pace atop the NWC standings.
 
Felan led the Lutes with six catches for 91 yards and a score while Walker had five catches for 48 yards and a TD. Michael Martinez, Raysen Motoyama, Tyrell-Smith, and Bainter combined for 149 yards on the ground while Bainter threw for 148 yards and three scores, completing 13 of his 22 attempts. 
 
The stout Lute defense limited the Pirates to -6 rushing yards, sacking the quarterback four times. Colby Rhinelander had nine tackles, including eight solo while Kalen Davis-White added nine more to pace the defense. Nico Golla had two TFLs and a sack while Higa had six takedowns along with his sack-fumble. 

"Our staff and players have worked incredibly hard to put ourselves in conference championship contention in the back half of the season, so we're going to enjoy where we're at for the day and then get back to the process that got us here next week."

Lute Sport Network's Steve Thomas chats with WR John Walker who scored two TDs in @PLUfootball's big victory over Whitworth #GoLutes pic.twitter.com/P9OD8WjMOc

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) October 16, 2022

 
The Lutes are back on the gridiron next Saturday, squaring off against Linfield University in a battle of NWC unbeatens.