Puget Sound 37, Pomona-Pitzer 7

CLAREMONT, Calif. — Scoring 34 unanswered points, the Puget Sound Loggers opened the 2008 season in grand fashion, sprinting past the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, 37-7, in a NCAA Division III football game on Saturday afternoon at Merritt Field in Claremont, Calif. The game marked the season opener for both schools.

The Loggers (1-0) got on the scoreboard first when freshman kicker Wyatt Evenson (Spokane, Wash./Shadle Park) hit a field goal with 7:45 remaining in the first quarter. The three-point score was the Loggers' first field goal since the second quarter of a 48-7 win over Menlo on Nov. 4, 2006, ending a streak of 42 quarters without a field goal.

Pomona-Pitzer took the lead shortly after when Jacob Caron hit Kevin Kelley for a 68-yard touchdown pass that after the PAT gave the Sagehens a 7-3 lead. The Loggers retook the lead with 14:06 remaining in the first half after senior Silas Paul (Portland, Ore./Oregon) pounded the ball in from a yard out to cap a 13-play, 81-yard drive that gave UPS a 10-7 lead after the Evenson PAT.

Logger quarterback Kavin Williams (Ocean Shores, Wash./North Beach) scrambled in from 9 yards out with 10:21 remaining to cap another long Puget Sound drive, seven plays for 75 yards, that gave the Loggers a 17-7 lead after the PAT. The Loggers ended the scoring on the final play when Evenson hit a 22-yard field goal to give Puget Sound the 20-7 lead at the half.

Williams scored his second touchdown of the game with 9:20 remaining in the third quarter, this time running 12 yards on the seventh-play of a 62 yard drive. Puget Sound continued to pile it on in the fourth quarter as sophomore Casey Larson scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 24-yard rush with 7:50 remaining that gave the Loggers a 34-7 lead. Evenson, who missed a 47-yard field goal attempt with 10:44 remaining in the game, kicked his third field goal of the game with 51 ticks remaining that gave the Loggers the 37-7 victory.

Williams led all players with 130 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and 11-of-20 passing for 149 yards in the air. Larson finished with 120 yards on 14 carries with the one score while Brian Eggers (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) led the Loggers' receiving corps with five catches for 62 yards. The Loggers 477 yards of total offense is the most since UPS put up 519 yards of offense at Whitworth on Nov. 11, 2006.

Defensively, Phillip Thomas (Everett, Wash./Cascade) and Eric Borton (Yakima, Wash./West Valley) led the way with seven tackles each. Thomas added an interception while James Sobotka (Shelton, Wash.) also intercepted a pass, returning the ball 38 yards. Senior Cole Hawes (Renton, Wash./Hazen) had the Loggers lone sack of the day, his only tackle of the game. The Logger defense held the Sagehens to just 199 yards of total offense, the lowest since the Loggers held Menlo to 192 yards on Nov. 4, 2006.

The Loggers return to Tacoma next Saturday when they play host to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Puget Sound's home opener. Kickoff with the Stags is set for 11:30 a.m. on Peyton Field at Baker Stadium in Tacoma, Wash.

Press release submitted by Puget Sound on Sep 13, 2008 at 07:03 PM Eastern