By Charlie McGuire, Athletics Communications Assistant
CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Willamette University football team had a tough outing on Saturday, Sept. 25, suffering a 44-8 setback at Pomona-Pitzer Colleges.
The Sagehens jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the opening quarter, scoring on a pair of touchdown passes from Evan Flitz. He capped a 13-play, 70-yard drive with a nine-yard strike to Kenric Jameison and connected with Win Hunter on a six-yard pass on the 10th play of a 67-yard drive at the 1:30 mark.
Pomona-Pitzer blocked a punt with 8:04 remaining in the second quarter that led to a safety to make the score 16-0. Flitz would add a 30-yard touchdown to close out the half and opened the second half with a 62-yard touchdown pass to Cole Barry to extend the margin to 30-0.
The Bearcats answered at the 4:45 mark of the third quarter with Aidan Kuykendall (Sr., QB, San Pedro, CA/Palos Verdes Peninsula HS) throwing a 19-yard touchdown pass to Max Andersen (Sr., WR, Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley HS).
Keaton Adams (Sr., DE, Colorado Springs, CO/Doherty HS) recorded a seven-yard sack that pinned the Sagehens on their own 14-yard line. Following a punt, the Bearcats took over on the Pomona-Pitzer 44-yard line to set up the seven-play scoring drive. Noah Niblett (Fy., TE, Coos Bay, OR/Marshfield HS) caught a pair of passes for 17 yards and Sam Adams (Sr., WR, Sacramento, CA/Rio Americano HS) added a reception on the drive as well.
The Sagehens tacked on two scores in the fourth quarter as Flitz tallied his fifth touchdown pass of the afternoon, finishing the day 29 of 44 while passing for 305 yards.
Kuykendall went 15 for 30 passing for 140 yards while Dante Chaney (So., QB, Arlington, TX/Mansfield Legacy HS) was 5 of 8 for 25 yards. Niblett was the top target, making seven catches for 76 yards, with Anderson covering 41 yards on four receptions.
Christian Tovar (Sr., LB, Covina, CA/South Hills HS) and La'Akea Like (So., LB, Littleton, CO/Columbine HS) each recorded six tackles on the day to anchor the Bearcat defense.
Luke Lowe (Jr., DB, Fresno, CA/Clovis West HS), Dylan Streett (Sr., DB, Santa Barbara, CA/Bishop Diego HS), and Dominic Corado (Fy., LB, Lake Forest, CA/JSerra Catholic HS) each added five stops. Keaton Adams tallied four tackles, including three for losses, with two quarterback sacks for 14 yards. Dom Torres (Sr., DL, North Salt Lake, UT/Woods Cross HS) added 1.5 sacks for a loss of seven yards.
The Bearcats slip to 1-2 on the season while Pomona-Pitzer improves to 2-2 overall. Willamette returns home to McCulloch Stadium to face Pacific University on Saturday, Oct. 2. Opening kickoff is set for 4:00 P.M. (PDT).
