Tacoma, Wash. - Willamette Football traveled to play the University of Puget Sound in a battle of teams looking for their first conference victory. Quarterback Pres Juarez threw for three touchdowns, but it wasn't enough to overcome an early Puget Sound lead and the Bearcats fell 38-23.
Puget Sound received the opening kick-off and moved the ball down the field 74 yards in four plays, capping on the drive with a Henry Hernandez 2-yard touchdown run. Willamette would respond on their first drive thanks to a series of runs by Jerrick Little, Austin Snodgrass, and Pres Juarez. The Bearcats moved as deep as the Loggers' 19-yard line but had to settle for a 31-year field goal by Nick Beswick-Seidl.
The Loggers scored on their next possession to take a 14-3 lead and stopped the Bearcats on their next drive to get the ball back. Beswick-Seidl pinned Puget Sound back deep at their own four-yard line after a 56-yard punt, but Puget Sound quickly moved the ball downfield via the pass on connections from quarterback Mason Binning to leading receivers Joe Gallagher and Tommy Milton. The drive was capped off by a 12-yard pass from Binning to Jake Elorduy to give the home team a 21-3 lead.
After the Loggers returned an interception for a touchdown on the next possession to extend their lead to 28-3, a Puget Sound onside kick gave the Bearcats a short field on their next possession and they took advantage of it thanks to a long completion from Pres Juarez to Elijah Romero on the first play and a short pass on from Juarez to Austin Snodgrass that led to a 21-yard touchdown. The PAT was missed to make the score 28-9.
Each team punted on their next few possessions before Willamette marched deep into Logger territory with under a minute to go in the first half. The Bearcats were stopped on a 4th-and-3 play at the Puget Sound five-yard line for a turnover-on-downs. Binning led to Loggers eighty-eight yards to the Bearcat 7-yard line and added a field goal right before the end of the second quarter.
Puget Sound was the only team to score in the third quarter and extended their lead to 38-9. The final quarter saw the Bearcats attempt a furious comeback that started with their first drive and a 34-yard touchdown pass from Juarez to Trajan Clark.
On the next Logger drive, Orion Woods broke up two pass attempts by Binning and John Williamson recorded a sack to force a punt. Completions of 24-yards to Jonah Luhrsen and 28-yards to Brandon Johson quickly got the Bearcats into Puget Sound territory and the drive was capped off by a 5-yard completion to Mason LaPlante in the back corner of the endzone to make the score 38-23.
Puget Sound took over with just over five minutes remaining in the game and was able to run out the clock thanks to strong runs by Hernandez and a key conversion on 3rd-and-7 with three minutes remaining.
Juarez completed 16 of 26 passes for the game, for 244 yards and three touchdowns. Jonah Lurhsen was his favorite target, catching six passes for 87 yards. Austin Snodgrass led Willamette in rushing with 47 yards on 11 carries, followed closely by Gabriel Herrera with 44 yards on eight carries.
Landon Waters led the Bearcats in tackles with six, followed by Orion Woods, Dominic Corado, and Brayden Duke each with five. Duke, John Williamson, and Austin Payne each contributed a sack on the afternoon. Salah Hill and Hogan Smith recorded interceptions for the Bearcats.
The Bearcats play their final home game on Saturday, November 9th, against Pacific University. Kick-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm. Before the game, Willamette will honor all the team members playing for their final time at McCulloch Stadium.
