FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Junior Brody Bantolina ran his way into the record book and the Pacific defense forced four Lewis & Clark turnovers to lead the Boxers to a 34-24 victory Saturday afternoon at Hanson Stadium.
Pacific led 13-3 at halftime thanks to a 23-yard touchdown run by Senior Lucas Voss and a 65-yard touchdown pass from Senior Braeden Titus to junior Josiah Chaffin.
After a Lewis & Clark punt pinned the Boxers down at their own 1-yard line early in the third quarter, Bantolina broke free for a 99-yard touchdown run to extend Pacific's lead to 20-3.
"It was great blocking all-around," said Bantolina, who broke Ralph Nickerson's 1975 school record (87 yards) for the longest rushing play in Pacific history. " I can't do much without my O-Line. All glory to them and all glory to God. It was pretty crazy. I thought I was going to catch a cramp, to be honest.
The big plays were contagious.
After Lewis and Clark's Jordan Lahusky answered with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Pacific's
Zion Booker added a 94-yard kickoff return to give the Boxers a 27-10 lead with 11:27 remaining in the third quarter.
"I feel like I owe Pacific money and that I should have paid for a ticket tonight with the amount of crazy plays," Pacific head coach
Ian Falconer said. "I'm really proud of the way the kids fought. We continue to want to play harder than our opponent as a measuring stick and I think tonight we did that."
Bantolina, who finished with 256 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries, got back into the end zone on a 10-yard run to extend the Boxers lead to 34-10 with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter.
"Brody is a special player and a special competitor," said Falconer. "He's tough to tackle in a phone booth. It's nice to have a guy like that. He's so much more mature as a player. It's very, very nice to have him."
As a team, the Boxers rushed for 361 yards on 44 carries.
Titus completed 7 of 13 pass attempts for 130 yards and a touchdown.
With the win, Pacific improved to 1-1 in the Oregon Cup standings after falling to George Fox last season.
"After last season, we had a sour taste in our mouth for a while now, especially after the last game (a 43-23 loss at Chapman), we wanted to get back," Bantolina said. "Lewis & Clark is a great team, but today we were the better team. It feels great to win after last season. I'm truly blessed. All glory to God and the team."
Anthony Lopez recorded 11 total tackles to lead the Pacific defense, which has forced eight turnovers in the first two games of the 2024 season.
Raynne Passi had six tackles in the win.
Mackena Barcelona,
T'nias Tavale,
Isaia Regala and
Alex Villarreal each recovered a fumble.
The game could have been even more lopsided as the Boxers lost a fumble inside the Lewis & Clark 5-yard line, missed two field goals and had an extra point blocked.
"A disciplined football team is going to win more games than a non-disciplined team," Falconer said. "We've got to find a way to make sure we're not beating ourselves. We can play so much better.
"We're going to play some really good teams and if you make that many mistakes, you're not going to beat them. I think the separation from being good and being a great team is the discipline to do things right all the time."
Next: Pacific hosts Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.
For the latest information on Pacific Athletics, make sure to check out GoBoxers.com. You can also find the Boxers on social media at @GoBoxers on Instagram and Twitter.
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