Whitworth Pirates power past Pacific

Anthony Lessier rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns in place of leading rusher Adam Anderson as Whitworth scratched its way to a 24-12 Northwest Conference win over Pacific (0-6, 0-4) Saturday in Forest Grove, Ore.

Anderson gave the Pirates (4-3, 2-1) their first touchdown of the afternoon on a 27-yard scamper at the 14:06 mark of the first quarter, but left at the beginning of the second and would not return.

Without Anderson, a two-time NWC Offensive Player of the Year, Whitworth turned to Lessier, who notched touchdowns on runs of 31 and 19 yards, the second giving Whitworth a 24-6 lead with 7:17 remaining in the third quarter.

Defensively, the Pirates held Pacific to just 138 yards passing, its second lowest output of the season. Led by Casey Monahan’s two interceptions, the Pirates forced four picks.

Whitworth hosts Willamette Saturday at 1 p.m.

Lewis & Clark 68, Puget Sound 64: Quarterback Keith Welch threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns on 13-of-18 passing and rushed for 147 yards and three TDs to lead the Pioneers (4-2, 2-1) to a high-scoring win over the Loggers (1-6, 0-4) in Tacoma.

Trailing UPS by three in the final minute, Welch hit Shawn Evans in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown, giving the Pioneers a four-point lead with just 1 second remaining.

Loggers’ quarterback Duncan White finished with 625 yards passing and eight touchdowns.

Linfield 35, Pacific Lutheran 20: In a battle for first place in the NWC, Aaron Boehme threw for 196 yards and three TDs and Simon Lamson added 124 yards rushing with two TDs to lead the Wildcats (5-1, 4-0) to a win over the Lutes (5-1, 2-1) in Puyallup.

Central Washington 26, Humboldt State 18: Kollin Hancock finished with a career-high 95 yards receiving and one TD after two straight weeks without a catch and the Wildcats (6-3, 5-1) regained control of first place in the GNAC with their win over the Lumberjacks (6-2, 4-1) in Ellensburg.

Carroll 61, Eastern Oregon 34: John Camino had 288 yards rushing and two TDs and Gary Wagner added 263 yards passing with four TDs in the Saints’ (6-0, 6-0) Frontier Conference victory over the Mountaineers (4-3, 4-2) in Helena.