PORTLAND, Ore. – Trailing 14-7 midway through the first quarter, visiting Whitworth outscored Lewis & Clark 59-14 the rest of the way to win the Northwest Conference football opener for both teams 66-28 on Saturday afternoon at Griswold Stadium.

Ryan Blair completed 29 of 34 passes for 407 yards with four touchdowns to lead the Pirates (3-1 overall, 1-0 NWC).  Jet Uechi caught two of those touchdown passes.

Whitworth took only 39 seconds to score the game's first touchdown.  Matthew Fiesta returned the opening kickoff 43 yards and Blair hit Ethan Peloquin for a 35-yard pass on the Pirates' first play from scrimmage.  Solo Hines broke free up the middle for a 22-yard touchdown run.

L&C answered with an eight play, 82-yard possession to tie the game, culminated by Cruz Montana's 48-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Washington. 

After Hines fumbled on Whitworth's next play, the Pioneers scored again on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Montana to Adrian Daffy, giving L&C a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter. 

The Pirates went on to score the next 38 points in a row, beginning with a one-yard touchdown run by Luke Roberts to cap a 76-yard drive.  It was the first of two rushing touchdowns by Roberts.

Ryan Black ended the first quarter with a 19-yard touchdown run for the Bucs.  Whitworth only had to go 34 yards after the defense forced a three-and-out and the L&C punt went only nine yards.

The Pirates went up 28-14 on Blair's 10-yard pass to Uechi to finish off an 89-yard drive that took only eight plays.  The big play of the possession was a 47-yard completion between the same pair of players.

L&C (2-1, 0-1) took only one play to get back within one score.  Washington broke free for a long run and appeared touchdown-bound, but Colton Chelin ran him down and forced a fumble just inside the ten-yard line.  The ball rolled forward into the endzone and Sean Bodi recovered to score a TD for the Pioneers.

Whitworth answered immediately with another 47-yard completion from Blair to Uechi, this time for a touchdown to cap a 60-yard drive.  The Pirates made it 42-21 at halftime when Blair threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Kuk with 1:37 to play in the second period. 

Whitworth took over the game completely in the third quarter.  After forcing a three-and-out on L&C's first possession, Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros kicked a 26-yard field goal for a 45-21 lead.

Another three-and-out for the Pioneers was followed by a three-yard touchdown pass from Blair to Riley Morrison to increase the lead to 52-21.

The Pirate defense forced another three-and-out and the offense drove deep into L&C territory by the end of the quarter.  Whitworth outgained L&C 129 to -1 yards in the third quarter. 

Three plays into the fourth quarter the margin increased to 59-21 on the second one-yard touchdown run of the day for Roberts.

The Pirates held L&C on fourth down and turned that short field into a 42-yard scoring drive for the Bucs' final touchdown of the game.  Luis Salgado scored his first career touchdown from 12 yards away.

The Pioneers scored the final touchdown of the game with 3:39 left.  Montana completed a four-yard pass to Jonathan Newsom.

Whitworth outgained L&C 570-281 and had a 34-12 edge in first downs.  The Pirates only averaged 48 yards per game rushing and 1.6 yards per carry coming into the game, but finished with 140 yards on 35 attempts (4.0 ypc), which includes 12 yards lost on three sacks.

Hines ran for 44 yards on seven attempts, while Ryan Black went for 35 yards on five carries.  Isaiah Jones had 2 on five attempts.  Peloquin finished with 100 yards receiving on five catches, while Uechi had 104 yards on three grabs.  Kuk led the team with six receptions for 47 yards and Morrison had four for 28 yards.  Thirteen different players caught a pass for the Pirates.

Washington led the L&C offense with 112 rushing yards on ten carries and 64 yards on five receptions.  Montana completed 15 of 24 passes for 165 yards with three touchdowns.

Dylan Ventress led the Pirate defense with 10 tackles.  Patrick Serrano had eight stops, including three for losses of 13 yards.  He also forced a fumble that was recovered by Dylan Owen, who was also in on two sacks (-15 yards).

Jake Bushman had nine tackles for the Pioneers.

Whitworth will host Linfield University next Saturday to celebrate Homecoming and Hall of Fame weekend.