After playing two home games at Hanson Stadium and another 'home away from home' game in Hawai'i, the Pacific University football team has its first road test of the season on Saturday when it faces Pacific Lutheran at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
The Boxers (1-2) are coming off a 45-22 win over Occidental on Saturday, Sept. 17 in Hawai'i. The contest was believed to be the first-ever NCAA Division III football game to be played in the 50th state. Plus, the contest served as a homecoming for 16 Boxer student-athletes, who hail from the state of Hawaii and the crowd at Kamehameha Kapalama Stadium was filled with Boxer Red.
The contest marks the start of Northwest Conference play for both teams, who were idle last week. Pacific comes into the game having won its last three conference openers since the return of football in 2010. One of the three wins was a 34-7 win, last year in Forest Grove. In that game, the Boxers racked up 444 yards of total offense and a defense that held PLU to 290 yards.
Offensively, Pacific is averaging 206.3 yards per game on the ground with senior Kamana Pimental (Kanehoe, Hawai'i) and junior Brandon Boyd (Gilroy, Calif.) seeking a bulk of the action in the backfield. Pimental is averaging 109.7 yards per game and Boyd is averaging 40.0 yards per game to lead Pacific ball carriers. Senior quarterback Campbell Summerfield (Sandy, Ore.) in his first year as the starter has completed 67 of 108 passes for seven touchdowns and 824 yards. He has found 12-different targets, including freshman Kobe Williams (Las Vegas, Nev.), who has caught 21 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns.
Defensively, the Boxers are led by senior Jack Perez (Petaluma, Calif.), a three-year starter who has recorded 44 tackles in the first three games. Perez has already recorded 6.5 tackles for loss to go along with five pass breakups and five pass deflections to lead Pacific. Also disrupting opposing offenses has been senior Jeff Bajema (Burlington, Wash.), who has a team-high 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble to his credit.
Game Notes