Willamette's Like Earns Nine Tackles and Forces a Fumble at Southern Oregon

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

ASHLAND, Ore. -- La'Akea Like (Sr., LB, Littleton, CO/Columbine HS) of Willamette University registered a game-high nine tackles and forced a against Southern Oregon University on Saturday, Sept. 16. Despite Like's stellar performance, Southern Oregon defeated the Bearcats, 49-7, at Raider Stadium. The win uplifted SOU to 1-1 on the season, while Willamette slipped to 1-2. The Raiders compete in the NAIA and Willamette is a member of NCAA Division III.

On offense for the Bearcats, Gabriel Herrera (Jr., RB, San Jose, CA/Adrian C. Wilcox HS/Foothill College) rushed for 62 yards on 16 carries. He scored Willamette's touchdown on a 2-yard run with 10:31 left in the third quarter that pulled the Bearcats within 28-7. Camdin Dirnberger (Jr., PK, Missoula, MT/Sentinel HS) kicked the extra point.

Also standing out on offense were Matthew Fiesta (Grad., WR, Waipahu, HI/Waipahu HS/Whitworth University) , who caught three passes for 28 yards, and Justin Genovia (Sr., WR, Aiea, HI/Iolani School), who hauled in two passes for 33 yards. In addition, Fiesta averaged 20.0 yards on five kickoff returns.

The Raiders opened the scoring with 5:19 left in the first quarter on a 23-yard pass from Matt Struck to Isaiah Hidalgo to complete an 8-play, 86-yard drive. Brian Batres kicked the PAT. Southern Oregon extended its lead to 28-0 with three touchdowns in the second quarter. Avery McCuaig crossed the goal line on a 5-yad run with 12:09 left in the half. Champ Robertson scored on a 2-yard run at the 7:51 mark. McCuaig added his second touchdown of the quarter on a 1-yard run as the clock reached 1:24.

Willamette's touchdown by Herrera stopped SOU's scoring streak, but the Raiders earned three scores later in the third quarter. Jeremiah Faulstick hauled in a 15-yard pass from Blake Asciutto for the first touchdown with 7:22 on the clock. A bit later, McCuaig reached the goal line on a 1-yard run with 2:37 left, giving him three touchdowns on the day. After holding WU on downs, the Raiders added a 71-yard touchdown pass from Asciutto to Moku Noa with 26 seconds remaining in the third period. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

For the game, the Bearcats forced three fumbles and recovered all three. The recoveries went to Raymond Pasay (Jr., LB, Turner, OR/Cascade HS), Michael Moreno (Jr., LB, Brawley, CA/Brawley Union HS/Whittier College), and AJ Conrad (Sr., DL, Temecula, CA/Murrieta Valley HS). Moreno also forced a fumble. Like's nine tackles were followed on the defensive chart by seven tackles from Michael Wong (Jr., LB, Apple Valley, CA/Apple Valley HS) and six by Judah Ali'ifua (So., DB, Salem, OR/West Salem HS). Landon Waters (Jr., CB, Martinez, CA/Alhambra HS) forced a fumble and broke up one pass.

Southern Oregon gained 504 yards of offense, including 352 passing yards. Struck was 14 for 19 through the air for 180 yards and one touchdown. Asciutto went 5 for 5 passing as he tossed for 167 yards and two scores. Noa gained 119 yards on two catches, while Sawyer Cleveland caught three passes for 55 yards. McCuaig rushed for 48 yards on 10 carries.

On defense, Bryson Kievit led the Raiders with five total tackles. Spencer Kuffel intercepted two passes and Jaden Fliegel picked off one pass. The Raiders forced one fumble, but the ball was recovered by the Bearcats.

Willamette has an open date next weekend before taking on Linfield University in McMinnville, Oregon, on Sept. 30. Game time at Maxwell Field is set for 1 p.m. PDT.