Last-second field goal pushes Pacific Lutheran past Whitworth, 20-17

Calling on kickers to win football games at Pacific Lutheran has never been the popular choice in the Westering era of coaching.

But Scott Westering has done it twice now in the past year – and it has paid dividends.

Mulling over whether to run Nick Kaylor out for a game-winning field goal, or calling a fake, Westering left it up to the Lutes’ strong-legged junior.

And Kaylor booted a 36-yarder as time expired, lifting PLU to a 20-17 Northwest Conference victory over Whitworth at the Pine Bowl in Spokane.

For some reason in the setting sun, Westering said the 36-yarder looked a lot longer in distance from the sideline, and strongly considered running a fake field goal, letting holder Tyler Bowen try a pass downfield for a game-winning touchdown.

The Pirates called timeout, and after discussion on the sideline, it was decided Kaylor would kick it instead.

“It was cool to see his resolve,” Westering said.

After struggling much of the game, the Pirates’ offense drove for the tying touchdown. Bryan Peterson threw a 19-yard scoring strike to Aaron Blaska with 55 seconds remaining to tie it at 17-17.

Special teams were big all afternoon for the Lutes (3-1, 2-0 in NWC), and cornerback Tayler Angevine returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards to the PLU 45-yard line.

Angevine started the second half with a 45-yard return, setting up Kaylor’s 24-yard field goal for a 17-10 PLU lead.

“Jud Keim (PLU’s special teams coordinator) saw we could hit on a couple of things (returns), and this time it happened to be Tayler,” Westering said.

The key conversion for PLU on its final drive was a 24-yard pass from quarterback Zack Halverson to Alex McDiarmid on third-and-7.

Even with all of that, a Halverson third-down pass from the Pirates’ 33 fell incomplete, and PLU considered going for it on the final snap. But a Whitworth defender was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for taunting a Lutes’ receiver, and suddenly the field goal became much shorter.

And easily within Kaylor’s range – with a big assist from Bowen as the holder.

“The snap was really high and brought (Bowen) up and out of his stance, and he got that thing and got it down, and Nick stepped through and kicked it through,” Westering said. “It was a pretty great play that way.”

At Linfield 73, Puget Sound 7: Never in coach Jeff Thomas’ wildest imagination could he have envisioned being on this end of the Wildcats’ record book, watching his Loggers give up 59 first-half points – most ever for a half in Linfield history.

And the No. 5 Wildcats did it in every way possible in McMinnville, Ore. – on offense (seven touchdowns), defense (33-yard interception return for a score) and special teams (3-yard return off a blocked punt).

In all, UPS (0-5, 0-2) committed six turnovers in the first half.

“We didn’t execute in any aspect of the game,” Thomas said. “We must get much more mentally tough before next Saturday.”