PLU football home opener at Sparks Stadium special for local athletes

Home openers have a special place for both football players and fans alike. It’s a time to celebrate a place — a stadium — many have embraced as home.

Yet for some local Pacific Lutheran University football players, the Lutes’ home opener on Saturday at Sparks Stadium was all the more special.

Although PLU (0-2) suffered a 23-13 loss to Trinity University of Texas, the local products for the Lutes were able to appreciate their homecoming.

“Today we just made a lot of mistakes,” tight end DJ Winter, a Puyallup High graduate, said. “They got us down too deep … but the defense played great today, we just put them in bad situations.”

Winter finished the game with 44 receiving yards on two catches.

Joining Winter on PLU’s starting offensive line was left tackle and captain Cody Erpelding (Emerald Ridge High) and center Austin Striplin (Sumner).

The offensive line unit struggled all game long as penalties never allowed the offense to get rolling. And late in the game, Erpelding had two players rolled into his ankles, nearly taking him out.

Still, the home opener at Sparks eases the results, even if it’s just a little.

“It doesn’t matter win or lose on the scoreboard. It’s about us doing the best we can,” Erpelding said. “It’s not about the scoreboard — it never has been at PLU.”

Already dealing with an ankle injury prior to the game, Erpelding recovered from the collision and was able to finish the game.

No locals started for the Lutes on defense but PLU did use hybrid linebacker/defensive lineman Kort Skoda (Emerald Ridge) as part of its defensive rotation. Skoda finished with one tackle in limited action.

“How we play here is not about the person — it’s about the entire team,” Skoda said. “If you’re rotating in, you’re to give 100 percent and do the best job you can.”

The defense played well, limiting Trinity’s options. The Lutes limited Trinity QB Austin Grauer (8 of 20) to only 156 yards, but two big throws to Rhodes Legg (two catches, 100 yards) doomed PLU.

“We believe that every guy is important, from the starters to the incoming freshman,” Skoda added. “We believe that when one goes in, it’s the next guy up every time.”

Pacific Lutheran travels to Pacific (2-1) on Saturday before returning home to face Willamette (0-2) on Oct. 10 for the next home game.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 11:14 AM with the headline "PLU football home opener at Sparks Stadium special for local athletes."