Pacific's T.C. Campbell Named NWC Football Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week
FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The accolades keep coming for the Pacific football team.
Now 1-7 and still reveling in the first football victory for the school in nearly 20 years, Boxers quarterback T.C. Campbell (So., Kaimuki, Hawaii) has been named Northwest Conference Football Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week by the conference's sports information directors for the second time this season.
Campbell, who nabbed player of the week honors after throwing for 343 yards in a loss to Simon Fraser in week one, completed 21 of 27 passes for 387 yards and five touchdowns in Saturday's 44-25 victory over Puget Sound in front of a near-capacity homecoming crowd. The five scores matches a school record set originally in 1972 by Ralph Nickerson and equaled by Campbell in the 2010 season finale at Menlo, a game in which the then freshman threw for a school record 405 yards in a 44-42 loss to the Oaks.
Campbell, a state championship-winning quarterback from Kamehameha School in Hawaii, connected with freshman wide receiver Caleb Roher (Fr., Gresham, Ore.) on a 44-yard touchdown pass to put the Boxers in front 7-3 with 1:16 left in the first quarter. Campbell ended the first half by piloting a brilliant 9-play, 77-yard scoring drive, targeting sophomore receiver Jordan Fukumoto (Mililani, Hawaii) on a 27-yard post pattern for a score with just 16 seconds remaining in the first half. Campbell and the Boxers put the game out of reach early in the third period. After the Boxer defense stopped the Loggers on fourth down, the 5-11, second-year signalcaller dialed up Roher again, this time on a 67-yard bomb down the middle of the field for a 28-11 lead. Then, one play after a Craig Bailey (So., Fairfield, Calif.) interception, Campbell connected with his favorite target Fukumoto for the second time in the game and eighth time this season. The Second Team All-NWC receiver took a short pass and got a key block on the sideline to break free for a 72-yard touchdown to put the Boxers up 35-11.
Campbell's final scoring toss went to tight end Brian Taylor (So., Lewiston, Idaho), a 17-yard pass 20 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 42-17.
Campbell has started all but one of Pacific's 17 games since the defunct football program was rejuvenated for the 2010 season. He currently leads the NWC in passing yards with 1755 and is tied for third in the conference with 13 touchdown passes.
The Boxers completed their first season on the gridiron 0-9 and had lost seven straight in 2010 before Saturday's win. It was the first Pacific football victory since the final game of the 1990 season, a 15-14 win over now-defunct Oregon Institute of Technology. The following year, the Boxers went 0-9 before the football program was mothballed for 19 years.
Pacific closes out its second season on Saturday against traditional NWC power Pacific Lutheran at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. The game kicks off at 1:30 p.m. and will be aired live on AM-1360 KUIK in Hillsboro and on www.goboxers.com.
