NEWBERG, Ore. -- After bouncing back into the win column last weekend with a 27-10 victory at Willamette, the Bruins will look to continue that charge this weekend with a home matchup against Puget Sound.

The Loggers are coming off of their fourth loss of the season, a 42-21 defeat by Pacific (Ore.), and have lost 13 of their last 14 games dating back to 2021. This matchup should favor Fox in every phase of the game.

On offense, Fox is third in the conference in total offense and scoring offense with 31.4 points per game and 402.2 yards per game. In NWC action, Fox has the most potent defense through two games with just 195 yards allowed per game. Additionally Fox is allowing only 11.5 points per game to NWC opponents this year.

Puget Sound has the seventh-ranked offense with 11.5 points scored per game and allows a staggering 57 points per game to conference opponents in a two-game sample this season. Their defensive unit has allowed 512 yards per game to NWC foes, while 356 yards the Loggers allow coming through the air.

That should bode well for the Bruins' stellar passing attack. Leon Johnson III collected his ninth touchdown of the year last weekend against Willamette, and has scored in every game this season while racking up a school-record 749 receiving yards through the first five games. Haiden Schaan and the Bruin offense have found ways to get Johnson III the ball at multiple levels of the passing game this year; Johnson's least productive game this season was still good for 142 yards and a touchdown.

In addition to Johnson III, Dillan Dobbins, Thomas McMillan, and Josh Hauenstein continue to be secondary looks with plenty of punch. Dobbins' yards-after-catch ability as a wideout and slot receiver and the ball skills the Bruins have at the tight end position have forced defenses to leave Johnson III with single coverage for the majority of snaps this season.

On the ground, Logan Candanoza continues to get the bulk of the Bruins' carries and averages 50 yards on 12 touches per game. Schaan has also kept the opponents' defenses honest with his legs this year and has the longest single-carry title so far with a 33-yard scramble against Redlands.

Ethan Hoffman has taken over the mantle as the Bruins' kicker and punter with aplomb so far in 2022 — the senior has put five punts inside the opponents' 20 with four punts of 50 or more yards. He has also made six of his eight field goals — including a career-long 47-yarder — and is perfect on PATs to date.

For their part, the Loggers' star on offense has been their every-down running back Silas Washington. The senior has nearly 25 carries per game for 102 yards per game and seven touchdowns this year (six rush, one receiving) through four games. Mason Binning has run the show from the QB spot this year and the sophomore has averaged 163 yards per game with as many interceptions (2) as touchdowns (2) in 2022.

The Loggers allow the most sacks per game and have forced the fewest this season both in and out of conference play, so expect the battle at the line of scrimmage to favor Fox this week. The Bruins are still in plus territory in the turnover battle this season, and the Loggers are minus one with three fumbles recovered, two lost, and two picks thrown this year. Puget Sound has yet to record an interception through four games.

In short, this game should favor Fox in every way and playing at home won't hurt either — the Bruins average the largest attendance for all NWC schools this season with 2487 fans per game. Tickets can be purchased online or at the gate, live streaming options will be available on the Bruins' schedule page, and the game will also be broadcast on KRCW (Channel 32 for Dish and DirecTV users, and Channel 3 for Xfinity users).