NEWBERG, Ore. -- The George Fox football team will look to finish the season on a high note and rally after two tough losses as they travel to the Pacific Boxers for their final game of the season.

The Bruins have gone 1-3 over the past four games — but have played the top three teams in the conference in No. 10 Whitworth, No. 14 Linfield, and third-place Pacific Lutheran. Now, Fox plays the Boxers in a battle for Northwest Conference positioning, as both teams enter tied for fifth in the NWC.

The two teams faced each other twice in 2023, with Fox taking both contests in vastly different fashions: the Bruins won the first game in a defensive slugfest, 14-9, before taking the second in a shootout, 45-42.

Quarterback DeMontre Thomas II played in both games against the Boxers, rushing for one touchdown and completing 60% of his passes. Now, he will lead the offense into their final game of the season. In nine games in 2024, Thomas II has completed 58% of his passes for 1,858 yards, nine touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.

As has been the case all nine games, Taylor Saben will start and Williams Moffitt will back him up at running back. The Bruins aim to get back on track in the rushing game after two games under 20 rushing yards; Both Saben and Moffitt have shown explosiveness all season, with Saben recording nine touchdowns (eight rushing, one receiving) and Moffitt totaling five (four rushing, one receiving).

River Osen, Elias Polanski, and Kaelan Frey will all start as receivers for Fox for the third straight game. Polanski and Osen lead the team in receiving yards — Polanski with 422, Osen with 330 — while Frey has recorded a catch in eight of the nine games. Thomas McMillan, who led the team in receiving yards against Whitworth, will start at tight end.

Rounding out the offense is a line consisting of Derryck Wallace, Bryce Goetz, Kyle Osowski, Michael Echtle, and Lawa Ah Yat. Since Goetz made the move from defensive to offensive in October, the Bruins have started the same five athletes on the line.

On the defensive side, the Bruins hope to match the first-half output they had against Whitworth. Despite being on the field for 26 minutes, Fox held the Pirates to just seven offensive points. Their efforts were thanks in part to Kiegan Schaan, who was named NWC Defensive Player of the Week after an 18 tackle, on interception, one blocked field goal performance. Schaan will start his final game as a Bruin at safety alongside Ty Borde and Nolan Martin. 

At cornerback, Austin Harrison and Zak Holsey will be starting for Fox. Harrison has recorded an interception for the Bruins, while Holsey has four pass breakups. The linebacking trio for the Bruins will be Nash Wylie, Noah Tack, and Dustin Kunze. Against Whitworth, Tack had 15 tackles, while Kunze had a pass breakup and QB hurry and Wylie totaled five tackles.


Rounding out the Bruin defense is a defensive line of Blake Mazurowski, Kuyper Assink, and Silas Kincaid. Kincaid and Assink both showed their lockdown abilities with two fourth-down stops — a TFL for Assink and a pass breakup for Kincaid — while Mazurowski had four tackles.

Ben Rembisz and Riley Rutledge will handle the kicking and punting for Fox in the final game of the season. In their nine games, Rembisz has five field goals and four touchbacks, while Rutledge has forced 18 fair catches and put 10 balls inside the 20.

On paper, the Boxers' season has been extremely similar to the Bruins; Pacific had a 2-1 nonconference slate and had two conference wins against Willamette and Puget Sound. The Boxers played competitively in losses to Whitworth and Lewis & Clark but were out of games against Linfield and PLU. 

Senior Braeden Titus is the starting quarterback for the Boxers after splitting time as a starter in 2023. In nine games, Titus has thrown for 1,908 yards and nine touchdowns but has put the ball in harm's way with nine interceptions — including four against Linfield. The senior is not a threat to run the ball, amassing negative 62 rushing yards thanks to sacks.

Though Titus is the one fielding the snaps, it's running back Brody Bantolina that earns the headlines. The junior running back is on pace for another First Team All-NWC performance, leading the conference in rushing yards (1,400) and touchdowns (13). The Bruins will look to emulate their September 2023 performance against him, where the defense held the tailback to 41 yards.

Rounding out the offensive weapons is wide receiver Josiah Chaffin, Titus' main target. The junior receiver has double the yards of his closest teammate, totaling 842 yards and eight touchdowns. In addition to his pass-catching, Chaffin also returns kicks, taking a kickoff to the house against Willamette.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Boxers are prone to give up chunk plays and scores. Outside of a 10-point offensive effort by Willamette, Pacific has given up 45.2 points per game in conference play.

In order for the Bruins to finish the season on a strong note, they'll look to jump-start the offense and give the defense time to stop a high-powered Pacific attack.

Kick-off for the game is scheduled for 1:05 p.m., with live stream and live stats links available on the Bruins' website.