NEWBERG, Ore. -- After one of the best opening nights in George Fox football history, Bruin fans won't have to wait long until they see their team under the lights.

In their opening-night 27-0 victory over Redlands, GFU recorded its first shutout since October 28, 2017, when the Bruins defeated Lewis & Clark, 17-0. Now, George Fox will face off against the Lewis & Clark River Otters in a culmination of three years' worth of effort. 

Since 2023, the second week of the season has been reserved for the Oregon Cup, a non-conference football series featuring familiar conference foes in Fox, Lewis & Clark, Pacific, and Willamette; Saturday will serve as the Oregon Cup Championship after the River Otters and Bruins both finished the series 2-1 (GFU defeated Pacific and Willamette; L&C took down Willamette and GFU).

The Bruins faced the River Otters (then the Pioneers) twice in 2026 — and the two games were polar opposites of each other. Fox was down 14-0 within the first 90 seconds of a 38-10 loss against the Otts in their first meeting before picking up Spencer Crace's first victory with a 42-28 win in their second.

Starting QB JJ Leman hopes to emulate his second performance against the River Otters in the 2026 edition. The Bruin quarterback threw two 50-yard passes in the opening stanza and rushed for an additional one. Leman had the same stat line (two passing TDs and a rushing score) in GFU's opening 27-0 win against Redlands.

Running back Brody Snyder had his coming-out party against the Otts in 2026, rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. In his first game as the official starting back, Snyder had 75 rushing yards. Damien Ehlers, who also had 75 rushing yards on just six carries, will again serve as Snyder's backup.

The lone change in the starting lineup per the official two-deep is at the receiver position. Karsen Denault, who had a career-high 10 receptions in week one, and Kaelan Frey will be joined by Bupe Chisanga Jr. out wide. The speedy Freshman from Dallas, Texas, made an impact in the first half of the game against Redlands, pulling down a 36-yard reception on a Fox scoring drive in the second quarter. Raiden Gonzales is again listed as the starting tight end for Saturday.

Up front on the line will once again be Toby Esqueda, Rylan McGraw, Kyle Martin, Miky Amare, and Sean Brewster. The five, alongside rotation piece Aiden Johnson, made life extremely easy for Leman in the pocket. The Bruin quarterback was not sacked for the first time in 10 games, with the team rushing for 120 yards.

On the defensive side, all 11 starters will be the same as Redlands. Jacob Erickson enters the game after adding more awards to his trophy room. The fifth-year DE was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week and the NWC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week after a two-sack, four-TFL performance. He will be joined by fellow defensive end Kuyper Assink, Kaden Raever, and Makana Paikuli up front.

In the linebacker position, Duke Alderte-Labuguen and Mika Petaia return after a successful weekend manning the middle. Both players started their first game against Redlands, with Alderete-Labuguen recording five tackles and a fumble recovery while Petaia recorded three tackles. Zak Holsey, who notched an interception and a forced fumble, is listed as a linebacker, but will play more of a nickel position.

For defensive backs, Ty Borde, Ben Nuss, Austin Harrison, and Eli Miller are all listed as starters. The four combined for one interception and three pass breakups and were a huge reason why Redlands was held to just 105 yards passing.

For special teams, Bren Rembisz and Riley Rutledge will again serve as punter and kicker for the Bruins. Rembisz hit two field goals for the Bruins, while Rutledge had four punts for 169 yards. While not listed on the two-deep, expect to see Jacob Hundven as the kickoff man for Fox; the junior was the kicker for all four kickoffs for the Bruins on the day. Noah Bjornstedt will serve as the long snapper for both kicks and punts.

Lewis & Clark returns their top two quarterbacks from a season ago, and both players saw action in the season-opening win over the University of Puget Sound. Junior Dashiell Weaver started the first six games of 2025 – including starting both contests against the Bruins. Weaver finished his first season in Orange and Black with 1,480 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. Graduate student Sam Simril started three of the final four games and made seven total appearances. Simril amassed 1,074 yards and 14 passing touchdowns in his first year at L&C. Weaver threw for 268 yards and four touchdowns in the Oregon Cup against George Fox last season. He added three touchdowns, 230 passing yards and two interceptions in the Northwest Conference contest against the Bruins. 

Sophomore Sytyn Lasconia and junior Gio Borea are two of the River Otters' top offensive playmakers. Lasconia was named to the NWC Second Team as a first-year player after leading the program with 44 catches, 661 yards and 11 touchdown catches. He opened his sophomore campaign with a career-high 178 receiving yards on seven catches and one touchdown against the Loggers. Borea took over the starting running back role to begin this season. The junior racked up 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries in the Week One win.  

Defensively, Lewis & Clark brings back several key players on a defense that finished third in the Northwest Conference in points per game allowed (25.4). Senior defensive end JT Chavez earned his first career All-Conference honors last Fall. Chavez led Lewis & Clark with 10 tackles-for-loss, six sacks, five quarterback hurries, and added two fumble recoveries as a junior. Senior linebacker Mitchell Sarmento and sophomore Curtis Tucker are two impact players in the second level. Sarmento is a fifth-year senior who has racked up over 100 career tackles, including posting 50 stops as a sophomore. Tucker, who started his career as a running back, made five tackles and posted an interception return for a touchdown in his first collegiate start last week. 

The River Otters are a team that tends to be aggressive when they have the ball. Lewis & Clark attempted just three field goals in 2025 and did not attempt one against Puget Sound. Junior kicker Trevor Koo set the program record for made PATs (46-47) as a sophomore and went 6-6 against the Loggers. 

Both teams have plenty to prove on Saturday. A 2-0 start could swing momentum either way for each team; in 2025, the River Otters received votes in the national polls for the first time in program history. With a win, the Bruins will start 2-0 for just the third time in program history.

The Bruin faithful showed up for the opening night win. And on Saturday, the football team will need your support again.

So be sure to be there. 

Kickoff for the game is scheduled for 7:05 pm. Live stream, live stats, and ticket information are available on the GFU Athletics website. 

Lewis & Clark Director of Athletic Communications Seth Orensky contributed to this story.