The Whitworth College football team will put its sterling 3-0 start to the 2004 season to the severest test to date on Saturday when the Pirates travel to McMinnville, Oregon to take on 2nd-ranked Linfield College. The game will be the Northwest Conference opener for the Pirates.

Whitworth is 3-0 after a 31-28 Homecoming victory over Eastern Oregon University. Whitworth has matched recent 3-0 starts in 2001 and 2002. Linfield is also 3-0 overall and now 1-0 in the NWC after Saturday's 40-21 drubbing at Pacific Lutheran.

The Pirates: Whitworth pulled out the seesaw battle with Eastern Oregon 31-28 by controlling the ball and the clock. Kyle Havercroft (RS Fr., RB, Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland HS) carried 26 times for 113 yards and a score, while Chris Ahsing (RS Fr., RB, Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell HS) added 89 yards on 14 tries to lead a 230 yard rushing attack for the Pirates. Because of Whitworth's ability to run the ball against a sizable EOU defense, the Pirates had a 38:55 - 21:05 advantage in time of possession.

Joel Clark (So., QB, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane HS) completed 12 of 24 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw his first interception of the season. While his numbers were not spectacular, three of his plays were. He scored Whitworth's second touchdown with 13 seconds to play before halftime by scampering eight yards through the Mountaineer defense on a QB sneak. On the first play of the fourth quarter he escaped two potential sacks to complete a 24-yard pass to Jared Thomas (RS So., WR, Newberg, Ore. - Newberg HS) on third and 11. He then finished the drive by scrambling away from pressure and finding Mathew Johnson (RS Jr., WR, Olympia, Wash. - Olympia HS) in the endzone for a 13-yard score.

Kyle Snell (RS Jr., WR, Issaquah, Wash. - Univ. of Arizona) caught five passes for 46 yards to lead the receivers. Johnson and Pat Vestal (RS Jr., WR, Caldwell, Idaho - Vallivue HS) each caught the first touchdowns of their careers.

Whitworth's offensive line was again outstanding. The Pirates allowed only one sack against a very physical and quick Mountaineer defensive front. The Bucs still have yet to commit a holding penalty.

The Pirate defense keeps getting better. While Eastern's outstanding RB Justin Alsterlund gained 185 yards, the Whitworth defense limited the effectiveness of the Mountaineer passing attack, holding Scott Jensen to 11/21 for 105 yards. A key point in the game occurred early in the second quarter with EOU leading 7-3. The Mountaineers had first down on the Whitworth 38 after a Pirate punt from deep in its own territory. Sacks on consecutive plays by Dusty Rasmussen (So., DL, Silverdale, Wash. - Klahowya HS) and Justin Rundle (RS Fr., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane HS) pushed Eastern back into its own territory. Jeremy Scroggins (Sr., LB, Royal City, Wash. - Royal City HS) had 10 tackles, including two for loss, an interception and a forced fumble. Daniel Jones (RS Jr., LB, Coos Bay, Ore. - Marshfield HS) added seven tackles, including a sack, and recovered a fumble.

Cameron Collings (Jr., P/PK, Spokane, Wash. - Mead HS) scored Whitworth's first points of the game with a career-best 53 yard field goal. He was also 4/4 on PATs.

Click here for the press release of Saturday's win over Eastern.

Red Zone Effectiveness: Whitworth has been in the opponents' redzone (inside the 20 yard line) 18 times this season. The Pirates have scored 16 of those times, and 15 of those scores have been touchdowns. Whitworth has never actually been stopped inside the redzone yet. The only two times they have failed to score have been kneel downs at the end of the La Verne and Eastern Oregon games.

NWC Poll: Whitworth finished fourth in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 18 points. Defending champion Linfield finished first with all six first place votes. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.

National Polls: With a 3-0 start, the Pirates have picked up a few more votes and now have 20 points in the D3football.com poll this week, getting listed with "others receiving votes". The poll can be found on the D3football.com website here:
http://www.d3football.com/top25.php?year=2004&week=5

The Opponents: Linfield College comes into Saturday's game riding a 27-game regular season winning streak. The Wildcats were unanimous picks in this season's Northwest Conference preseason coaches' poll to win their fifth straight conference title. Linfield is currently ranked 2nd in the nation in the latest D3football.com top-25 poll, as well as the latest AFCA Division III coaches' poll. The Wildcats returned eight starters each on offense and defense from last season's team that lost to eventual national champion St. John's in the West Region final. Linfield is averaging 48 points and 541.7 yards per game. Most of the damage has come through the air behind the efforts of junior QB Brett Elliott and a group of very talented receivers. Elliott has completed 69% of his passes for 1253 yards and 16 touchdowns in only three games. He has only thrown two interceptions. Casey Allen leads a group of talented receivers with 24 catches for 369 yards and six touchdowns. Thomas Ford leads the rushing attack with 170 yards this year. The defense has held opponents to 24 points and 377 yards per game. The Wildcats have intercepted seven passes, led by Josh Ort, who has a pair.

In Saturday's 40-21 win over PLU, Linfield outgained the Lutes 532-326. Elliott completed 27 of 35 passes for 410 yards and five touchdowns with one interception. Brandon Hazenberg caught eight passes for 110 yards and one score, while Casey Allen had seven grabs for 130 yards and a score.

The Series: The Wildcats hold a commanding 24-3-2 edge in the all-time series and have won the last 12 meetings. The Pirates and Wildcats tied 7-7 in 1983. The previous Whitworth win was 21-14 in 1975. The biggest Linfield win was 61-0 in 1966. Whitworth's biggest win was 41-13 in 1954.

Last Season: Whitworth played Linfield tougher than the final 35-14 score indicates. Linfield only outgained Whitworth 321-301. But the Wildcats took advantage of the opportunities given to them by the Pirates. Three of Whitworth's four turnovers led directly to Linfield touchdowns. One was a fumbled punt that gave the Wildcats a first and goal on the Pirates' two yard line. The second was an interception returned deep into Whitworth territory. Both led directly to Linfield's 14-7 halftime lead. Finally, a fumble as Whitworth was driving deep into Linfield's end of the field led to another Wildcat score and a 28-7 deficit. Defensively the Pirates held Linfield 140 yards below their season per game average.

Coach Tully's Quotes:

On the EOU Win: "I thought our defense stepped up another notch on Saturday. They are making plays and gaining experience. Our offensive line did an outstanding job in the second half and our running backs are playing well and taking care of the ball. We need to be aggressive offensively and defensively to be successful and I thought we were. We beat a very talented football team."

On Linfield: "They are very deserving of their ranking. They are definitely one of the top two teams in the country right now, along with Mt. Union. The way they have played so far certainly lives up to their choice as conference favorites as well as the national rank."

The Coaches: John Tully is in his tenth season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 41-47 record at Whitworth. However, he led the Pirates to a 35-24 record over the past six years and was named the 2001 NWC Coach of the Year. Tully is the second winningest coach in school history, trailing only Sam Adams (47-17-1 from 1958-64). Overall he is 72-69-1 in his 14th season as a head coach.

Jay Locey has more than effectively continued the traditional success of Linfield's football program. He is 64-17 in his 9th year as head coach and has been named NWC Coach of the Year three of the last four years.

2004 Statistics

2004 Roster

Other Division III Football Links:

Northwest Conference On-line

D3football.com

American Football Coaches Association

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