The Whitworth College Pirates hope to make it two for two this season in southern California when they head back south to take on the University of La Verne Leopards in a non-conference division III match-up on Saturday afternoon. The Pirates fought off heat, humidity and some shaky defense to win a wild 52-49 contest at defending SCIAC champion University of Redlands over the weekend. La Verne is also 1-0, having gotten off to a good start by beating fellow conference member Pomona-Pitzer 26-21 on September 4th. The Leopards had this past weekend off.

The Pirates: Whitworth produced one of the greatest offensive performances of the John Tully era on Saturday, outscoring the University of Redlands 52-49. No John Tully team at Whitworth has scored more points in a single game. The Pirates scored on eight of 11 possessions, and one of those was the final possession of the game when they ran out the clock with three kneel down plays. Whitworth put up 29 first downs, converted eight of 14 third down attempts and both of their fourth down attempts. The Pirates had no turnovers and committed only two offensive penalties for a total of 10 yards.

Click here for the complete game story.

Joel Clark (So., QB, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane HS) completed 74% of his passes (25 of 34) for a career high 323 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 37 yards on seven carries and scored a TD of his own. Clark spread the wealth to six different receivers, led by Jared Thomas (RS So., Newberg, Ore. - Newberg HS), who caught nine balls for 132 yards and one touchdown. Kyle Snell (RS Jr., Issaquah, Wash. - Univ. of Arizona) caught seven passes for 94 yards. Michael Allan (RS So., TE, Bellevue, Wash. - Interlake HS) had five catches for 52 yards and one TD.

Behind an outstanding effort by Whitworth's offensive line, the Pirates found their running game in the second quarter. Kyle Havercroft (RS Fr., Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland HS) tied a Whitworth single-game record by scoring four touchdowns. He finished with 64 yards on 19 carries. Chris Ahsing (RS Fr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell HS) ran for 104 yards on 13 carries.

So what can be said about the defensive effort? The Pirates did give up 503 yards of offense and 49 points. But the team made some key plays that led to the win, often while playing eight true freshmen or redshirt freshman at one time. In the first half the defense forced Redlands to punt deep in its own territory and Daniel Jones (RS Jr., LB, Coos Bay, Ore.) blocked a punt, which was recovered by the Pirates at the Redlands five yard line, leading to a touchdown. Then, on the final play of the third quarter, Michael Johnston (Fr., DB, The Dalles, Ore.) made a key interception at the Whitworth goal line, not only preventing Redlands from retaking the lead, but leading to another Pirate touchdown that gave Whitworth a ten-point advantage (45-35).

Special Teams were key as well. Cam Collings (Jr., PK/P, Spokane, Wash. - Mead HS) made all seven of his extra points and made his only field goal attempt, a 29-yard effort that gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead. In addition to the blocked punt, Whitworth converted a fake punt on 4th and eight at the Redlands 48 yard line in the third quarter.

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 its win at two-time defending SCIAC champion Redlands, the Pirates picked up eight points in 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=2

The Opponents: The University of La Verne has already improved on 2003 when the Leopards finished 1-8 overall and 0-6 in the SCIAC. With its 26-21 win over Pomona-Pitzer on September 4th, La Verne has improved its conference mark from last season.

The Leopards seem to have fixed their offensive problems from 2003, when they averaged just over 15 points and 269 yards per game. Sophomore quarterback Brian Guerrero started three games as a freshman in 2003, completing 20 of 57 passes for 266 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. He threw for 184 yards in the season opening win. Junior transfer Philip Craig ran for 145 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 21 carries. Sophomore safety Gabe Segovia, the leading returning tackler from 2003 (70 total), made a game saving interception to seal the win with less than a minute to play.

This game marks the first-ever meeting between Whitworth and La Verne.

On the Road to California: The Pirates have played 12 games in California in its football history with a record of 4-8. Since 1998 Whitworth is 3-4 in games played in the Golden State, winning the last three. Including last Saturday's win at Redlands, Whitworth also has 2001's season-opening 21-10 win at Chapman and 2002's 30-7 win at Menlo. The only other win in California was a 10-0 victory over Humboldt State in 1961.

Coach Tully's Quotes:

On the Redlands Game: "The key to the game offensively was our offensive line, who did a great job. Our running backs were effective and did a nice job securing the ball. Our receivers simply made plays. And our quarterback made very good decisions. Offensively we were very good."

"On defense we competed hard. We lost some guys during the game due to the heat and often played with eight freshmen at one time. But they stayed with it. I expect we will improve and play better as the season goes on."

"Special teams was a difference maker, and we knew it would be heading into the game. Cameron (Collings) was key for us."

On La Verne: "They had a huge win over Pomona and are already 1-0 in their conference. That deservedly gives them a tremendous amount of confidence. We don't know much about them but expect them to be ready to play on Saturday."

The Coaches: John Tully is in his tenth season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 39-47 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 70-69-1 in his 14th season as a head coach.

Don Morel is in his 10th season as head coach at La Verne, where he has a 38-44 record during that span.

2004 Statistics

2004 Roster

Other Division III Football Links:

Northwest Conference On-line

D3football.com

American Football Coaches Association

Back to Athletics > Football >