The Whitworth College Pirates will open the 2004 season this Saturday at the University of Redlands in Redlands, California. Kick off is scheduled for 1:00 pm. The teams will be meeting for only the second time. Whitworth is coming off of a 4-6 season in which the Pirates finished 2-3 and in fourth place in the Northwest Conference. Redlands finished 6-4 last season but won its second consecutive SCIAC championship, and also earned its second consecutive NCAA Division III playoff berth.

The Pirates: Whitworth will have many new looks in 2004. The Pirates will be without career record setters in wide receiver Dwayne Tawney and running back Bill Condon, who both graduated. And Whitworth will have seven new starters on defense.

Offensively the Pirates will be experienced in several key positions. Quarterback Joel Clark (So., Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane HS) returns to start after becoming the full-time starter midway through last season. Clark completed 55% of his passes for 1,414 yards and four touchdowns. Zach Henningsen (RS So., Hillsboro, Ore. - Glencoe HS) has been very impressive in fall camp as well and could see a series or two in the season opener.

Kyle Snell (RS Jr., Issaquah, Wash. - Univ. of Arizona) and Jared Thomas (RS So., Newberg, Ore. - Newberg HS) return as two of the three starting wide receivers. Snell led the Pirates in yards per catch (17.1) and added two touchdowns last year. Thomas totaled 42 catches for 500 yards and four touchdowns in 2004. Mathew Johnson (RS Jr., Olympia, Wash. - Olympia HS), Dustin Frank (RS So., Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland HS) and Pat Vestal (RS Jr., Caldwell, Idaho - Vallivue HS) have been battling for the third starting position.

Running back has also been a battle in camp. Heading into the opener, Kyle Havercroft (RS Fr., Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland HS) will start and Chris Ahsing (RS Fr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell HS) will back up Havercroft.

Michael Allan (RS So., Bellevue, Wash. - Interlake HS) has emerged as the starting tight end, with David Woods (Sr., Quincy, Wash. - Quincy HS) as the back up.

The offensive line is deep and experienced. Heading into Saturday Kevin Reese (RS Jr., Hayden Lake, Idaho - Lakeland HS) and Chris Stewart (RS Jr., Spokane, Wash. - CC of Spokane) will start at the tackles. Clark Pauls (Jr., Davenport, Wash.) and Chris Gilliam (Sr., Bend, Ore.) will be the starting guards, while Tyler Neely (Sr., Okanagan, Wash.) will return to start at center.

Speed will be the name of the game on defense. The Pirates have moved some players around to take advantage of the teams' overall speed on the defensive side of the ball. Austin Richard (RS Jr., Seattle, Wash. - Blanchet HS), an honorable mention All-NWC selection last year, will anchor the line at nose tackle. Dan Roberts (RS Fr., Grand Coulee, Wash. - Lake Roosevelt HS) will join him on the inside. Greg Entel (Sr., Clarkston, Wash. - Clarkston HS) and Justin Rundle (RS Fr., Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane HS) are penciled in to start at defensive end.

Daniel Jones (RS Jr., Coos Bay, Ore. - Marshfield HS), who has led the Bucs in tackles for loss over the last two years, has moved from defensive end to outside linebacker. Jeremy Scroggins (Sr., Royal City, Wash. - Royal City HS) has moved from safety to the other outside linebacker. Matt Krueger (RS Jr., Gresham, Ore. - Gresham HS), who played well as a fill-in starter after injuries decimated the starting linebackers last year, will start in the middle once again.

Joe Gore (RS Jr., Prosser, Wash. - Prosser HS) and Jay Tully (Fr., Spokane, Wash. - Mead HS) have been playing with the first team defense in practice at the safety positions. Nick Kuntz (RS So., Boise, Idaho - Eagle HS) has moved from wide receiver to corner back, and Zac Farnam (RS So., Deer Park, Wash. - Deer Park HS) will likely start at the other corner.

For the third straight season Cam Collings (Jr., Spokane, Wash. - Mead HS) will handle the place kicking and punting duties.

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.

The Opponents: The University of Redlands bounced back from an 0-2 start to finish 6-3 last season, earning its second consecutive SCIAC title and fourth in the last five years. The Bulldogs fell to Linfield 31-23 in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.

On offense Redlands welcomes back First Team All-SCIAC RB Les Simon, a senior who ran for over 900 yards and scored eight touchdowns last season. All-SCIAC senior QB Brian Sapp also returns after completing 50% of his passes for 1,136 yards and six touchdowns. His favorite target in 2003 was senior WR Justin Wilcox, who caught 45 passes for over 500 yards and four touchdowns.

Like Whitworth, Redlands must do the majority of its rebuilding on defense. The Bulldogs only gave up 17 points per game last season, but they must replace seven starters. The leading returning tackler is defensive back Matt Beckstead, who had 45 stops and made two interceptions in 2003.

The Series: Redlands won the first-ever meeting 20-7 in 2000. That was the season opener for both schools as well. The teams were scheduled to meet again in Spokane the following season, but the game was postponed due to the events of September 11, 2001. The game was rescheduled for the week following the regular season, but Whitworth won a share of the NWC title with a 7-1 record and was selected to participate in the NCAA playoffs.

Coach Tully's Quotes:

On preseason training camp: "Camp went really well. We are very healthy heading into our first game. We are excited to see how our defense is growing with a new system. We are young but our guys will be getting experience fast. Offensively our line is solid and our quarterbacks are playing very well."

On Opening at Redlands: "We don't know very much about them, other than they have been in the playoffs the last two years and have an outstanding and successful program. Going on the road is always a challange and we are interested to see how our guys react to the situation."

The Coaches: John Tully is in his tenth season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 38-47 record at Whitworth. However, he led the Pirates to a 34-24 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 69-69-1 in his 14th season as a head coach.

Mike Maynard is 100-46-1 in his 17th year as head coach at Redlands. He has led the Bulldogs to nine SCIAC championships during his tenure as head coach.

2004 Statistics

200r Roster

Other Division III Football Links:

Northwest Conference On-line

D3football.com

American Football Coaches Association

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