While playoff hopes for 2005 may have come to a sudden, and dramatic, end with last Saturday's loss to Willamette, the Whitworth College football team still has plenty to play for this week when the Pirates travel to Puyallup, Washington to play the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes. PLU can force a three way tie for third place in the NWC standings with a win over Whitworth. The Pirates hope to secure third place all alone and finish with a winning record for the fifth time in the last six years. This year's Whitworth team can also become the first Pirate squad to earn back to back victories over PLU since 1965.
The Pirates: After controlling the game for more than three quarters, Whitworth watched its playoff hopes disappear as Willamette scored 11 points in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to force overtime, then win 40-34 in overtime on a 20-yard run by Quentin Brock. Whitworth led 34-23 before Willamette's late run. The Bearcats kept their NWC title and playoff hopes alive with the win.
Kyle Havercroft (So., RB, Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland) had his best game of the season, running 21 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. Joel Clark (Jr., QB, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane) completed 19 of 28 passes for 211 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He connected with Michael Allan (Jr., TE, Bellevue, Wash. - Interlake) for a 71-yard screen and run to get the Pirates on the board in the second quarter. He also hit Kyle Snell (Sr., WR, Issaquah, Wash. - Skyline) for an 11 yard touchdown in the third quarter. Clark also ran for 69 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown run to open the second half. Whitworth's defense held Willamette off of the scoreboard until 28 seconds remained in the first half. But the Bearcats got their offense going in the second half. Ryan Marshall (So., DB, Salem, Ore. - Sprague) intercepted his fourth pass of the season and also added two other pass breakups. Peter Clark (So., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) had two tackles for losses totaling 9 yards. Finally, Jay Tully (So., DB, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) was named NWC Special Teams Player of the Week after returning four kickoffs for 97 yards, including a pair into Willamette territory that set up Pirate touchdowns. Radio Broadcast Notes : Eastern Washington has switched its broadcasts to another local radio station, so all remaining Pirate games will be carried live on KSBN 1230 am. Each broadcast begins 15 minutes prior to kick off with the pre-game. Bob Castle, the voice of the Pirates for seven seasons, brings you every play. The games can also be heard over the internet at http://www.ksbn.net/listen.pls. L&C Game Cancelled: Lewis & Clark College officially cancelled all its conference games this season. Because the Pioneers went into the year with only 30 players on the roster, the school's authorities felt it would be unsafe for the team to play an entire schedule. They only played their first four games (all non-conference). Whitworth's game at Lewis & Clark, scheduled for October 29th, was officially cancelled. Statistics Trends: Near the end of the 2005 season, the Pirates are ranked highly, both in the Northwest Conference and the NCAA, in several statistical categories. Whitworth is ranked highly in passing offense and total offense. Joel Clark is ranked nationally in two categories. Kyle Snell, Michael Allan and Ryan Marshall are also ranked nationally.
National Poll: While the Pirates were ranked by a pair of preseason football publications (22nd by USA Today Sports Weekly and 25th by Street & Smiths), they didn't appear in a weekly national poll until September 26th when the Bucs were ranked 25th by D3football.com. But they have since fallen back into "others receiving votes" in both the D3football.com poll and the AFCA poll. NWC Poll: Whitworth finished fourth in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 20 points, one behind PLU. Defending champion Linfield finished first with all six first place votes. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran University will finish with a losing record for the first time in 37 years. But the Lutes (3-5) have bounced back from an 0-4 start to finish well. They have done it with an explosive offense and improved defense. Quarterback Chris Maine is this week's NWC Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 427 yards of total offense in last Saturday's win over Menlo. Maine has completed 61% of his passes for 2,179 yards with 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in eight games. He is a running threat as well, adding to his per game total offense average of 302 yards per contest. His favorite receivers have been Craig Chiado and Chase Reed. Chiado has 50 catches for 902 yards and five touchdowns. Reed has caught 44 passes for 616 yards and seven scores. On defense, the backfield pair of Kurt Van Selus and Brent Frank have combined for eight interceptions and 16 other passes defended. In Saturday's 48-24 win over Menlo, PLU came within 21 yards of setting a new school record for total offense with 632 yards. The Lutes passed for 458 yards and ran for another 174. Maine was everywhere, completing 10 of 17 passes for 347 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. He was also the team's leading rusher, carrying the ball five times for 80 yards. Reed caught eight passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns. Jacob Washburn only caught two passes, but they went for touchdowns of 71 and 63 yards in the first half as the Lutes took a 27-7 lead into intermission. Last Year: Whitworth jumped to leads of 14-0 and 24-14 in the first half, but had to come from 35-31 down in the fourth quarter to win 38-35. The key play of the game came on fourth and one at the PLU 45 yard line. Joel Clark hit Kyle Snell deep over the middle, giving the Bucs a first down at the Lutes' five yard line. The Bucs scored on the next play to take the lead with 7:22 to play. Clark finished 19 of 26 for 314 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Snell caught eight passes for 159 yards, including a touchdown on a 62 yard screen pass in which he broke a pair of tackles before getting free in the secondary. Snell also returned a kick off 91 yards for a touchdown and ran a fake punt 37 yards for a first down. Michael Allan caught six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. Kyle Havercroft carried 21 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. He ran five yards on third and four with just over a minute to play to give Whitworth a first down and the chance to run out the clock at the end of the game. After the Pirates scored their final time, PLU still had a chance to drive. But on third and two at the Whitworth 19 yard line, Austin Richard (Sr., DT, Seattle, Wash. - Blanchet) broke through to tackle the PLU ball carrier for an eight yard loss, forcing a fourth down just outside of field goal range. PLU's last pass attempt was incomplete with 2:47 to play, allowing Whitworth to gain a first down and run out the clock. Series Notes: PLU leads the all-time series with Whitworth 45-14. The Pirates ended a 32 game losing streak to the Lutes in 2001 and added last season's victory as well. PLU's last win was a 28-24 victory in Puyallup in 2003. The largest margin of victory in the series belongs to Whitworth when the Pirates beat the Lutes 67-0 in 1961. PLU's biggest win was 47-0 in 1970. Coach Tully's Quotes: On the Willamette game: "That was just a spectacular college football game. Both teams gave great effort and both teams had guys make big plays, which is what you hope for in this kind of game. In the end, they made one more play than we did." On PLU: "They are very explosive on offense and will present a great challenge to our defense. We have had several great games with them in the last few years and I would expect this year's game to be the same." The Coaches: John Tully is in his eleventh season as head coach of the Pirates, the longest football coaching tenure in school history. He has a 49-52 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 35-19 record over the past six years and was named the 2001 NWC Coach of the Year. Overall he is 80-74 in his 15th season as a head coach. Scott Westering is in his second season since taking over the head coaching duties from his father, Frosty Westering, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this fall. Scott is 9-8 during his two seasons leading the team. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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