Whitworth College opened the 2005 football season in impressive fashion last week, beating the University of Redlands 35-21 after opening a 21-0 halftime lead. The Pirates will play the University of La Verne, also a member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, on Saturday afternoon as part of the 2005 Homecoming weekend on the Whitworth campus. The Leopards come in with a 1-0 record, having beaten conference-foe Pomona-Pitzer on September 3rd. As part of the Homecoming events, the Whitworth Athletics Department and the Crimson Club will induct five new members of the Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame, one team and four individuals.
The Pirates: Whitworth dominated the first half and held off a spirited Redlands rally in the second half of the Pirates' 35-21 win in the season opener. Whitworth led 21-0 at halftime after outgaining the Bulldogs 264-100 and holding a 17:32-12:28 edge in time of possession. But after Redlands scored the first two times it had the ball in the second half, the Bucs responded with a long, time-consuming drive to regain control of the football game. Quarterback Joel Clark (Jr., Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane) had a big day. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 103 more yards and two more scores. His touchdown passes were of three yards to Nick Kuntz (Jr., WR, Boise, Idaho - Eagle) and 11 yards to Michael Allan (Jr., TE, Bellevue, Wash. -- Interlake). Kyle Snell (Sr., Issaquah, Wash. - Univ. of Arizona) caught a career high ten passes for 133 yards.
Chris Ahsing (RS So., Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell HS) carried 13 times for 68 yards and Kyle Havercroft (RS So., Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland) scored his 12th career touchdown. The defense showed dramatic improvement over 2004. The Bucs sacked Redlands' QB Nick Brown five times for losses of 33 yards, including two by Justin Rundle (RS So., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane). Nick Portrey (RS Jr., LB, Ritzville, Wash. - Ritzville) provided the nail in the coffin in the fourth quarter when his sack forced a fumble that Casey Clifton (RS So., LB, Spokane, Wash. - University) returned to the nine yard line. Tyler Hall (Jr., LB, Newport Beach, Calif. - Goldenwest Coll.) and Nate Hadley (Fr., LB, Mukilteo, Wash.) also forced fumbles. Ryan Marshall (So., DB, Salem, Ore. - Sprague) broke up three passes and Jay Tully (So., SS, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) lead the team with 13 tackles. Cameron Collings (Sr., PK, Spokane, Wash. - Mead HS) averaged 39.2 yards on his four punts. Battling a sore leg, his only field goal attempt of 53 yards was blocked. Jordan Marshall (Fr., PK, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane) handled the kick off duties, averaging 56.7 yards per kick. Hall of Fame: Whitworth will induct the 13 members of the 1996 men's swimming team into the Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame, along with the four Rice brothers who left their mark on the Pirate swimming program. The 1996 team, led by Jeff and Jerry Rice, finished as NAIA runners up. Jerry and Jeff, who graduated in 1997, along with Brian Rice (2000) and Brent Rice (2002) were all multiple time All-Americans for Whitworth's swimming teams. Brent's induction is posthumous. The induction will take place at a 8:30 am brunch prior to the game. The inductees will be introduced at halftime of the football contest. L&C Game Cancelled: Lewis & Clark College has officially cancelled its conference game season. Because the Pioneers are going into the season 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 will only play their first four games (all non-conference). Whitworth's game at Lewis & Clark, scheduled for October 29th, is officially cancelled. 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: The University of La Verne opened its season on September 3rd with a 20-17 win at Pomona-Pitzer in the season and conference opener for both schools. The Leopards are coming off a season in which they finished 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the SCIAC, a great improvement over 2003 when they were 1-8 and 1-5. Junior quarterback Brian Guerrero, a First Team All-SCIAC selection in 2004, was 14 of 23 for 200 yards in the win over Pomona. He threw one touchdown and no interceptions. Senior wide receiver Roger Logan, another First Team All-SCIAC selection last year, caught that touchdown. LeAndre Allen had five catches for 135 yards. Running back Philip Craig ran 22 times for 102 yards. On defense, the Leopards held the Sagehens to 317 total yards. The final score looked closer than the game really was after Pomona scored a touchdown with four seconds left. Nathan Mendoza had two sacks, while Jeff Magdaleno led the team with nine tackles. Last Year: Whitworth and La Verne have only played once. In last season's 43-23 Pirate victory in California the Pirates controlled the ball for 39:48 compared to the Leopards' possession time of 20:11 and had a 3-0 edge in turnovers. Whitworth edged La Verne 384-372 in total offense and had 21 first downs to the Leopards' 18. Whitworth went to its running game against ULV and ground out 248 yards. Kyle Havercroft gained 119 yards on 27 carries and scored a touchdown. Chris Ahsing carried 16 times for 51 yards and two scores. Joel Clark completed seven of 17 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown. He also ran four times for 22 yards and another score. Kyle Snell caught five passes for 74 yards and one touchdown, a 22-yard reception that culminated Whitworth's first drive of the game. Whitworth held La Verne to 118 rushing yards on 32 carries. The Bucs sacked Brian Guerrero three times and created strong pressure on several other occasions. Austin Richard picked off one pass in the third quarter that led directly to a Whitworth touchdown. Philip Entel intercepted a pass in the first quarter that led to the Pirates' third score. Whitworth held La Verne on fourth down twice in the game, including once on the Pirate six yard line. Guerrero threw touchdown passes of 56, 53 and 20 yards to David Catchings, who has since graduated. Coach Tully's Quotes: On the Redlands win: "I was happy with the overall effort of our team. I was especially excited about how well our defense played against a good offensive football team. We made big plays and posted a first half shutout, which was special. Our special teams was improved over where they had been. Our offense did what it had to do to make plays. You could see Redlands was a well-coached team, and when they made their run our guys responded positively." On playing La Verne: "La Verne is a very physical team. They have skill players who can make plays. We expect they will be similar to last season, and we thought they were well prepared to play us last year. We will continue to focus on doing the right thing one play at a time. We will have to play well to succeed against them." The Coaches: John Tully is in his eleventh season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 46-49 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 42-26 record over the past eight 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 77-71 in his 15th season as a head coach. Don Morel is 41-46 in his 11th year as head coach at La Verne. He led the Leopards to a SCIAC championship in 1995. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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