After a week off, Whitworth College returns to action on the gridiron this week when the #25 Pirates (NCAA DIII) travel to La Grande, Oregon to face the #25 Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (NAIA) on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm. Whitworth moved into the D3football.com top 25 this week despite the fact that the Bucs have not played since a 43-28 win over La Verne on September 17th. Eastern Oregon moved into the NAIA top 25 today after winning 24-10 at previously #7 Montana Tech on Saturday. The teams are meeting on the field for the 28th year in a row.
The Pirates: Whitworth defeated University of La Verne 43-28 on September 17th, rolling to 506 yards of offense. The Pirates led 43-14 after three quarters before the Leopards scored a pair of late touchdowns. Tight end Michael Allan (Jr., Bellevue, Wash. - Overlake) was named the Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week on September 19th after he caught three touchdown passes and five total passes for 94 yards. Two of his three touchdowns came on fourth down. Joel Clark (Jr., QB, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane HS) completed 17 of 25 passes for 271 yards and four touchdowns in only three quarters of play. The win was Whitworth's second over La Verne in as many seasons. The series with the Leopards will continue for at least two more years as the schools have contracted for 2006 and 2007. ULV will return to Spokane next season before the teams meet again in Southern California in 2007. The Leopards went on to defeat Puget Sound 38-14 last Saturday.
Chris Ahsing (RS So., Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell HS) had his best day as a Pirate against ULV, carrying 25 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged six yards per carry, with a long gain of 33 yards. Kyle Snell (Sr., WR, Issaquah, Wash. - Univ. of Arizona) had another big day, catching nine passes for 139 yards and a touchdown. The defense held La Verne to only 70 yards rushing. The Leopards picked up much of their 320 yards passing in the fourth quarter. Tyler Hall (Jr., LB, Newport Beach, Calif. - Goldenwest Coll.), Jay Tully (So., SS, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) and Nick Portrey (Jr., LB, Ritzville, Wash. - Ritzville) each had eight tackles to lead the effort. One of Portrey's stops was for a loss of three yards. Casey Clifton (So., LB, Spokane, Wash. - University) had an eight-yard sack, while Phil Entel (So., FS, Clarkston, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) had an interception. Whitworth did not play last Saturday, allowing the team a break to heal and catch up on school work. The players had three days off last week. Radio Broadcast Notes : Saturday's game will be carried on a delayed basis by KSBN, following the broadcast of the Eastern Washington game. The on-air broadcast will start at approximately 5:15 pm. But fans will be able to hear the game live over the internet. The link will be posted on the Whitworth athletics website (http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Index.aspx) and the Grow Sportz website (http://www.growsportz.com) by Wednesday afternoon. L&C Game Cancelled: Lewis & Clark College has officially cancelled its conference games this season. Because the Pioneers are going 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 will only play their first four games (all non-conference). Whitworth's game at Lewis & Clark, scheduled for October 29th, is officially cancelled. 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), this is the first week Whitworth has appeared in a regular weekly NCAA Division III poll. The D3football.com poll has the Pirates ranked 25th this week after two weeks as one of the top teams listed in "others receiving votes." Link to the entire D3football.com 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: After posting a solid 6-4 season in 2004, including a win over nationally ranked Azusa Pacific, Eastern Oregon is off to a 2-1 start in 2005. The Mountaineers dropped a 44-14 decision to three-time NAIA champion Carroll College to open the schedule, but have since beaten Rocky Mountain 22-19 and NAIA 7th-ranked Montana Tech 24-10 this past weekend in Butte. Because of that victory, EOU moved into the NAIA top 25 (at 25th) today. Eastern has averaged 444 yards of offense per game. The Mountaineers have gotten great production from senior QB Scott Jensen, who has completed 62% of his passes for an average of 289 yards per game. He has thrown four touchdowns with one interception. Jomo Wilson, a junior WR transfer from San Joaquin Delta College (Calif.), has caught 20 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Tyronne Gross, a transfer from Sacramento State, has carried 44 times for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Opponents are averaging 365 yards against EOU. Senior defensive tackle Bubba Strong has six tackles for losses totaling eight yards in his 13 total stops. Junior free safety Sean McMurray leads the team with 21 tackles. Last Year: Whitworth pulled out a seesaw battle with Eastern Oregon 31-28 in the Pine Bowl by controlling the ball and the clock. Kyle Havercroft (RS So., RB, Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland) carried 26 times for 113 yards and a score, while Chris Ahsing 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 completed 12 of 24 passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Snell caught five passes for 46 yards to lead the receivers. While Eastern's Justin Alsterlund gained 185 rushing 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 (Jr., DL, Silverdale, Wash. - Klahowya) and Justin Rundle (RS So., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane) pushed Eastern back into its own territory. Cameron Collings (Sr., P/PK, Spokane, Wash. - Mead HS) scored Whitworth's first points of the game with a career-best 53 yard field goal. Series Notes: The all-time series is tied 15-15-2. The teams have met the last 27 years in a row. In addition to last season's win, Whitworth has won six of the last seven contests. The last time the teams played in La Grande, EOU pulled out a 21-14 victory to break a five game Pirate winning streak. Whitworth's last win at EOU was 21-20 in 2001. Coach Tully's Quotes: On the La Verne win: "Our win looks even more impressive after seeing La Verne's success this past weekend. Our guys had to play very well in all facets of the game for us to come out on top, and they did that." On the weekend off: "Last week gave us a chance to step away and catch up with school, as well as a chance to heal. I don't think we lose our edge since we had been at it five straight weeks (including preseason camp). We should be healthier for this game than we were two weeks ago." On Eastern Oregon: "Their skill people are very gifted. They are coming off of a big win at Tech and their only loss is to top ranked Carroll. They look impressive. This will be our first road game and I am interested how our guys respond." The Coaches: John Tully is in his eleventh season as head coach of the Pirates, the longest football coachign tenure in school history. He has a 47-49 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 33-16 record over the past six years and was named the 2001 NWC Coach of the Year. Tully is now tied with Sam Adams (47-17-1 from 1958-1964) as the winningest coach in school history. Overall he is 78-71 in his 15th season as a head coach. Jim Fenwick has returned to the sidelines this season for EOU after battling and overcoming acute lymphocytic leukemia during a leave of absence in 2004. Fenwick is in his third season as the Mountaineers' head coach and has a record of 7-16 at EOU. He was 6-6 a Cal State Northridge in 1997. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
