Whitworth College, ranked 14th in the latest D3football.com top 25 poll, opens Northwest Conference play on Saturday against old nemisis Pacific Lutheran University at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. However, for the first time since 1964, the Pirates are the ones with a winning streak in the series between the two long-time foes. Whitworth is coming off of a 17-14 win over Azusa Pacific, moving to 4-0 this season and becoming the first NWC school to ever beat the Cougars. PLU improved to 1-3 with a dramatic 32-28 come-from-behind victory at Puget Sound in the conference opener for the Tacoma rivals. Saturday's game will kick off at 1:30 pm and the broadcast on KSBN will begin at 1:05 pm.
The Pirates: For the second week in a row Whitworth fought hard to earn a win against a talented opponent. And for the second week in a row it was a late drive that turned the game in the Pirates' favor. Whitworth drove 84 yards, from its own five yard line, for Cameron Collings' (Sr., PK/P, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) 28 yard game winning field goal with 2:57 to play that lifted the Bucs to the 17-14 victory. But for the second week in a row, the lions' share of the credit goes to an outstanding effort by the Whitworth defense that allowed the offense time to make the key drive. APU went 59 yards for a touchdown on its first drive, and 52 yards after a Whitworth fumble for a score on its last drive of the first half. For the rest of the game Whitworth shut out the Cougars and limited them to 139 yards of offense (APU had 250 total yards). Also for the second week in a row, the Pirate defense shut out a strong opponent over the final two quarters of the game. Casey Clifton (RS Jr., LB, Spokane, Wash. - University) led the effort with 10 tackles, including two for loss. He also broke up a pass. Justin Rundle (RS Jr., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) and Nick Portrey (Sr., LB, Ritzville, Wash. - Ritzville) each had six stops. Marc Grow (Jr., DB, Warden, Wash. - Warden) had five tackles, including a sack and another tackle for loss, and recovered a fumble. Phil Entel (RS Jr., FS, Clarkston, Wash. - Clarkston/Idaho) recovered a fumble that set up Whitworth's second touchdown. Jermane Easterlin (RS So., DE, Tacoma, Wash. - Bellarmine Prep) intercepted a pass on Azusa's first possession after Collings' field goal.
Joel Clark (Sr., QB, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane) finished with 213 yards of total offense. He completed 10 of 17 passes for 176 yards with no interceptions or touchdowns. His streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass came to an end at 21 in a row. He did run for 37 yards and a nine yard score on the Pirates' second possession. Milton Nelson (RS So., Spokane, Wash. - Lewis & Clark/EWU) ran nine times for 33 yards in his second game as a Pirate. Kyle Havercroft (RS Jr., Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland) ran for his 18th career touchdown. Michael Allan (Sr., TE, Bellevue, Wash. - Interlake) had three catches for 56 yards. Steve Silva (Jr., WR, Goleta, Calif. - Coll. of the Canyons) also had three grabs for 45 yards, including a 21 yard catch that got the Pirates' game winning drive started. The Midwest : Including Wisconsin-Stout, Whitworth has now played only three schools from east of the Mountain Time Zone. The Pirates played a home and away series with Bethel (Minn.) in 2002 and 2003, with each school winning on its home field. In 1976, Whitworth hosted St. John's (Minn.) in a hastily scheduled game after Whitman College cancelled its season due to lack of players. On the Road to California: The Pirates have played 15 total games in California, with a record of 7-8. Whitworth has won the last six in a row, including this season's win at Redlands. Counting home and away contests, Whitworth has now won 13 straight games against teams from the Golden State after Saturday's win over Azusa Pacific. National Ranking: Whitworth is ranked 14th in the fifth weekly release of the D3football.com poll, moving up from 17th the previous two weeks. Click here for the entire poll. The D3football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Leading the League: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference in several different team categories, demonstrating the all-around play by the Pirates this season. Whitworth is first in scoring defense (11.5 points allowed per game). The Pirates are also first in total offense (374.2), and first in pass efficiency defense (99.9 rating). Scouting Michael Allan: At 6'-7" and 264 pounds, Michael Allan has developed into a bona fide NFL prospect at tight end. He scored very well in strength and speed tests conducted by scouts over the summer and has been seen by more than 16 scouts so far this season. Last fall he was named to the AFCA Division III All-America team after catching 36 passes for 693 yards (19.2 yards per catch). He set a new school record with 15 touchdown receptions, breaking the old record set in 1975 by Doug Long, who went on to play three seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. Allan needs one more touchdown reception to tie Whitworth's career record of 24 touchdown catches set by Pirate legenary player and coach Sam Adams between 1948 and 1951. Tracking Joel Clark: A starter at quarterback since midway through his freshman year, Joel Clark has already broken the Whitworth career total offense record and is now tied for Whitworth's career mark in touchdown passes. Clark's 213 yards of total offense on Saturday gives him 7,818 yards of total offense in his career. He had 2,636 yards of total offense as a sophomore, and 2,668 yards as a junior, which are the third and second highest single season totals in Pirate history. He needs 57 more yards to break Danny Figuiera's career passing yardage record of 6,805. He has 57 career touchdown passes, tying the Pirate career record originally set by Denny Spurlock in 1961. NWC Poll: Whitworth finished second in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 41 points. Defending champion Linfield finished first with all seven first place votes. It is a new-look conference this season with Menlo joining the NWC as a football-only affiliate. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.
The Opponents: Pacific Lutheran University picked up its first win of 2006 last Saturday in dramatic fashion, coming back from a 28-13 fourth quarter deficit to win 32-28 at UPS. That win ended a three game losing streak for the Lutes, who are attempting to bounce back from their first losing season (3-6 in 2005) since 1968. Brett Gordon, a junior, has taken over as the starting QB and completed 55.6% of his passes for 920 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He has two All-NWC recievers to throw to in RS junior Craig Chiado (34 receptions, 467 yards, 4 touchdowns) and RS junior Chase Reed (18-259, 3 TD). Reed has also picked up a team-high 143 yards rushing with another touchdown. But overall the running game has struggled, averaging 1.7 yards per carry and 54 yards per game as a team. Chad Blau, a linebacker, leads the Lutes with 30 tackles, including a conference best 10.5 for losses of 25 yards. He has also accounted for three turnovers with one interception and two forced fumbles. Defensive lineman Andrew Eisentrout has four sacks for 22 yards this year. Last week the Lutes trailed 21-0 early and 28-13 heading to the fourth quarter. But Gordon passed five yards to Brian Stevens for a touchdown, and after forcing a fumble on the kickoff, PLU scored again on a two yard run by Aaron Murphy to get within 28-26. But the two-point try failed. After a quick punt, PLU scored again on a nine yard run by Reed to take the lead. UPS got into Lute territory one more time but the PLU defense held on fourth down. Gordon was 20 of 37 for 336 yards with two interceptions and three touchdowns. Chiado kick-started the comeback with touchdown receptions of 65 yards and 19 yards and finished with nine catches for 210 yards. The Series: PLU leads the all-time series 46-15. The Lutes won every meeting between 1966 and 2001, but the Pirates currently hold a modest two game winning streak against PLU. PLU won the first meeting between the schools 27-0 in 1931. 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. Whitworth's 54 points scored in last year's meeting was the second highest Pirate point total in the series. Last Year's Game: The 2005 season finale at Sparks Stadium was an offensive showcase for both teams. Whitworth jumped to a 33-7 halftime lead on the way to a 54-35 win. Joel Clark finished the game completing 18 of 27 passes for 264 yards and a school record six touchdowns with one interception. He also reached 29 touchdown passes for the season to break another school record of 26, set by Whitworth Hall of Fame quarterback Dennis Spurlock in 1961. Clark also ran for 73 yards on 14 carries for a total of 337 yards of total offense. Chris Ahsing carried 20 times for 114 yards and a score, while Kyle Havercroft ran 16 times for 46 yards and a touchdown. The Pirates accumulated 508 yards of total offense in the game. The Lutes finished with 432 yards in total offense, including 331 in the second half. Chris Maine was 22-38 for 344 yards. Chiado caught nine passes for 217 yards and Reed led the ground game with 75 yards on seven carries. Coach Tully's Quotes: On the Win against Azusa Pacific: "It was a great win for our program and it came against a talented and athletic team. Their offensive line might've been the best we've seen. For our defense to hold them to 14 points is a credit to how hard they played. I was very satisfied with the play of our special teams. For us to come away from another tough opponent with a 4-0 record speaks volumes about how hard our team has worked." On Pacific Lutheran: "Offensively they give a ton of looks and have very talented players at the skill positions. Our defense will have to play very well to contain them. They are defensively very aggressive and come at you from a lot of angles. Our offensive line will have to be mistake free in assignments for us to move the ball." The Coaches: John Tully is in his twelfth season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 54-52 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 40-19 record over the past six+ years and was named the 2001 NWC Coach of the Year. Tully is the winningest coach in school history, as well as the longest serving Pirate coach. Prior to his arrival, Whitworth had suffered through 11 losing seasons in 12 years. Overall he is 85-73 in his 16th season as a head coach. Scott Westering has compiled a 10-12 overall record in his three seasons as Pacific Lutheran University football head coach. Named to the position in February 2004, Scott took over for his father, Hall-of-Famer Frosty, who served as PLU football head coach for 32 years. Scott had been the offensive coordinator since 1983. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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