Whitworth College, ranked 17th in this week's D3football.com top 25, will play a team from the state of Wisconsin for the first time in school history on Saturday when the Pirates travel to Menomonie to take on the University of Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils. Stout is only the third school from east of the Mountain Time Zone that Whitworth has ever had on its schedule. Both teams come into this weekend's game with 2-0 records. Whitworth is coming off of a 37-16 win at home over La Verne (Calif.), while the Blue Devils were 36-34 winners at NCAA Division II Upper Iowa.
The Pirates: Whitworth improved to 2-0 with a 37-16 win over visiting La Verne, taking a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. The Bucs are now 3-0 vs. the Leopards in the series. Joel Clark (Sr., QB, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane) accounted for 331 yards of total offense. He completed 79% (15 of 19) of his passes for 199 yards with a pair of touchdown passes and no interceptions. He ran for 132 yards on six carries, including a career-high 76 yard touchdown run. Steve Silva (Jr., WR, Goleta, Calif. - Coll. of the Canyons) caught seven passes for 72 yards, while Michael Allan (Sr., TE, Bellevue, Wash. - Interlake HS) caught four balls for 60 yards and a touchdown. Nick Koller (Jr., WR, La Crosse, Wash. - La Crosse) caught three passes for 63 yards, including a touchdown. Chris Ahsing (RS Jr., RB, Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell) ran for 59 yards on eight carries before injuring his left ankle in the second quarter. His x-ray came back negative for a break, but he will not play in Saturday's game. Kyle Havercroft (RS Jr., RB, Rathdrum, Idaho - Lakeland) ran for 40 yards and a score, while Shane Stonemetz (RS So., RB, Zillah, Wash. - Zillah) scored his first career touchdown. The Pirate rushing game accumulated 255 yards on 35 carries (7.3 yards per run).
Jay Tully (Jr., SS, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) led the defensive effort against La Verne with ten tackles. He intercepted a pass in the endzone to kill one of the Leopards' scoring opportunities, returning the ball out to the 30 yard line. He also broke up another pass on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Pirate offense. Casey Clifton (RS Jr., LB, Spokane, Wash. - University) also had 10 tackles, including two for loss, with three QB hurries. Ryan Marshall (Jr., CB, Salem, Ore. - Sprague) intercepted his second pass of the season, returned a blocked extra point for a defensive two-point conversion, and returned three punts for 65 yards. Cameron Collings (Sr., Spokane, Wash. - Mead) made all five of his extra points. He is 9/9 on PATs this season. He did not have to punt during the game as Whitworth fumbled twice and gave the ball up on downs once. On the Road to California: The Pirates have now 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 twelve straight games against teams from the Golden State. National Ranking: Whitworth is ranked 17th in the third weekly release of the D3football.com poll. 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. 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 a dozen 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. After this past Saturday, Allan has caught at least one touchdown pass in 11 straight games. 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 needs only one more touchdown pass to tie Whitworth's career mark in that category. Clark's 331 yards of total offense on Saturday gives him 7,310 yards of total offense in his career, surpassing former Pirate quarterback Danny Figuiera's record of 6,763 set in 1993. 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 481 yards to break Figuiera's career passing yardage record of 6,805. He has 56 career touchdown passes after Saturday. He needs one more to tie the Pirate career record of 57 set by Denny Spurlock in 1961. Clark has thrown at least one touchdown pass in the last 20 games, and at least two touchdown passes in the last 11 games in a row. 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: The University of Wisconsin-Stout is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, considered by most Division III followers to be the deepest and toughest NCAA Division III football conference in the country. UW-Whitewater played in last year's Stagg Bowl, and UW-La Crosse has already defeated NCAA DI-AA South Dakota State this season. UW-Stout is a legitimate contender for this year's WIAC title, bringing back 18 starters from 2005 when the Blue Devils finished 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the league. Stout is in the midst of an eight game winning streak against non-conference opponents that dates back to 2003. The Blue Devils are led by a pair of gifted runners. Senior Ryan Englebert, who missed most of last season due to injury, has 223 yards and three touchdowns so far this year. Junior Andy Reese, who was an All-WIAC selection a year ago with 979 yards rushing, has 134 on the ground this year. The pair runs behind an offensive line that averages 6-4 and 304 pounds. Senior center Bill Bellingham (6-3, 290) was a Second Team All-WIAC choice last season. Junior QB Tyler Kattre has completed 54% of his passes for 124 yards this season, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also averaged nearly five yards per carry. All-WIAC WR Jesse Wendt has eight catches this season, including a touchdown. Senior MLB Luke Steffen leads the team with 16 tackles and an interception. Senior FS Rob Weinstein has 15 tackles and two interceptions. Senior DE Travis Hoffman was a First Team All-WIAC selection last season. Last week the Blue Devils took a 22-0 lead at halftime at Upper Iowa before holding on to defeat the Peacocks 36-34. Kattre completed 11 of 22 passes for 98 yards with touchdown tosses to Wendt (3 yards) and Chase Unbehaun (9 yards), while also running for 65 yards and a TD. Steffen returned an interception 94 yards for a score. Englebert ran 19 times for 111 yards and a touchdown. Upper Iowa had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds after scoring a touchdown, but the two point conversion was stopped and the Blue Devils recovered the on-sides kick attempt. The Series: This is the first meeting between the Blue Devils and the Pirates. The teams are scheduled to meet next season in Spokane on September 22nd. The Midwest : Whitworth has only played two other 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. Coach Tully's Quotes: On the La Verne Win: "I thought we played solid in all facets of the game, but I was most impressed with our overall effort. Our focus this year is 'expect great effort' and I saw that displayed several times. I thought that overall, La Verne was better than last year. They have some guys who were very skilled, and their line was big and physical. Our guys played well to win that game." On Stout: "Going on the road is always a challenge, especially halfway across the country. They are likely the biggest team we have ever faced. We expect them to be very physical. But they also have very good skill people. They look very well coached on film and they definitely are a top-20 caliber team." The Coaches: John Tully is in his twelfth season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 52-52 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 48-29 record over the past eight+ 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 83-73 in his 16th season as a head coach. Stout coach Todd Strop (13-8 career) is in his third year as the Blue Devil head coach. Strop currently ranks No. 10 on the program's all-time coaching wins list after Saturday's victory. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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