The Whitworth University football release was supposed to look very different today. But instead of outlining the Pirates' outlook for a first round NCAA Division III playoff game, the final release of the 2007 season will sum up a year without a playoff for the 2007 Northwest Conference champions. But no matter what some selection committee believes, the Pirates had another outstanding season as they finished 8-2 overall and 6-0 in the NWC after last Saturday's 34-13 win at University of Puget Sound. In addition, 18 Pirates have been recognized on the All-NWC team, along with head coach John Tully (see below). The Pirates: Whitworth's defense was dominant again last Saturday. The Loggers gained more than half of their yards in the fourth quarter after the Pirates had taken a 34-0 lead and began to substitute liberally. Even so, Whitworth outgained UPS 510-280, had more first downs (22-12) and had an advantage in time of possession of 35:48 - 24:12.
It was truly a team effort on defense. Marc Grow (Sr., LB, Warden, Wash. - Warden) led the way with seven tackles. But behind him six different players had five tackles and three others had four stops. Jermane Easterlin (Jr., DE, Tacoma, Wash. - Bellarmine Prep) had two tackles for losses of four yards. Ryan Marshall (Sr., DB, Salem, Ore. - Sprague) intercepted his fifth pass of the season and the 19th of his career. Cameron Stroyan (So., LB, Chewelah, Wash. - Jenkins) picked off his first pass of the season. The Pirates also recovered three fumbles for five total turnovers. Chris Ahsing (Sr., RB, Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell) and Adam Anderson (So., RB, Elk, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) each rushed for more than 90 yards. Anderson had three touchdowns (two rushing, one receiving) and Ahsing ran for a score. Kory Kemp (Jr., QB, Redmond, Wash. - Eastlake) completed 16 of 23 passes for 195 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in just about two and a half quarters of work. He was named NWC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Steve Silva (Sr., WR, Goleta, Calif. - Coll. of the Canyons) caught eight passes for 77 yards, while Nick Koller (Sr., WR, LaCrosse, Wash. - LaCrosse) caught four passes for 28 yards. Joey Vanhoomissen (Jr., TE, Renton, Wash. - Kentridge) caught a touchdown, his second of the season. Zack Clow (Fr., P, Blanchard, Idaho - Priest River) only punted 2 times for an average of 28.5 yards. The 2007 All-NWC Team: John Tully is the 2007 Northwest Conference Coach of the Year, Adam Anderson is the 2007 NWC Offensive Player of the Year and Jay Tully (Sr., SS, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) is the 2007 NWC Co-Defensive Player of the Year. This group of three headlines the 2007 All-NWC Football team that includes 18 Pirates. For more on John Tully, see below.
Click here for the entire team. Anderson led a group of four players on the First Team Offense, while Tully leads a group of eight on the First Team Defense. Anderson was joined by Chris Ahsing, Steve Silva and Drew Griggs (Sr., TE, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane). Anderson scored 12 touchdowns this season (10 rushing, two receiving) and led the league in yards rushing. Ahsing ran for 581 yards and six touchdowns. Silva caught 55 passes for 623 yards and a touchdown. Griggs had 8 catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
Tully was joined on the first team defense by Brandon Martin (So., DT, Sweet Home, Ore. - Sweet Home), Justin Rundle (Sr., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mt. Spokane), Casey Clifton (Sr., LB, Spokane, Wash. - University), Greg Caster (Sr., LB, Sherwood, Ore. - Sherwood), Marc Grow, Phillip Entel (Sr., FS, Clarkston, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) and Ryan Marshall. Both Clifton and Marshall are three-time First Team All-NWC selections, while Tully, Rundle and Caster were First Team choices in 2006. The Pirate defense led the nation in turnover margin this season and held opponents to 95.6 yards rushing per game and 272.2 yards total per game.
Michael Cozad (So., OG, Bellingham, Wash. - Sehome) and Jeff Kintner (So., OT, Wenatchee, Wash. - Wenatchee) were Second Team choices on the offense, while Peter Clark (Sr., DE, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) and Peter Ghilardi (Sr., CB, Ridgecrest, Calif. - Moorpark Coll.) were Second Team defensive selections. Cozad and Kintner blocked on an offensive line that allowed the Pirates to run for 2,372 yards, convert 40% of its third downs and keep the ball for more than 34 minutes per game.
Nick Koller and Kyle Kania (Sr., C, Pasco, Wash. - Pasco) were honorable mention honorees on offense. Many Milestones: Whitworth established many milestones this season. Not the least of which is back to back conference championships in football for the first time since 1960. The Pirates broke a school record for combined victories in back to back seasons (19, surpassing the consecutive 9-win seasons in 1960 and 1961). Whitworth's 2,372 rushing yards this season is the second highest total in school history, behind only the 2,435 yards put up in 1961. Shooting Blanks: Whitworth's wins over La Verne (34-0) and Menlo (49-0) gave the Pirates two shutouts in one season for the first time since Hugh Campbell's Bucs shut out Montana Tech (70-0) and Pacific, Ore. (45-0) during a 6-3 campaign in 1976. Whitworth's 1975 Northwest Conference co-title season included three shutouts - wins over Eastern Washington (20-0), Pacific (35-0) and Lewis & Clark (37-0). The school record for shutouts in a season is seven in 1961. Seniors Everywhere: Fifteen seniors started the opener for the Pirates, the most veteran starting lineup in John Tully's tenure as head coach. Nine seniors started on defense, where eight have at least one full season of starting experience behind them. Six seniors started on offense, and four of those players started last year. Seventeen seniors overall completed their final years at Whitworth over the weekend. Offensive Defense: Whitworth scored four touchdowns and two safeties by the defense this season for a total of 29 points. Marc Grow has two of the touchdown returns with a fumble (La Verne) and an interception (Menlo). Ryan Marshall's interception return for a touchdown against Menlo was the second of his career. Entel's TD return against Linfield was the second of his career as well. Takeitaway!: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference and NCAA Division III in turnover margin. The Pirates have taken away the ball 35 times (22 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries), while giving the ball away only nine times, for a margin of +26. Twenty-six divided by ten games means the Bucs took the ball away 2.6 more times per game than opponents so far this season. In addition, Whitworth leads the league, and ranks third in the NCAA, in fewest turnovers lost (9). The Pirates rank first in the NWC and fourth in the NCAA in total interceptions (22). "A" for Effort: Adam Anderson led the NWC in rushing this season with 958 yards (over 95 yards per game). He ran for 11 touchdowns and had a carry of at least 40 yards in half of the Bucs' games this season. He is averaging a robust 5.6 yards per attempt. Sticky Fingers: Steve Silva leads the Northwest Conference in total receptions (55) and is second in receptions per game (5.5) this fall. Silva had 55 catches for 623 yards. The senior was a First Team All-NWC selection in 2006. Three-way Jay: Jay Tully has made his presence felt all over the football field this season. The starting strong safety led the team with 71 tackles this fall and he had four pass interceptions. He also has averaged 20.3 yards on kick off returns (he led the team with 11 returns). And when Whitworth goes with four or five wide receivers, he is on the field catching passes. He had ten receptions for 109 yards this season, including the game-winning touchdown catch against Wis.-Stout as time expired. National Ranking: Whitworth moved up two spots in the polls this week after defeating UPS on Saturday. The Pirates are ranked 18th in the D3football.com poll. NWC Poll: Whitworth finished second in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 44 points and two first place votes. Linfield finished first with five first place votes and 52 points. Menlo is in its second season in the NWC as a football-only affiliate. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.
Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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The Coach: