In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "It's deja vu all over again." For the second year in a row Whitworth University and Linfield College will meet on the second-to-last weekend of the season to determine the outcome of the Northwest Conference championship. The host Pirates (6-2 overall, 4-0 NWC) can clinch an outright title with a win over the Wildcats (5-2, 3-1). A Linfield win creates a tie that could end up as a co-championship. Whitworth is coming off of a 20-17 overtime win at Willamette University, while Linfield rolled past Menlo College 37-6 last Saturday.
The Pirates: Whitworth won in Salem, Oregon for the first time since 2001. Andy Largent's (So., WR/PK, Spokane, Wash. - WSU/Shadle Park) 33 yard field goal lifted the Bucs to a 20-17 win in overtime. It was the third time in the last six meetings between Whitworth and Willamette that the game has gone into overtime. The Whitworth defense limited the Bearcats to 274 yards of total offense, 210 of which came on the ground. Jay Tully (Sr., SS, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) was named NWC Defensive Player of the Week after recording 19 tackles, including one for loss of 2 yards. Casey Clifton (Sr., LB, Spokane, Wash. - University) made 13 stops, including 1.5 for loss of two yards, while Marc Grow (Sr., LB, Warden, Wash. - Warden) had 12 tackles, including 1.5 for losses of seven yards. Greg Caster (Sr., LB, Sherwood, Ore. - Sherwood) recovered a key fumble for the second week in a row. Phil Entel (Sr., FS, Clarkston, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) picked off his third pass of the season and second in as many weeks. Despite an up-and-down performance through two and a half quarters, the defense stiffened when it needed to. After Willamette drove for a touchdown to pull within 17-14, the Pirates allowed only three more first downs over the final quarter and a half. Most importantly, they held when a Bearcats' interception gave Willamette first down on the Whitworth 12 yard line late in the third quarter, forcing a field goal that kept the game tied.
Adam Anderson (So., RB, Elk, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) led the Whitworth offense, which totaled 366 yards, with 84 yards rushing and one touchdown. He also threw a 32 yard touchdown pass to Largent. Chris Ahsing (Sr., RB, Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell) picked up 50 hard-earned yards on 18 carries. Kory Kemp (Jr., QB, Redmond, Wash. - Eastlake) completed 10 of 19 passes for 171 yards and threw two interceptions. He also ran for 24 yards. Steve Silva (Sr., WR, Goleta, Calif. - Coll. of the Canyons) caught four passes for 33 yards, while Tully had three grabs for 66 yards. Largent was named the NWC Special Teams Player of the Week for his big field goals. Zack Clow (Fr., P, Blanchard, Idaho - Priest River) punted six times for an average of 34.3 yards. Finally Home Sweet Home Again: Home for the first time since October 6th, the recently completed three game road swing was Whitworth's longest since four straight road games in 1999. Shooting Blanks: Whitworth's wins over La Verne (34-0) and Menlo (49-0) give 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. Offensive Defense: Whitworth has scored three touchdowns and two safeties by the defense so far this season for a total of 22 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. Takeitaway!: Whitworth leads the Northwest Conference and NCAA Division III in turnover margin. The Pirates have taken away the ball 25 times (15 interceptions, 10 fumble recoveries), while giving the ball away only seven times, for a margin of +18. Eighteen divided by eight games means the Bucs are taking the ball away 2.3 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 (7) with Willamette second in the NWC (14). Ryan Marshall (Sr., DB, Salem, Ore. - Sprague) leads the NWC in interceptions this season with four, and he has 18 in his career. No Running!: Whitworth is first in the Northwest Conference in rushing defense. The Pirates have allowed only 83.3 yards per game and 2.7 yards per carry. One ball carrier, Ron Fricke of Wisconsin-Stout, has run for more than 100 yards this season against the Pirates. "A" for Effort: Adam Anderson leads the NWC in rushing this season with 826 yards (over 103 yards per game). He has run for nine touchdowns and has a carry of at least 40 yards in four of the Bucs' eight games this season. He is averaging a robust 5.8 yards per attempt. Sticky Fingers: Steve Silva leads the Northwest Conference in total receptions (44) and is second in receptions per game (5.5) so far this fall. Silva has 44 catches for 500 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 is second on the team with 59 tackles this fall and he has three pass interceptions. He also has averaged 21.5 yards on kick off returns (he leads the team with eight returns). And when Whitworth goes with four or five wide receivers, he is on the field catching passes. He has ten receptions for 109 yards this season, including the game-winning touchdown catch against Wis.-Stout as time expired. Looking Back at 2006: Whitworth accomplished a great deal in its 100th season of varsity football. The Pirates went 10-0 during the regular season, setting a school record for total number of wins. Whitworth went on to win the first post-season playoff game in school history before finishing 11-1. The Pirates won the Northwest Conference title outright for the first time, after sharing titles in 1975 and 2001, and finished the year ranked 9th in the final D3football.com poll. Quarterback Joel Clark and linebacker Casey Clifton were the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in the NWC. John Tully was named Coach of the Year in the conference. National Ranking: Whitworth dropped out of both the D3football.com top-25 and the AFCA top-25 after the loss at Azusa Pacific on October 20th. The Pirates are listed with "others receiving votes" in both polls. 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.
The Opponents: Linfield clinched its 52nd consecutive winning season with last Saturday's win over Menlo, an all-time and all-divisions record in football. The Wildcats are ranked 12th in the latest D3football.com poll and 19th in the AFCA Division III top-25. After starting the season 1-2, with losses at NCAA DII Western Oregon and at Willamette, Linfield has reeled off four straight wins behind their typically high powered offense and an improved defense. The Wildcats lead the Northwest Conference in total offense (403.1 yards per game) and passing offense (283.7 yards per game). The winning streak has coincided with a much improved defense that has held the previous two opponents (PLU and Menlo) to fewer than 100 yards of total offense. Overall the Wildcats are second in the conference in total defense, allowing 294.7 yards per game. A senior-laden group of weapons leads the Linfield offense. Senior QB Trevor Scharer has completed 59.3% of his passes for 1938 yards with 18 touchdowns and own five interceptions. His favorite targets have been Josh Vierra and Tyler Kaluza, a pair of senior wide outs who have combined for 67 catches, 846 yards and six touchdowns. Linfield's winning streak has also come after Travis Masters was moved from receiver to running back and the senior has rushed for 397 yards in the last four games. Senior safety Brian Mehl leads the Linfield defense with 65 tackles, including seven for loss, and three interceptions. Senior defensive end Taylor Summers has 9.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for losses of 41 yards. Last week Linfield outgained Menlo 434 to 94 while methodically rolling to a 37-6 win in Atherton, California. Masters ran for 103 yards on 15 carries and Scharer threw for 178 yards and two touchdowns. Vierra caught five passes for 75 yards and one of the touchdowns. Mehl had five tackles and Summers added to his TFL total with two for losses of nine yards. The Series: Linfield leads the overall series 26-4-2 and had won 14 in a row before the Pirates ended the streak last season. The first meeting was a 13-13 tie in 1952. Linfield's largest margin of victory was 61-0 in 1966, while Whitworth's largest win was 41-13 in 1954. The Wildcats' 14 game winning streak was the longest in the series. The Pirates are looking for their first back to back wins over Linfield since 1953-54. Last Year: It certainly wasn't pretty, but it was no less satisfying. Whitworth defeated Linfield 17-13, taking advantage of seven Wildcat turnovers in the victory that ultimately determined the NWC championship. Casey Clifton led the stellar defensive effort with a game-high 17 tackles, including one for loss. More importantly, in the first quarter he created a fumble and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown. Then in the fourth quarter, with Linfield driving for a potential go ahead touchdown, he forced another fumble inside the Pirates' five yard line that Nick Portrey recovered and returned to the Whitworth 37 yard line. But there were many other defensive standouts in the game. Greg Caster forced a fumble and recovered two others, both of which led to Whitworth points. He had nine tackles, including a six yard sack. Jay Tully also had nine tackles and made his sixth interception of the season. Phil Entel recovered a first quarter fumble inside Whitworth's five yard line. Marc Grow intercepted his third pass of the season. And Peter Ghilardi (Sr., CB, Ridgecrest, Calif. - Moorpark Coll.) saved the game in the final seconds as he knocked away Linfield's last pass in the back of the endzone on fourth down. QB Joel Clark may have had his worst statistical day as a quarterback, but he still scored the winning touchdown in the biggest victory of his career. Clark ran 23 yards on a draw play in the third quarter for a touchdown that gave the Pirates a 17-10 lead.
On the Willamette game: "That was an exciting, great game between two good football teams battling very hard. Obviously it was fun for our guys to come out ahead in overtime. It just seems that every year we play them it comes down to the final plays and this year was no different. Our guys gave great effort and that's all we can ask." On facing Linfield: "They are an extremely talented team and very well coached. We are excited to be involved in a game this late in the year that has so much bearing on the NWC championship and potentially the NCAA playoffs." The Coaches: John Tully is in his 13th season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 67-55 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 53-22 record over the past seven-plus years and was named the NWC Coach of the Year in 2001 and 2006. 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 97-77 in his 17th season as a head coach. Joe Smith, a Wildcat alum and long time assistant and former defensive coordinator, took over as Linfield's head coach in 2006. He has an 11-5 record in his second season leading the Wildcats. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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Coach Tully's Quotes: 