Coming off of a key Northwest Conference victory over previously unbeaten Pacific Lutheran University, Whitworth University heads to Oregon to play Lewis & Clark College this weekend. The Pirates are atop the Northwest Conference standings after winning their 9th NWC game in a row, dating to the end of the 2005 schedule. This is the first time since 2002 that Whitworth will play a game at Lewis & Clark. The teams were scheduled to play in Portland in 2005, but the Pioneers cancelled the five NWC games on their schedule prior to the start of the season. L&C is coming off of a 51-14 loss at Menlo last Saturday.

The Pirates: Whitworth built a 28-0 halftime lead and controlled the explosive Pacific Lutheran offense for 55 minutes on Saturday, then withstood the Lutes' late rally to win 28-21. It is the fourth season in a row Whitworth has defeated PLU and the football class of 2008 becomes the first class of Pirate players to complete their career without a loss to the Lutes since the graduation of the class of 1964.

Adam Anderson (So., RB, Elk, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) ran for 170 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries to lead a Whitworth rushing game that finished with 223 yards rushing against a PLU defense that came into the contest leading the NWC in rushing yards allowed. But the Pirate offensive line continued to open holes for Whitworth running backs against a very talented Lute front seven. Chris Ahsing (Sr., RB, Ewa Beach, Hawaii - Campbell) ran for 59 hard-earned yards and Milton Nelson (So., RB, Spokane, Wash. - EWU ran for a nine-yard score.

Kory Kemp (Jr., QB, Redmond, Wash. - Eastlake) completed 6 of 9 passes for 78 yards and two important touchdowns without an interception. Kemp completed a three yard touchdown to Drew Griggs (Sr., TE, Colbert, Wash. - Mt. Spokane) to give Whitworth a 21-0 second quarter lead. Then later in the second quarter on fourth and two at the 23, Kemp threw a touchdown to Griggs over the middle on play action. Steve Silva (Sr., WR, Goleta, Calif. - Coll. of the Canyons) caught the other four passes for 52 yards.

Zack Clow (Fr., P, Blanchard, Idaho - Priest River) punted well for the Bucs, averaging 37.8 yards per attempt and putting three of four kicks inside the PLU 20 yard line.

The Whitworth defense held the Lutes to half of their per-game scoring average. Phil Entel (Sr., FS, Clarkston, Wash. - Univ. of Idaho) had five tackles and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Ryan Marshall (Sr., CB, Salem, Ore. - Sprague), leading to the second Pirate touchdown. Marshall added an interception in the second quarter, his fourth of the year, which leads the conference. Jay Tully (Sr., SS, Spokane, Wash. - Mead) had his third interception of the year in the second as well. Both interceptions led to Whitworth touchdowns. Greg Caster (Sr., LB, Sherwood, Ore. - Sherwood) led the Bucs with seven tackles.

Fun Festivities: In addition to the traditional homecoming festivities on Saturday, Whitworth inducted the 18th class into its Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame. The inductees, who include Larry Paradis (1950's All-American in football), Drew Stevick (1970 NAIA Javelin champion) and the 1978-81 era volleyball team, will be recognized at halftime, along with all other previous inductees present at the game.

Home Sweet Home: Whitworth's three game homestand this season is the longest in the Pine Bowl since the Pirates played four games in a row at home in 1999. While Whitworth was able to enjoy four of the first five games of 2007 at home, it also means that the Pirates will finish the year with four of five games on the road.

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 shutout 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.

Versus California: Whitworth bounced back from the season-opening loss to Redlands to beat La Verne in week two. Saturday's win over Menlo means the Pirates have won 16 of the last 17 against schools from the Golden State. The Bucs are 10-1-1 at home against California schools and 9-8 in California. Whitworth has won the last eight in a row on the road. The Pirates will play one more school from California this season when they travel to Azusa Pacific on October 20th.

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 NCAA Division III in turnover margin. The Pirates have taken away the ball 18 times (13 interceptions, five fumble recoveries), while giving the ball away only three times, for a margin of +15. Fifteen divided by five games means the Bucs are taking the ball away 3.0 more times per game than opponents so far this season. In addition, Whitworth is ranked fourth in passes intercepted (13) and second in turnovers lost (3).

"A" for Effort: Adam Anderson leads the NWC in rushing this season with 524 yards (over 104 yards per game). He has run for four touchdowns and has a carry of at least 40 yards in four of the Bucs' five games this season.

Sticky Fingers: Steve Silva leads the Northwest Conference in total receptions so far this fall. Silva has 32 catches for 365 yards, averaging 6.4 receptions per game. The senior was a First Team All-NWC selection in 2006.

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 moved back into the top 25 (at #25) in the latest D3football.com top-25 poll (Oct. 8), the Pirates' first week in the poll since a season-opening loss to Redlands.

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: Lewis & Clark head coach Chris Sulages continues the rebuilding job he inherited last season after the Pioneers cancelled their five Northwest Conference games in 2005. He has 23 new freshman on his 43-man roster this season with many carrying the load. Freshman running back Joevante Mayes has been a do-everything guy for L&C this season, averaging 191.5 all-purpose yards per game. He has run for 323 yards, caught 12 passes for 193 yards and also has 250 yards in kick off returns. Junior QB AJ Brown has completed 51% of his passes for 810 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions. Wide receiver Mike Wennerlind, one of five seniors on the team, has 14 catches for 111 yards. On defense junior linebacker Kevin Takeno, a Second Team All-NWC selection in 2006, leads the Pioneers with 30 tackles this season, but broke his foot in at game at Chicago and is likely out for the season. Freshman DB Joe Morris has 25 stops and an interception this fall.

Last week the Pioneers gave away five turnovers, which allowed Menlo to pull away from a 14-14 second quarter tie for a 51-14 win in Atherton, California. Mayes carried 19 times for 118 yards, including a 64 yard touchdown run. Brown completed 8 of 21 passes for 115 yards, including a 66 yard touchdown pass to Chance Martinez. He also threw three interceptions. Morris led L&C with 11 tackles, including 10 solo efforts.

The Series: Whitworth leads the all-time series 25-12 and has won the last eight in a row. This will be the first meeting between the schools in Portland since 2002 since the 2005 game was cancelled. Whitworth won last year's game 70-3, the largest margin of victory in the series. The Pirates won the last game in Portland 35-7 to conclude the 2002 season with a 7-3 record. The last L&C win was 20-7 in Portland in 1997. The biggest margin of victory for the Pioneers over the Pirates was 49-26 in 1993.

Last Year: In front of a record Homecoming and Hall of Fame weekend crowd Whitworth rolled to its largest margin of victory in 30 years by beating winless Lewis & Clark 70-3. The only margins larger came in 1976, a 70-0 win over Montana Tech, and 1971, an 83-13 win over Northern Montana. Whitworth celebrated Homecoming reunion and Hall of Fame induction in front of 3,650 spectators. With the starters playing only two quarters of football, Whitworth rolled to a 49-3 halftime lead. The Pirates outgained L&C 490-176 and had a 6-1 edge in turnovers. The game turned against the Pioneers late in the first quarter. The Pirates had just taken a 14-3 lead when Steve Silva turned a screen pass into a 45 yard touchdown. On the next L&C possession, Jay Tully intercepted Pioneer QB AJ Brown and returned the ball 40 yards for a touchdown. And then on the next L&C possession, Ryan Marshall picked off Brown and broke several tackles on the way to a 48 yard touchdown return, giving the Pirates a 28-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Coach Tully's Quotes:

On the PLU game: "Our guys played very well in all facets of the game. I feel like we beat a very good PLU team. Our seniors are very excited about going through their careers having beaten such a quality program four times. Both teams played with a lot of energy and class and it was just a great Northwest Conference football game."

On L&C this week: "Like every week, we'll focus on areas that we need to improve upon and work on those in practice. And we will continue to develop our areas where we are strong."

On the mid-point of the season: "I think we continue to get better each week. I am happy with our players and our coaches are doing a really good job. From the first week to this week, our team has shown great improvement."

The Coaches: John Tully is in his 13th season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 65-54 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 51-21 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 95-76 in his 17th season as a head coach.

Chris Sulages is in his second season leading L&C as the head coach and he is in his fifth season on the Pioneer staff. He was the offensive coordinator in 2005 and the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator in 2003 and 2004.

2007 Statistics

2007 Roster

L&C Football Page

Other Division III Football Links:

Northwest Conference On-line

D3football.com

American Football Coaches Association