Complete box score and play by play ATHERTON, Calif. -- Adam Anderson set a school single season record for touchdowns and Layton Brown made two key defensive plays to help visiting Whitworth hold off Menlo 36-34 in a Northwest Conference football game on Saturday afternoon.
Anderson (Jr., RB, Elk, Wash.) - the NCAA Division III leader in all-purpose yards, ran for 142 yards, returned four kickoffs for 115 yards and caught one pass for 20 yards to key the Pirate offense. He scored two rushing touchdowns and his one reception went for a score to lift his season touchdown total to 16, breaking the old single-season school record of 15 set originally by John Murio in 1961 and tied by Michael Allan in 2005. Brown (So., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) led the Pirates with nine individual tackles. But he made two key plays to help the Bucs' cause - his first quarter interception set up Whitworth's first touchdown. Then with the Pirates leading by two points with less than two minutes to play, his eight yard sack moved Menlo out of field goal position, forcing the Oaks to go for it on fourth and 11. That pass was incomplete, ending Menlo's final scoring chance. Following Brown's interception, Milton Nelson (Jr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) finished off Whitworth's first scoring drive with a 24 yard touchdown run, breaking two tackles at the line of scrimmage before sprinting to the endzone and hurdling a final defender. Menlo tied the game 7-7 on the following drive when Darrell Willis caught a 16 yard touchdown pass from Tony Rehn on the second play of the second quarter. The drive covered 60 yards in only five plays. The Pirates appeared to take control later in the quarter. Whitworth followed a 25 yard field goal by Andy Largent (Jr., WR/PK, Spokane, Wash.) with an 80 yard scoring drive that took 6:32 off of the clock. Anderson finished the drive with a six yard run. But Menlo used only 26 seconds to pull within 16-14 at halftime. A short kick of was returned to the 38. Three plays later the Oaks were at the Pirate 35 yard line with one second left in the half. Angel Molina scrambled and passed to Brad Wilkinson, who outjumped a pair of Pirate defenders for the touchdown reception. Menlo took its only lead on the first drive of the third quarter. James Bassett caught a short pass from Molina, broke a tackle and raced 56 yards to the endzone to put the Oaks up 21-16. But Whitworth responded with a 60 yard drive that took only three plays. Cub Jansen (Fr., QB, Mukilteo, Wash.) passed 43 yards to Chad Flett (Sr., WR, Spokane, Wash.) for a score and the Pirates went back on top 23-21. Whitworth extended the lead later in the third when Jansen passed 20 yards to Anderson for a score on fourth down. The extra point gave Whitworth a 30-21 lead. But Menlo came right back to pull within 30-28 on its next possession, the Oaks' longest of the game. Rehn passed five yards to Willis, their second TD connection of the game, to complete a 69-yard, 12 play drive that took 5:27. Whitworth answered and scored another touchdown, Anderson's third of the game from one yard away. Anderson set up the score by completing a 38 yard halfback pass to Largent deep into Menlo territory. A bad snap on the extra point led to no conversion and Whitworth led 36-28. Menlo went right back down the field and completed its final scoring drive with a four yard run by Shane Garnetti. Trailing by two points, the Oaks lined up for a traditional extra point, but attempted to run a fake for the tying two-point conversion. The fake failed and Whitworth retained a 36-34 lead with 6:52 to play.
Anderson returned the kick off 38 yards into Menlo territory and the Pirates looked like they might be able to run out the clock. But Anderson was stripped of the ball and Steven Turner returned the fumble 34 yards into Whitworth territory. After a first down the Oaks had third and three at Whitworth's 24 yard line, when Brown came from the outside and sacked Rehn for an eight yard loss that moved Menlo back to the 32. Instead of trying a 50 yard field goal, the Oaks went for it on fourth and 11 with Rehn overthrowing his receiver on their final play. Whitworth was able to gain a first down and run out the final 1:48 of the clock. Anderson ran 30 times for 142 yards, while Nelson finished with 74 yards on 11 carries. The Pirates ran for 230 yards in the game. Jansen was 3 of 5 for 70 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He split time with Andrew Durant (Fr., QB, Spokane, Wash.), who completed 9 of 12 yards for 62 yards with one interception. Eric Entel (Jr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) caught five passes for 24 yards, while Dale Entel (Fr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) caught four balls for 39 yards. In addition to Brown's nine tackles, Paul Werhane (So., LB, Beaverton, Ore.) had eight stops and McLane Stone (Sr., DB, Orcas Island, Wash.) chipped in with five. Molina ompleted 9 of 18 passes for 173 yards with two touchdowns and one interception to lead the Menlo offense. Rehn was 9 of 14 for 89 yards with two TDs. Bassett caught five passes for 102 yards, while Willis had five grabs for 67 yards. Whitworth (4-3 overall, 2-2 NWC), will play at Pacific Lutheran next Saturday, while Menlo (2-5, 1-3) heads to Oregon to take on Lewis & Clark. |
