With a winning season secured in 2008, Whitworth will now turn its attention to the final game of the season against Lewis & Clark on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Pirates (5-3 overall, 3-2 NWC) will recognize 13 seniors prior to Saturday's kickoff. Whitworth is coming off of a 40-29 come-from-behind win at Pacific Lutheran. The Pioneers (1-6 overall, 0-4 NWC) are coming off of a 49-20 loss to Menlo in their final home contest of 2008.
The Pirates: Trailing 29-21 in the third quarter, Whitworth scored the final 19 points of the game to pull out a 40-29 win at PLU, extending the Pirates' winning streak over the Lutes to five in a row. In a season of outstanding performances, Adam Anderson (Jr., RB, Elk, Wash.) topped them all on Saturday. He ran for a career high 217 yards on 31 carries and shattered Whitworth's single-game scoring record by recording all six Pirate touchdowns in the game. With the six scores he extended the school's single-season touchdown record to 22 and now holds the Whitworth single season scoring record with 134 points (breaking the mark of 129 set by John Murio in 1961). The six touchdown total is the second highest in Northwest small college history. For his performance Anderson was named NWC Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. Milton Nelson (Jr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) continues his strong running for the Pirates, picking up 68 yards on 14 carries against the Lutes. As a team the Pirates ran for 293 yards and held onto the ball for 39 minutes and 19 seconds, nearly doubling PLU in time of posession. The freshmen Pirate quarterbacks continued to show improvement on Saturday. Andrew Durant (Fr., QB, Spokane, Wash.) started the game and completed 5 of 8 passes for 51 yards with no interceptions. Cub Jansen (Fr., QB, Mukilteo, Wash.) was 4 of 4 for 65 yards with no interceptions.
Eric Entel (Jr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) caught three passes for 40 yards, while Dale Entel (Fr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) caught two passes for 50 yards. Faoule Paul (Jr., WR, Del Ray Beach, Fla.) caught the first two passes of his Pirate career for 21 yards. Layton Brown (So., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) and Cameron Stroyan (Jr., LB, Chewelah, Wash.) each led the Pirates with five tackles and came up with an interception. Sean Jung (Fr., DB, Ridgefield, Wash.) had a key 12 yard sack on fourth down in the fourth quarter, and Jesse Clark (Sr., DB, Spokane, Wash.) stopped PLU's final scoring opportunity by intercepting a pass at the goal line and returning it 70 yards into Lute territory.
The Captains: Adam Anderson, Kory Kemp and Brandon Martin will serve as team captains for the Pirates in 2008. Was it a record?: McLane Stone's 92 yard interception return for a touchdown at Linfield is not a school record. Tom Shanholtzer returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown in 1986 against Pacific Lutheran. Stone's return is the second longest in school history, moving ahead of George Elliott's 86 yard return in 1965. One Final Key Starter Lost for the Year: The Pirates have now lost five starters to season-ending injuries. The fifth Pirate to be lost this year is Brandon Martin (Jr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.), who suffered an achilles injury last Saturday at PLU and missed the second half against the Lutes. He will not play on Saturday against L&C. Kory Kemp (Sr., QB, Redmond, Wash.) broke his fibula in the game at Redlands on Sept. 20th. Derek Stottlemyer (So., DB, Bothell, Wash.) suffered a broken tibia in the Chapman game on September 27th. Joey VanHoomissen (Sr., TE, Renton, Wash.) was lost with a broken foot he suffered against Willamette (Oct. 4) and aggravated against Linfield (Oct. 11). Robert Schaefer (So., DB, Bothel, Wash.) tore ligaments in his knee on the opening kick off of the Oct. 25 game at Menlo. Versus California: The Pirates have won 19 of the last 22 against schools from the Golden State. The Bucs are 11-1-1 at home against California schools and 11-10 on the road. Whitworth went 3-1 against schools from the Golden State this season, defeating La Verne (H), Chapman (A) and Menlo (A). Whitworth lost at Redlands (A). A for Effort: Adam Anderson, the 2007 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, has simply had one of the greatest seasons in Whitworth history in 2008. He leads all of NCAA DIII in all-purpose yards (249.9 per game) and currently ranks third in the NCAA in scoring average (16.75 points per game). He also leads the Northwest Conference in rushing average (142.1 yards per game). His three touchdowns at Menlo moved him past John Murio (1961) and Michael Allan (2005) for most touchdowns in a single season. Anderson was the NWC Player of the Week after 324 all-purpose yards in a come-from-behind 41-35 win at previously unbeaten Chapman on September 27th and added his second-such honor with 214 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in a win over UPS (Oct. 18). He now holds Whitworth single-game records for all-purpose yards (324 at Chapman) and touchdowns (6 at PLU) and Whitworth single-season records for all-purpose yards (1,977 and counting) and touchdowns (22 and counting). With 1,115 rushing yards, he is within reach of Damian Putney's single-season record of 1,293 set in 1999. Looking Back at 2007: Whitworth surprised some by winning a second straight Northwest Conference championship despite the graduation of record-setting quarterback Joel Clark and NFL-bound tight end Michael Allan. But the Pirates shook off a season opening loss to Redlands to win eight of the remaining nine games. The only other loss was to NAIA power Azusa Pacific (38-34) in California. Whitworth swept through Northwest Conference play with a 6-0 record, winning a showdown with Linfield College 10-6 in the Pine Bowl on the second to last week of the season. The Pirates led the nation in takeaways (35) and turnover margin (+26). Anderson was named NWC Offensive Player of the Year, Jay Tully was selected as the co-NWC Defensive Player of the Year and John Tully was voted as the NWC Coach of the Year by the conference head coaches. NWC Poll: Whitworth finished second in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 40 points and one first place vote. Linfield finished first with six first place votes and 54 points. Menlo is in its third season in the NWC as a football-only affiliate. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.
The Opponents: Lewis & Clark continues to make steps to improve its football program and this season the Pioneers picked up their first win since 2004 in the season opener at Principia. L&C has shown a solid ability to move the ball, but has struggled with stopping opponents from moving the ball and scoring. So far this season the Pioneers have averaged 327.6 yards per game and have put up 20.9 points per contest. But they have given up 47.1 points per game and allowed an average of 421.1 yards. Senior quarterback AJ Brown is third in the NWC in total offense, averaging 178 yards per game. He has completed 44.6% of his passes for 1,287 yards with eight touchdowns and ten interceptions. His favorite target has been sophomore slotback Ryan Kostecka, who has 26 catches for 560 yards and three scores. The running back tandem of sophomores Joevante Mayes and Harrison Keller has been solid. Mayes is second in the NWC in rushing yards with 613 with four touchdowns. Keller leads the team with six touchdowns this season. Freshman strong safety Shawn Kelly leads the defense with 55 tackles and leads the NWC with three interceptions this season. Last weekend L&C hung right with Menlo for a quarter and a half before falling 49-20 to the Oaks in the Pioneers' final home game of 2008. Brown completed 17 of 38 passes for 293 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. One of the TDs went to Kostecka, who finished with four catches for 98 yards. Junior linebacker Eddie Pallett led L&C with 11 tackles. The Series: Whitworth leads the all-time series 26-12 and has won the last nine in a row. Whitworth won the 2006 game 70-3, the largest margin of victory in the series and the last time the teams played in the Pine Bowl. The Pirates won last season's game 48-7 in Portland. 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 Season: Whitworth led 20-0 after one quarter, 41-7 at half time and cruised to the 48-7 win at Lewis & Clark. The Pirates outgained the Pioneers 572-149 and ran for 395 yards, the second-highest single game total in school history. The school rushing record is 406 yards in 1962 against Eastern Washington. Milton Nelson carried 19 times for 128 yards with a touchdown, while Adam Anderson ran only seven times for 69 yards and a touchdown. The Whitworth defense saw a lot of fresh faces get plenty of playing time. Layton Brown led the Bucs with six tackles, while Dane Gilbertson (So., LB, Lake Stevens, Wash. - Lake Stevens) added five stops.
On the PLU Game: "It was a great win on the road and I was very impressed with the way our guys came back in the second half. During the week we talked about playing 60 full minutes and as a team we did that. I like how we continue to get better as a group. Our running attack had great success and our offensive line was able to move the pile as the game went on." On Lewis & Clark: "We have talked about finishing the season in a strong fashion and if we win on Saturday we will finish this year 4-0. Like every week this season, our primary focus is on improving as a team and getting better from one Saturday to the next." The Coaches: John Tully is concluding his 14th season as head coach of the Pirates and has a 74-58 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 61-24 record over the past eight+ years and has been named the NWC Coach of the Year three times (2001, 2006 and 2007). 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 105-79 in his 18th season as a head coach. Chris Sulages is in his third season leading L&C as the head coach and he is in his sixth season on the Pioneer staff. He was the offensive coordinator in 2005 and the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator in 2003 and 2004. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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Coach Tully's Quotes: 