Whitworth University will hit the road for the first time this season when the Pirates travel to Southern California for a game against the University of Redlands. It is the sixth meeting between the schools, and fifth year in a row the teams have played. It is the first time the teams will meet on the field as the defending champions from their respective conferences. The Bulldogs, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference champions in 2007, dismantled the University of Dubuque 46-9 last Saturday, while the defending Northwest Conference champion Pirates defeated University of La Verne 22-13.
The Pirates: Whitworth was solid in its season-opening win over the Leopards. While the defense might have come in with the most questions, that group provided solid answers by holding La Verne to 229 yards of total offense, including only 34 rushing yards. ULV had only 14 first downs and Whitworth sacked Leopard quarterbacks six times for 32 yards in losses. Brandon Martin (Jr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.) led the Pirates with a career-high of nine tackles, including six solo stops. Paul Werhane (So., LB, Beaverton, Ore.), seeing his first significant playing time, came up with six tackles, including a nine-yard sack and two others for loss. Nick Ashley (So., DE, Lind, Wash.) had five tackles. He was in on three tackles for losses totaling 16 yards and also forced two fumbles, one of which was recovered by Layton Brown (So., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) Offensively the Pirates were efficient enough to get the victory. Whitworth finished with 400 yards of total offense, including 269 yards on the ground. Adam Anderson (Jr., RB, Elk, Wash.) led the way with 243 all-purpose yards. He ran for 158 yards and the game-clinching touchdown, caught five passes for 54 yards and returned the opening kick off 31 yards. Milton Nelson (Jr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) added 81 yards on only 12 carries (6.8 yards per run). Kory Kemp (Sr., QB, Redmond, Wash.) completed 12 of 22 passes for 131 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Both touchdowns went to Joey VanHoomissen (Sr., TE, Renton, Wash.), who finished with four catches for 62 yards.
The offensive line, led by Dan Sanders (Sr., OT, Freeman, Wash.), Michael Cozad (Jr., OG, Bellingham, Wash.) and Jeff Kintner (Jr., OT, Wenatchee, Wash.) began to take control of the game in the second half. While Kemp was sacked twice on blitzes, there were no sacks allowed after halftime. Zack Clow (So., P/K, Blanchard, Idaho - Priest River) averaged 56 yards per kick off and 34.3 yards per punt, including a career high of 59 yards. Head coach John Tully credited the Pirate kick off coverage and kick of return groups for their excellent special teams work on Saturday.
The Captains: Adam Anderson, Kory Kemp and Brandon Martin will serve as team captains for the Pirates in 2008. Versus California: The Pirates have won 17 of the last 19 against schools from the Golden State. The Bucs are 11-1-1 at home against California schools and 9-9 on the road. A for Effort: Adam Anderson, the 2007 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, will be a workhorse for the Pirates this season. He had 33 carries in Saturday's win, but he also caught five passes to lead the team in receiving. Anderson gets no break during special teams either, returning kick offs (he had one for 31 yards on Saturday), and playing on punt coverage. TD Machine: Joey VanHoomissen now has ten pass receptions in his career and four of those have gone for touchdowns. His average yards per catch is 21.7 yards per reception. 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. National Ranking: Whitworth is listed first among "others receiving votes" in this week's D3football.com top-25 poll. 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: Redlands, ranked 23rd in the latest D3football.com poll, opened the 2008 season impressively with a 46-9 win over Dubuque, a team that finished 7-3 and tied for third in the IIAC in 2007. The defending SCIAC champions rolled up 457 yards of offense, and most impressively 229 yards came through the air while 228 yards were on the ground. Junior quarterback Dan Selway, the 2007 SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year, completed 22 of 30 passes for all 229 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for 28 yards on three carries. Running backs Zack Schafer and Jeff Stewart combined for 25 carries, 134 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Kenny Romero was Selway's favorite receiver with five catches for 80 yards. The Bulldog defense was equally as impressive, limiting Dubuque to 245 yards of total offense - including -30 yards rushing. Sophomore safety Mike Nicolini had 15 tackles, including two for losses of nine yards, and an interception he returned 17 yards. Preseason All-American defensive end Brock Arndt added six tackles, including a sack. The Series: Whitworth leads the series 3-2, but saw its three game winning streak in the series end last season in the Pine Bowl. Redlands won the first-ever meeting 20-7 at home in 2000, and that is the Bulldogs' largest margin of victory in the series. The 2001 game at Whitworth was cancelled after the events of September 11, 2001. The series resumed in 2004 and the Pirates won the next three match-ups, including 28-3 in 2006 - the largest Whitworth margin of victory in the series. Last Year: Whitworth got off to a strong start against Redlands, taking a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. But the Pirates could not get any more points on the board until the Bulldogs took a safety in the final seconds of the 24-12 loss. Both defenses controlled the action for much of the afternoon. Redlands slightly outgained Whitworth 349 - 334. The Pirate defense had three takeaways to two for the Bulldog defense. But Redlands was able to put the game away with a 79-yard touchdown pass and catch with just under three minutes to play. Kory Kemp had a solid outing in his first collegiate start. He ran 67 yards for a touchdown on Whitworth's third play from scrimmage and finished with 97 yards rushing on eight carries. He was not sacked and completed 18 of 42 passes for 172 yards with an interception. Adam Anderson carried 17 times for 48 yards. Layton Brown, in his first collegiate game, had nine tackles, one interception and a forced fumble.
On the La Verne Game: "Our guys played well defensively. I thought our front seven looked very fast and our secondary was opportunistic. I was pleased with how we ran the ball and our offensive line got better as the game went on." On Redlands: "Redlands is, rightly so, the favorite in their league. They have all the ingredients to have a tremendous season and they look like one of the better teams in the country. I have always enjoyed the series against Redlands because I know that team will be talented and well-coached." The Coaches: John Tully is in his 14th season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 70-55 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 56-22 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 101-76 in his 18th season as a head coach. Mike Maynard has been highly successful in his 21 seasons leading the University of Redlands. Through Saturday's opener he has a record of 122-62-1 and has led the Bulldogs to ten SCIAC championships. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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Coach Tully's Quotes: 