Whitworth University will return to Southern California for the second consecutive week, hoping for a better result against the Chapman University Panthers than they had against the University of Redlands last Saturday. The Pirates, coming off of a 38-7 loss to the Bulldogs, will move forward this season with a new starting quarterback. Chapman is 1-0 this season after a season opening win at Menlo College on September 6th and a bye last week. It will be the third meeting between the schools.
The Pirates: Whitworth suffered its largest margin of defeat in six seasons on Saturday at Redlands. The Bulldogs outgained the Pirates 448-140, including an advantage of 177-6 on the ground. Redlands had 25 first downs to Whitworth's 10 and finished with a time-of-possession advantage of 32:24 - 27:36. Adam Anderson (Jr., RB, Elk, Wash.) again led the Pirates with 172 all-purpose yards. He ran for 45 yards on 15 carries and caught four passes for 64 yards with a 45 yard touchdown. He returned two kickoffs for 63 total yards. Kory Kemp (Sr., QB, Redmond, Wash.) completed five of six passes for 39 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter with a leg injury. He was replaced by Mike Peck (Jr., QB, Longview, Wash.), who completed 5 of 15 passes for 95 yards, including the touchdown to Anderson and the team's only interception. Cub Jansen (Fr., QB, Mukilteo, Wash.) and Andrew Durant (Fr., QB, Spokane, Wash.) also saw action. Whitworth QBs were sacked five times for 35 yards in losses. Dale Entel (Fr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) had three catches for 43 yards, the first three receptions of his career.
The Pirates struggled greatly in the first half when the team went down 28-0 at halftime. In the first quarter Redlands outgained Whitworth 176-24 and led 14-0. The second quarter went similarly, as Redlands scored two more touchdowns and outgained the Bucs 92-33. Paul Werhane (So., LB, Beaverton, Ore.) had six tackles, including a seven-yard sack. Brandon Martin (Jr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.) added a nine-yard tackle for loss. Derek Stottlemyer (So., DB, Bothel, Wash.) led the team with nine tackles and added a pass break up and a quarterback hurry. Jesse Clark (Sr., DB, Spokane, Wash.) and Layton Brown (So., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) each made eight tackles. But it is an indication of the type of night it was for the Whitworth defense when two of the top three tacklers were in the secondary. Zack Clow (So., P/K, Blanchard, Idaho - Priest River) averaged 37.8 yards per punt and landed four of his nine punts inside the Redlands 20 yard line.
The Captains: Adam Anderson, Kory Kemp and Brandon Martin will serve as team captains for the Pirates in 2008. Kemp Lost for the Year: The news after Saturday night's game was even worse than the final score for Whitworth. Kory Kemp's injury was x-rayed and diagnosed as a broken fibula. He will miss the rest of the season. Versus California: The Pirates have won 17 of the last 20 against schools from the Golden State. The Bucs are 11-1-1 at home against California schools and 9-10 on the road. Been Awhile: Saturday's margin of defeat at Redlands (31 points) was the largest suffered by Whitworth since a 35-0 loss at Linfield in 2002. A for Effort: Adam Anderson, the 2007 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, will be a workhorse for the Pirates this season. He leads the team in rushing average (just over 101 yards per game) and in receiving (9 catches for 118 yards). He also has returned three kickoffs for a 31.3 yard average. So far this season Anderson leads the NWC in all-purpose yards, averaging 207.5 yards per game. TD Machine: Joey VanHoomissen (Sr., TE, Renton, Wash.) 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. 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: Chapman comes into this season with high hopes of qualifying for one of the pool B positions in the NCAA Division III football playoffs as an independent. The Panthers were 6-3 last season and return 13 starters from that squad, including senior quarterback Eric Marty. Chapman did not play on Saturday and is 1-0 after opening with a 31-7 win at Menlo on September 13th. The Panther offensive was impressively balanced. Marty completed 12 of 19 passes for 198 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Sophomore WR Chris Langstaff caught four of the passes for 93 yards and a 21 yard touchdown, but Marty spread his passes around to six different receivers. Mike Christensen ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns to lead the ground attack. Defensively Chapman limited Menlo to 139 yards of offense and forced three turnovers. The Panthers harried Oak quarterbacks all day and finished with a pair of sacks. Steve Downs and Daniel Hartigan led Chapman with nine tackles each. The Series: Whitworth leads the series 2-0, but the teams have not played since 2001. Whitworth won the first meeting 49-22 in Spokane. At the time it was the largest margin of defeat for Chapman's young program. The following year Whitworth began a march toward its first-ever Northwest Conference title with a 21-10 win over the Panthers in California.
On the Redlands Game: "We played poorly against a very good football team. Because of that, the score was lopsided. I give Redlands a lot of credit, they were well prepared and their players performed very well." On Chapman: "Chapman looks like a very talented football team. They are well-coached and they have very good skill position players. They will present a challenging scheme, both offensively and defensively. It will be a tremendous challenge for our team and we will need to come ready to play." The Coaches: John Tully is in his 14th season as head coach of the Pirates. He has a 70-56 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 56-23 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 101-77 in his 18th season as a head coach. Bob Owens took over at Chapman in 2006, following a 2-7 year for the Panthers in 2005. In his first year he coached the team to a 4-5 record and showed even more improvement in 2007 when Chapman finished 6-3. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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Coach Tully's Quotes: 