Pirates Hope to Break into NWC Win Column
Whitworth University will look to break into the Northwest Conference win column on Saturday when the Pirates play at the University of Puget Sound. Kick off will be at 1:00 p.m. at Baker Stadium (3,500 cap., natural grass). The Pirates are coming off of a painful (in more ways than one) 38-20 loss to 7th-ranked Linfield, while the Loggers fell 14-3 at home to Menlo College.
The Pirates: Whitworth needed most everything to go right to have a chance against the Wildcats on Saturday, and too much went wrong. The Pirates gave up six turnovers and lost several players to injury throughout the game. Whitworth lost both starting quarterback Andrew Durant (So., Spokane, Wash.) and back up QB Cub Jansen (So., Mukilteo, Wash.) late in the second quarter. Taylor Eglet (Fr., Spokane, Wash.) came on to play the entire second half, completing 9 of 20 passes for 83 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. His 22 yard touchdown pass to Brian Ball (So., TE, Murietta, Calif.) was a career first for both players. Eglet was also the Pirates' leading rusher with 34 net yards on five carries. London Vessey (Fr., RB, Tumwater, Wash.) saw his first action, running for 18 yards on eight carries and his first career TD. Andy Largent (Sr., WR, Spokane, Wash.) had five catches for 59 yards, including a pair of tough third down receptions in the second half. Whitworth was outgained 439-243 in total yardage. But two turnovers deep in Linfield territory in the first half killed scoring opportunities that might have led to a closer game. Layton Brown (Jr., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) and Jeff Erlenmeyer (Jr., DE, Moses Lake, Wash.) had seven tackles each. Brown made an athletic interception in the second quarter. Brandon Martin (Sr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.) and Travis Niles (Jr., DT, Spokane, Wash.) each had a tackle for loss, and Martin broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage. Cailen Thomason (So., DB, Vancouver, Wash.) had another big day returning the ball. His 80 yard return in the second quarter set up Whitworth's first score and he averaged 38.6 yards per kick return. Zack Clow (Jr., P, Blanchard, Idaho) had another strong day punting the ball, averaging 36.0 yards on five attempts. Walking Wounded: Jansen joins Adam Anderson (Sr., RB, Elk, Wash.) in the category of "out-for-the-year" with a serious knee injury. Durant's status for Saturday's game is questionable, as is that of starting tackle Zak Richardson (So., Tualatin, Ore.). Running back Milton Nelson (Sr., Spokane, Wash.) continues to battle several nagging injuries. A Strong Return on the Investment: Cailen Thomason has stepped into the role of primary kick off returner in place of Anderson. He has been outstanding and leads the NWC in kick off return average at 26.0 yards per return. His 80 yard return against Linfield is a season-best for the Pirates. It's Been a Decade: Whitworth heads into Saturday's game on a two-game NWC losing streak. The Pirates lost two conference games in a row last year before finishing with four straight wins. The last time Whitworth lost three conference games in a row was 1999.
The Captains: Adam Anderson, Jeff Kintner (Sr., OL, Wenatchee, Wash.) and Brandon Martin serve as team captains for the Pirates in 2009. Looking Back at 2008: After starting the season 2-3, Whitworth reeled off four straight wins to finish 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the NWC (third place). It was a painful year in more ways than one as the Bucs saw five different starters lost for the season due to injury, and several other players miss games for the same reason. However there were highlights scattered throughout the fall. The Pirates bounced back from their most decisive loss in a almost a decade to win at Chapman. Adam Anderson led a comeback win at PLU by scoring six touchdowns to set a new school record. Anderson = All-American: Adam Anderson, the 2007 and 2008 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, simply had one of the greatest seasons in Whitworth history in 2008. He concluded the season as a D3football.com Second Team All-American, First Team All-Region honoree and shared the Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year award with slotback Merben Woo of NWC champion Willamette. Anderson led all of NCAA Division III in all-purpose yards (243.8) per game and was second in the nation in scoring average (16.89 points per game). He led the NWC in rushing yards (139.9 yards per game), touchdowns (25), total points (152) and all-purpose yards. He was named NWC Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week three times, including when he posted a school record 324 all-purpose yards in a 41-35 win at Chapman and when he scored a school-record six touchdowns and ran for 217 yards in a 40-29 win at PLU. NWC Poll: Whitworth finished third in the NWC preseason coaches poll with 37 points. Defending champion Willamette and Linfield finished first and second, respectively. Link to NWC Football Coaches Poll.
The Opponents: Puget Sound comes into the week searching for its first win of 2009. The Loggers, who fell 14-3 at home to Menlo College last Saturday, have been solid on defense but have struggled offensively. Puget Sound has averaged only 7.5 points per game and is last in the NWC in total offense at 206 yards per contest. The defense has allowed 22.5 points per game, but that number is greatly skewed by a 42-7 loss at second-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater. Otherwise the defense has been very stingy. Senior QB Kavin Williams is the only returning starter for UPS. He has completed 41.7% of his passes for 233 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He is also the team's leading rusher at 65 yards per contest. Freshman Ross Zuhl has caught 16 passes for 169 yards and three scores. Junior linebacker Tyler Vlasak has had a huge year, leading the NWC in tackles (56 total) by a wide margin. He has five tackles for losses of 22 yards. The statistics were fairly even between Menlo and Puget Sound last Saturday. The Oaks outgained the Loggers 275-217 and each team had 15 first downs. But Menlo took advantage of a 5-2 edge in turnovers to claim the win. Williams ran for 80 yards and completed 5 of 13 passes for 48 yards with two interceptions. Zuhl caught five passes for 39 yards. Vlasak led a defensive effort that held Menlo to three net yards rushing with eight tackles, including a 14-yard sack in which he forced and recovered a fumble that he returned 19 yards to set up the Loggers' field goal. Last Season: Whitworth steadily pulled away in the second half, outscoring UPS 28-0 in the final two quarters to win 35-7. The victory extended Whitworth's winning streak in the series to 13 in a row. Adam Anderson earned Northwest Conference Offensive Football Student-Athlete of the Week after he ran for a career-high 214 yards on 26 attempts (8.2 yards per run) and tied a then-school record with four rushing touchdowns. Milton Nelson also had a strong game, running 13 times for 85 yards. Defensively Whitworth was solid, shutting out UPS over the final 3 and a half quarters, including two second half goal-line stands. Leading 21-7, Cameron Stroyan (Sr., LB, Chewelah, Wash.) and Alex Couette (Jr., LB, Yakima, Wash.) stopped the Loggers on fourth and goal at the one yard line in the third quarter. Later in the fourth quarter the Loggers had first and goal at the five, but ended up losing five yards before Cailen Thomason broke up a fourth down pass. Nate Hadley (Sr., LB, Mukilteo, Wash.) had a team-high 11 tackles. Brandon Martin had six tackles, but three were for losses of eight yards. The Series: Puget Sound is Whitworth's oldest and longest running rival. Whitworth's first official collegiate game was a 6-0 victory over the College of Puget Sound in 1904 (when Whitworth was located in Lacey, Washington). The teams have played each other 59 times since then. The Pirates hold a 34-25-1 edge in the series with the Loggers. Whitworth has won the last 13 meetings. The biggest Pirate win in the series was 45-0 in 1908. The biggest Logger win (41-0) came in 1967. Puget Sound last defeated Whitworth in 1995, John Tully's first year as head coach, by a score of 48-35 in Tacoma.
Phil Willenbrock (24-44 in his 8th year) led the resurgence of the UPS football program. After taking over in 2002, his teams went 0-9, 1-8, 5-4, 4-5, 7-3, 4-5 then 3-6 last fall. Prior to coaching at UPS, Willenbrock was the offensive coordinator at Allegheny College (Pa.). Coach Tully's Quotes: John Tully talks about what Whitworth learned from last Saturday's game with Linfield, this week's match up with Puget Sound, and the impact that first-year players are beginning to make on this year's team. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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