Pirates Need to Bounce Back from Willamette Loss
Whitworth University gets little time to brood over a painful loss at Willamette last Saturday. The Pirates have to pull themselves together to get ready to face undefeated and highly-ranked Linfield College on Saturday in the Pine Bowl. The game will kick off at 1:00 p.m. and will be carried live on SWX cable in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Whitworth lost 42-13 at Willamette, while Linfield won 31-7 at Menlo College last Saturday. Saturday's game will be the 35th meeting between the schools.
The Pirates: Whitworth suffered its largest margin of defeat in a Northwest Conference game since 2002 and the biggest losing margin to Willamette since 1997. The Pirates were outscored 21-0 in the first half and never had a chance to get back in the ball game. The Whitworth defense allowed 340 total yards, which is not a huge number. But the Pirates did not do a good job of forcing the Bearcats to punt. Willamette converted 9 of 14 third down attempts, including six straight on a 98 yard drive at the end of the first half that took almost ten minutes. The Bearcats' final four touchdown plays came on either third or fourth down. Layton Brown (Jr., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) led all players with 12 tackles, including 1.5 for losses of four yards. Brandon Martin (Sr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.) had two tackles for losses of six yards. Paul Werhane (Jr., LB, Beaverton, Ore.) was in on 10 tackles. Adam Anderson's (Sr., RB, Elk, Wash.) return to the Pirate line-up was short-lived. Unable to cut or drive through tackles as he is normally able to do, he was held to 32 yards on 11 carries. And worse, he reinjured his ankle and his status for the rest of the season is in question. Milton Nelson (Sr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) carried eight times for 26 yards and scored a touchdown. Andrew Durant (So., QB, Spokane, Wash.) completed 12 of 19 passes for 144 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Eric Entel (Sr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) had his biggest game as a Pirate, catching eight passes for 127 yards, including a 35-yard TD reception in the third quarter. Zack Clow (Jr., P, Blanchard, Idaho) had another strong day punting the ball, averaging 42.8 yards on four attempts, with a season-long effort of 52 yards.
SWX Broadcast : Saturday's contest will be broadcast live on local cable station SWX. It is the second live broadcast of a Whitworth game this season. The final broadcast of the year will be October 31st vs. Pacific Lutheran. Sam Adams will provide play by play, while Bill Ames gives color commentary. SWX stands for Sports & Weather Right Now and is owned by local NBC affiliate KHQ channel 6. SWX Right Now can be seen both over-the-air and through some cable services in the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene, Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, and Yakima viewership areas. In the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area, SWX is found on digital channel 6.2, on Comcast channel 115 in Spokane and Time Warner channel 306 in North Idaho. Click here for a complete list of station numbers throughout the Eastern Washington/North Idaho region.
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: Linfield is back in the top ten of the national rankings for the first time since 2005, currently at 7th in this week's D3football.com poll. The Wildcats are 4-0 after last week's 31-7 win at Menlo. Linfield has been strong on both sides of the ball. The Wildcats have outscored opponents 34-19 and on average have had an advantage of 422-278 in total offense each game. Quarterback Aaron Boehme drives the offense, completing 59.4% of his passes for 1,016 yards this year. He has thrown nine touchdowns and only three interceptions. Trevor Patterson is his favorite target with a league-high 28 catches for 414 yards and six touchdowns. Aaron Williams leads the NWC in rushing, averaging 83.3 yards per game with three scores. On defense All-NWC linebacker Alex Tkachuk leads the team with 25 tackles. Defensive back Drew Fisher leads the conference with three interceptions and lineman Eric Hedin has five tackles for losses of 17 yards. Linfield outscored Menlo 17-0 in the second half to pull away from the Oaks in Atherton, California. The Wildcats outgained the Oaks 367-159 and forced four Menlo turnovers. Boehme completed 14 of 36 passes for 205 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for more than 60 yards and a score. Patterson caught five passes for 57 yards and a touchdown. Tkachuk and Hedin had seven tackles apiece to lead the defense. Last Season: Whitworth had two long scoring drives, made key defensive plays, punted well and won the battle of turnovers, but could not get the one extra play it needed to overcome a very good Linfield squad on the road in a 31-28 loss. After the Wildcats kicked a field goal to go ahead 31-28 with just over 12 minutes left, the Pirates could not generate a first down in the next two possessions. The Series: Linfield leads the overall series 27-5-2 and the Pirates' two game winning streak with last year's game. The first meeting was a 13-13 tie in 1952. Linfield's largest margin of victory was 61-0 in 1966, while Whitworth's largest win was 41-13 in 1954. The Wildcats once had a 14 game winning streak in the series. Linfield's last win in Spokane was 47-32 in 2005.
Joe Smith, a Wildcat alum and long time assistant and former defensive coordinator, took over as Linfield's head coach in 2006. He has an 22-9 record in his fourth season leading the Wildcats. Coach Tully's Quotes: John Tully talks about what positives the Pirates can take away from last Saturday's game at Willamette, this week's match up with Linfield, and what it means for the team to have games carried live on SWX. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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