Whitworth will return to California for the third time this season, but this time the Pirates will be playing one that counts in the Northwest Conference standings. Whitworth will take on Menlo on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The Pirates and Oaks have something in common heading into Saturday: Both are coming off of wins over the University of Puget Sound. Whitworth defeated the Loggers 35-7 last Saturday in the Pine Bowl. Menlo defeated UPS 35-28 at home on October 11th, then enjoyed a bye last week.
The Pirates: 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 (Jr., RB, Elk, Wash.) earned Northwest Conference Offensive Football Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. He ran for a career-high 214 yards on 26 attempts (8.2 yards per run) and tied a school record with four rushing touchdowns. He had scoring runs of 2, 3, 17 and 48 yards in the game. Milton Nelson (Jr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) also had a strong game, running 13 times for 85 yards. Three Pirate quarterbacks saw action on Saturday. Mike Peck (Jr., QB, Longview, Wash.) started and completed 4 of 4 passes for 27 yards while directing the Pirates to their first touchdown. Two freshmen also played significant minutes. Andrew Durant (Fr., QB, Spokane, Wash.) completed 9 of 15 passes for 91 yards, ran five times for 18 yards and directed the final scoring drive. Cub Jansen (Fr., QB, Mukilteo, Wash.) was 4 of 5 for 53 yards and ran six times for 43 yards. He led three Pirate scoring drives in the second half.
Eric Entel (Jr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) caught eight passes for 39 yards, while Dale Entel (Fr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) caught four passes for 46 yards. Chad Flett (Sr., WR, Spokane, Wash.) had two grabs for 44 yards. Defensively Whitworth was solid, shutting out UPS over the final 3 and a half quarters. The Pirates had two second half goal-line stands. Leading 21-7, Cameron Stroyan (Jr., LB, Chewelah, Wash.) and Alex Couette (So., LB, Yakima, Wash.) stopped the Loggers on four 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 Jesse Clark (Sr., DB, Spokane, Wash.) and Cailen Thomason (Fr., DB, Vancouver, Wash.) broke up passes. Nate Hadley (Jr., LB, Mukilteo, Wash.) had a team-high 11 tackles, while Clark finished with eight stops. Brandon Martin (Jr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.) had six tackles, but three were for losses of eight yards.
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 More Lost for the Year: The Pirates lost starters on consecutive Saturdays earlier this season and added to that list last week. 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. Now Joey VanHoomissen (Sr., TE, Renton, Wash.) is done for the year with a broken foot he suffered against Willamette (Oct. 4) and aggravated against Linfield (Oct. 11). To Break a Streak: Whitworth broke a two-game Northwest Conference losing streak last Saturday. The last time the Pirates lost two consecutive conference games was 2003 (at Willamette and at PLU). They ended that one with a 13-7 win over Puget Sound at home. Whitworth has not lost three conference games in a row since 1999. Versus California: The Pirates have won 18 of the last 21 against schools from the Golden State. The Bucs are 11-1-1 at home against California schools and 10-10 on the road. Whitworth will return to California for the third time this season this Saturday at Menlo College. A for Effort: Adam Anderson, the 2007 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, continues to be a workhorse for the Pirates this season. He leads all of NCAA DIII in all-purpose yards (237.17 per game). He also leads the Northwest Conference in rushing average (126 yards per game) and touchdowns scored (13). 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 after Saturday's win over UPS. 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: Menlo led Puget Sound 18-7 at halftime on October 11th before the Loggers rallied to tie the game 21-21, and again at 28-28 with 2:35 to go. But QB Tony Rehn connected with wide receiver Darrell Willis on a 72-yard touchdown pass less than 10 seconds after Puget Sound’s Kavin Williams had thrown a game-tying touchdown pass to Darrell Stewart, putting Menlo in front 35-28 with 2:16 left to play. Rehn completed 16 of 27 passes for 280 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He split time with Angel Molina who was 3 of 5 for 35 yards and also ran for 37 yards. Senior receiver Dino Arancibia caught eight passes for 152 yards and a score. Junior linebacker Justin Weise had 10 tackles, including three for loss. Overall Rehn has completed 41 of 79 passes for 490 yards with three TDs and five interceptions this season. Molina is 60 of 102 for 716 yards with five TDs and three interceptions and has also run for 148 yards. Shaun Souza is the team's leading runner with 360 yards and seven scores. Arancibia has 21 catches for 366 yards with three touchdowns. Weise leads the team in tackles (43) and tackles for loss (6 for 15 yards). Menlo averages 19.5 points and gives up 23.2 points this season. The Oaks rank second in the NWC in passing offense (201 yards per game) and the sophomore QB combination has combined to complete 55% of their passes for 1,206 yards. Menlo also ranks second in pass defense, allowing 164 yards passing per game. The Series: Whitworth leads the series 7-1 after last year's 49-0 win in the Pine Bowl. The Pirates have won the last six in a row and are 3-1 against the Oaks in Atherton. The largest margin of victory was Whitworth's win last year. The Oaks' win came in 1999 at home in overtime (24-21). In addition to the overtime game in 1999, there have been other dramatic finishes in games between Menlo and Whitworth: in 2003 the Pirates built a big halftime lead then held off a strong Oak comeback for a 30-24 win in the Pine Bowl and in 2004 Whitworth won 41-35 in overtime at Menlo. Last Season: Whitworth limited Menlo to 157 yards of total offense and seven first downs in the 49-0 win. The Oaks reached Pirate territory only three times in the game, and only once after halftime when they took their opening drive to the Whitworth 48 before punting. Ryan Marshall and Marc Grow each returned a second quarter interception for a touchdown, giving the Pirates a 28-0 halftime lead. Layton Brown (So., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) finished with nine tackles to lead Whitworth, including a nine yard sack and two other tackles for loss. Adam Anderson led Whitworth's strong ground game with 90 yards on nine carries. He had touchdown runs of 18 yards (on the opening drive) and 51 yards (in the third quarter). The Pirates outgained the Oaks 392-157, including a 240-53 advantage on the ground. The strong ground game allowed Whitworth to have a 35:12 - 24:48 lead in time of possession. Justin Wimberly (So., TE, Tumwater, Wash) caught his first career touchdown pass. Zack Clow (So., P, Blanchard, Idaho) punted well for the Bucs, averaging 38.1 yards per attempt with a long of 46 yards.
On the UPS Game: "I thought all facets of our team played well. Defensively our goal line stops were huge and came at a critical time of the game. Offensively we were solid, but especially good in the second half. Our goal this week was to finish the game well and that was nice for us to see that happen." On Menlo: "They are big and physical and they have gifted athletes at their skill positions. Menlo will present quite a challenge on Saturday." The Coaches: John Tully is in his 14th season as head coach of the Pirates and has a 72-58 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 59-24 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 103-79 in his 18th season as a head coach. Mark Kaanapu is in his 8th season leading Menlo and has a 29-45 record. A graduate of Pacific (Ore.) University in 1989, Kaanapu is very familiar with the Northwest Conference. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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Coach Tully's Quotes: 