Pirates Hoping to Pick up Second Win of the Season

The Pirates: For the first time in three seasons Whitworth had to figure out how to win a game without the services of All-American running back Adam Anderson (Sr., Elk, Wash.), who suffered a lower-leg injury on the game's opening kickoff. But the Whitworth defense responded, keeping La Verne out of the endzone until less than a minute remained in the Pirates' 21-9 win.

Cameron Stroyan (Sr., LB, Chewelah, Wash.), Brandon Martin (Sr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.), Layton Brown (Jr., LB, Kennewick, Wash.) and Jeff Erlenmeyer (Jr., DE, Moses Lake, Wash.) all had big games defensively. Stroyan led the team with seven tackles, including 2.5 for losses of six yards. Martin, Brown and Erlenmeyer all had five solo stops, with Martin and Brown each picking up a sack. Then Cailen Thomason (So., DB, Vancouver, Wash.) made the biggest individual play on defense when he returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown with less then three minutes to play to secure the win.

With Anderson out, and Milton Nelson (Sr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) slowed by a shoulder injury and leg cramps, Sean Scott (So., RB, Milwaukie, Ore.) picked up some of the slack by running for 85 yards on 24 carries. He scored his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter. Andrew Durant (So., QB, Spokane, Wash.) started the game and completed 12 of 18 passes for 170 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Kyle Scroggins (Sr., WR, Royal City, Wash.) caught three passes for 54 yards, including his first career touchdown early in the second quarter.

Zack Clow (Jr., P/DB, Blanchard, Idaho) had another solid day kicking the ball. He averaged 39.7 yards on three punts.

Versus California: After this past Saturday the Pirates have won 20 of the last 23 against schools from the Golden State and are 23-11-1 all-time against Californian colleges. The Bucs are 11-1-1 at home against California schools and 12-10 on the road. Whitworth went 3-1 against schools from the Golden State last season, defeating La Verne (H), Chapman (A) and Menlo (A). Whitworth lost at Redlands (A). The Pirates play the same four schools in 2009 with all the locations reversed.

The Captains: Adam Anderson, Jeff Kintner (Sr., OL, Wenatchee, Wash.) and Brandon Martin will serve as team captains for the Pirates in 2009.

Wait and See: Adam Anderson's status for this Saturday, and the rest of the season, will be determined after he sees the doctor during the week.

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.

National Ranking: Whitworth is listed with "others receiving votes" in this week's D3football.com top 25 poll. Redlands is very close to cracking the top 25.

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: Redlands finished 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference last season. The Bulldogs last won a title in 2007, when they shared it with Cal Lutheran, and is a strong favorite for a title run this year. Redlands is well known for its balanced and efficient offense, and a tough defense. The Bulldogs finished second in DIII last season in overall defense and first against the run.

Senior QB Dan Selway is back for a fifth season after missing nearly all of 2008 with an injury. The 2007 SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year had a solid debut in last week's 36-3 thrashing of East Texas Baptist. He completed 20 of 35 passes for 239 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. His favorite target was senior wide receiver Brenden Barkate who caught nine passes for 98 yards and one of the touchdowns. The Bulldogs ran for 166 yards, most of which were generated by 6'-0", 250 pound Sean Quinn, who rushed for 81 yards and a score. The Redlands defense was a strong as ever, holding ETBU to 79 yards of total offense. Linebackers Mike Nicolini (Jr.) and Ian Sluss (So.) had outstanding games, finishing with 5 tackles each. Nicolini had 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception, while Sluss had a 14 yard sack and forced and recovered a fumble.

Last Season: Whitworth suffered its largest margin of defeat in six seasons, losing 38-7 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 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. But the Pirates struggled offensively as starting QB Kory Kemp went down early with a broken leg and Whitworth QBs were sacked five times for 35 yards in losses. The Bulldogs went up 28-0 at halftime

The Series: The series is tied 3-3, but the Bulldogs have won the last two meetings. Redlands won the first-ever meeting 20-7 at home in 2000. 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 and the Pirates last win in the series. The last time the teams played in the Pine Bowl, Redlands defeated Whitworth 24-12.

The Coaches: John Tully is in his 15th season as head coach of the Pirates and has a 76-59 record at Whitworth. However, he has led the Pirates to a 63-25 record over the past nine-plus 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 107-80 in his 19th season as a head coach.

Mike Maynard has been highly successful in his 22 seasons leading the University of Redlands. Through Saturday's opener he has a record of 129-64-1 and has led the Bulldogs to ten SCIAC championships.

2009 Whitworth Roster

Other Division III Football Links:

Northwest Conference On-line

D3football.com

American Football Coaches Association