Second Straight Road Game for the Bucs
Whitworth University heads into Saturday's non-conference football game at University of La Verne still looking for its first win of 2009 after falling 48-31 at Hardin-Simmons last Saturday. The Pirates and Leopards will be meeting for the sixth straight season, but it will be the final match up for some time. Last year Whitworth opened with a 22-13 win over La Verne in Spokane. The Leopards will be opening their season on Saturday. The Pirates: Whitworth played a great first half last Saturday in Abilene, Texas. The Bucs led fifth-ranked Hardin-Simmons 24-13 at the break. But the explosive Cowboys came out of the locker room using an up-tempo, no-huddle attack that knocked the Pirates on their heels and Whitworth never recovered in the 48-31 loss. HSU outgained Whitworth 505-338. Adam Anderson (Sr., RB, Elk, Wash.) picked up 229 all-pupose yards and scored two touchdowns. He ran for 74 yards, caught two passes for 69 yards and returned three kickoffs for 86 yards. Andrew Durant (So., QB, Spokane, Wash.) started the game and completed 12 of 15 passes for 153 yards with one touchdown. Cub Jansen (So., QB, Mukilteo, Wash.) played in the final quarter and completed 5 of 7 passes for 63 yards and a score. Dale Entel (So., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) was the favorite receiver with six catches for 60 yards, while Eric Entel (Sr., WR, Clarkston, Wash.) caught four passes for 43 yards. Justin Wimberly (Jr., TE, Tumwater, Wash.) and Andy Largent (Sr., WR, Spokane, Wash.) each caught a touchdown. Paul Werhane (Jr., LB, Beaverton, Ore.) led the Whitworth defense with 15 tackles. Brandon Martin (Sr., DT, Sweet Home, Ore.) had a fumble recover to go along with his two tackles. Cameron Stroyan (Sr., LB, Chewelah, Wash.) and Nick Ashley (Jr., DE, Lind, Wash.) each had a sack. Zack Clow (Jr., P/DB, Blanchard, Idaho) had a strong day kicking the ball. He averaged 60 yards on four kickoffs, and 41.7 yards on three punts. Versus California: The Pirates have won 19 of the last 22 against schools from the Golden State and are 22-11-1 all-time against Californian colleges. The Bucs are 11-1-1 at home against California schools and 11-10 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 and Brandon Martin will serve as team captains for the Pirates in 2009. First Time in Texas: Whitworth had never played a football game in the state of Texas and Saturday's contest was the longest trip the Pirates have ever made for a football game. The previous furthest away game was at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2006, which is 1,450 miles from Spokane (driving miles). Abilene, Texas is 1,775 miles away. 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 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. 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: La Verne is coming off of a 2-7 season, including a 2-4 finish in the SCIAC. The Leopards earned two wins in their last five games and played within two touchdowns (40-27) of eventual champion Occidental. ULV returns nine starters (five offense, four defense). The Leopards averaged 16.3 points per game, while giving up 35 points per contest. Senior Anthony Andre completed 56.3% of his passes last season for 1,423 yards with six touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He will work with a new set of targets this fall, as his four leading receivers have graduated. The top returning pass catcher is senior WR Kenneth Chapman, who had 12 grabs for 224 yards and two touchdowns a year ago. Senior linebacker Branamier Courtney was the second-leading tackler a year ago with 63 stops. He added an interception and forced fumble. Last Season: Whitworth was solid in its season-opening win over the Leopards. While the defense might have come in with the most questions, that group provided solid answers by holding La Verne to 229 yards of total offense, including only 34 rushing yards. ULV had only 14 first downs and Whitworth sacked Leopard quarterbacks six times for 32 yards in losses. Brandon Martin led the Pirates with a career-high of nine tackles, including six solo stops. Offensively the Pirates were efficient enough to get the victory. Whitworth finished with 400 yards of total offense, including 269 yards on the ground. Adam Anderson led the way with 243 all-purpose yards. He ran for 158 yards and the game-clinching touchdown, caught five passes for 54 yards and returned the opening kick off 31 yards. Milton Nelson (Sr., RB, Spokane, Wash.) added 81 yards on only 12 carries (6.8 yards per run). The Series: Whitworth leads the series 5-0 since its inception in 2004. Saturday's game marks Whitworth's third trip to Ortmayer Stadium, where Whitworth has won twice (34-0 in 2007 and 43-23 in 2004).
Andrew Ankeny is in his third season as the head coach at La Verne with a 3-15 record over his first two years. Ankeny is a former coordinator at East Texas Baptist. Other Division III Football Links: American Football Coaches Association |
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