SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University football team will hit the road for a second straight week in the Northwest Conference, hoping to end a two-game losing skid when the Pirates take on Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. The game kicks off at 1:00 pm and will be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230am and on the internet at KSBN.net. The radio broadcast will begin at 12:45 pm (PDT).
Check the 2022 Pirate football schedule for live links to video, audio and stats for Saturday's game.
Whitworth (3-3 overall, 1-2 NWC) lost 28-7 at Pacific Lutheran last Saturday, while Willamette (2-4, 0-3) fell at Lewis & Clark 39-17 in the traditional Wagon Wheel game.
The Pirates: Whitworth never sustained any offensive momentum in Saturday's 28-7 loss at Pacific Lutheran. The Pirates had four second half drives end in Lute territory, but came away with no points after an interception, a fumble and two stops on fourth down. PLU ended an eight game losing streak to Whitworth.
The Pirate offense suffered a blow in the first half when starting QB Ryan Blair left with an ankle injury after Whitworth's second possession. With back up Jaedyn Prewitt unavailable, true freshman Logan Lacio came in to complete 25 of 36 passes for 263 yards with one touchdown and one interception. PLU sacked Lacio four times for 37 yards in losses. Logan Kitselman ran for Whitworth's only touchdown in the second quarter, briefly pulling the Bucs within 14-7. However, Whitworth finished the game with -6 yards rushing. Evan Liggett caught five passes for 88 yards, while Jet Uechi caught five for 50 yards. The Pirates finished with 272 yards of total offense.
The Whitworth defense had some strong moments. The Pirates also watched PLU drive for a touchdown in the final seconds of the first half to extend the lead back to 21-7 after Whitworth had pulled within 14-7. The defense limited the Lutes to only 86 yards in the second half. Dylan Ventress had a career-high 15 tackles in the game. Unfortunately, the Pirate defense could not get enough pressure on the PLU offense and finished with only two tackles for loss and no sacks. Patrick Serrano grabbed his second interception of the season.
Whitworth did not attempt any field goals for the first time this year. Alvaro Campos Ontiveros averaged 34.2 yards per punt (four punts). Matthew Fiesta averaged 14.5 yards per punt return and 18 yards per kickoff return.
Leading the Defense: Senior linebacker Dylan Ventress made a career-high 15 tackles against Pacific Lutheran on Saturday. He now leads the Northwest Conference in total tackles (55) and tackles per game (9.2).
Spreading the Wealth: Fifteen different players have caught at least one pass for the Pirates this season. Five different players have caught a touchdown pass. Riley Morrison leads the team in receptions (32). Evan Liggett leads the team in receiving yards (338) and touchdown catches (3). Alan Ballew tops the squad in yards per catch (18.6).
The Ironman: Colton Chelin has not missed a start, much less a game, in his Pirate career. The fifth-year senior cornerback has started every game since stepping on campus for the 2018 season, running his streak to 40 in a row on October 15th, which is the most ever in school history. He has eight career interceptions and 39 passes defended in his career.
The Anchor: Cody Bollig is in his third season as Whitworth's full-time starter at left tackle. He has played in every game of his Pirate career, beginning as a major contributor during his freshman campaign (2019).
Leading the Evergreen State: Since Rod Sandberg took over as Whitworth's head coach in 2014, Whitworth University has the best winning percentage of any football playing university in Washington State. Heading into 2022, the Pirates are 58-17 since 2014, a winning percentage of .773. That figure is better than the University of Washington (62-35, .639), Washington State (54-40, .600), Eastern Washington (69-27, .719), Central Washington (53-24, .609), Pacific Lutheran (28-38, .424) and Puget Sound (32-40, .444).
400: Whitworth won for the 400th time in school history October 16, 2021 in a Homecoming game vs. PLU. The Pirates' all-time record in football now stands at 405-415-18. The last time Whitworth was over the .500 mark in football was 1928, when the Bucs were 32-31-2 all-time following an 0-3 season. Whitworth won its 100th game in 1959, during Heritage Gallery member Sam Adams' second season. The 200th victory came in 1981 under Bruce Grambo and the 300th win came in 2006 when John Tully led the Pirates to an 11-1 finish. It took 55 years to get the 100th win, 22 more to get to 200 and 25 more to get to 300. It took Whitworth only 15 years to get to 400. In 1997 Whitworth's all-time record in football was 248-337-18, 89 games under .500.
Eight in a Row: With the win over Willamette last October, Whitworth clinched its eighth consecutive winning season under head coach Rod Sandberg. That surpassed the previous longest streak of winning campaigns in school history, set between 1959 and 1965.
Cross-over Conquest: The Northwest Conference has been very successful during its cross-over weekend against the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference the past two seasons. The NWC won six of seven games on September 17th and 11 of 14 since 2021.
Team Captains: The Pirate team captains in 2022 are Ethan Peloquin and Logan Kitselman from the offense and Colton Chelin and BJ Mullin from the defense. A special forces captain will be selected on a week-by-week basis. Last week it was Patrick Serrano.
Looking Back at 2021: Whitworth started 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the NWC, but dropped season-ending decisions to Pacific (14-7) at home and at George Fox (16-10) to fall from NCAA Division III playoff contender to fourth place in the final NWC standings.
The Pirates opened with dramatic wins over Carnegie Mellon and Lincoln (Calif.), both preserved by game-saving interceptions by Jacob Hogger. The Bucs scored 134 combined points in back-to-back wins over Willamette (66-7) and Puget Sound (68-14).
On the Air Again: Whitworth's games will once again be carried live this season on KSBN 1230am in Spokane. The relationship between Pirate athletics and KSBN goes back to 1994, a span of nearly 30 years. Bud Nameck, familiar to listeners in Spokane as the (now retired) longtime host of the KXLY 920am Morning News, is in his eighth season as the voice of the Pirates in 2022. He was the voice of Washington State University men's basketball for 22 years, and spent that same amount of time on the Cougar football broadcasts – the final three on play by play. He is a longtime resident of the Inland Northwest who began his career as the Sports Information Director and radio voice of Gonzaga University basketball and baseball in the 1980s.
Two SWX Broadcasts: Local cable station SWX carried two of Whitworth's games this season: the home opener on September 10th against Eastern Oregon and the Oct. 8th contest against Linfield. SWX stands for Sports & Weather Right Now and is owned by local NBC affiliate KHQ channel 6. SWX 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 112 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 Head Coach: In eight seasons Rod Sandberg has entrenched himself in the Whitworth and NCAA record books as the Pirates' head football coach. Sandberg has guided the Pirates to a 58-17 record over that span, including two appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs (2015 and 2018). He is in second place in total victories in school history and no Pirate coach reached 50 victories as quickly as Sandberg. Sandberg's winning percentage of .773 is the best among Whitworth coaches with at least five seasons and currently ranks among the top 10 (9th) active coaches in all of Division III. He coached the Pirates to only the fourth unbeaten regular season in school history (9-0) in 2018 and only the second NCAA playoff victory (48-6 over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps). The Bucs' 15-game winning streak, counting the final five games of 2017 and the first ten of 2018, is the second-longest in school history. Whitworth was 6-4 in 2014, Sandberg's first season, the best first-year record for a Pirate football coach since Rod Enos led the team to a 6-3 mark in 1965. Sandberg spent 19 seasons on the defensive staff at Wheaton College (Ill.), including the last 11 as defensive coordinator. Wheaton made the NCAA Division III playoffs five times during Sandberg's tenure as defensive coordinator. The team never lost a first round playoff game and reached the Division III semifinals in 2008 and quarterfinals in 2003. Sandberg's 2007 and 2013 squads led the Collegiate Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, regarded as one of the strongest football leagues at the Division III level, in scoring defense. The Thunder were second in the league in scoring defense five other times.
The Bearcats: At 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the NWC, the improved Willamette Bearcats already have more victories this season than any year since 2016. Willamette is aiming to end a 33-game losing streak to NWC opponents that dates back to that 2016 campaign. The Bearcats, who average 17.5 points and 273.3 yards per game, are coming off a 38-17 loss to Lewis & Clark in the annual Wagon Wheel trophy game last Saturday. Willamette is giving up an average of 29.8 points and 389.5 yards per contest.
Head coach Isaac Parker, a Willamette alum who graduated in 2002, was previously the offensive coordinate at Lewis & Clark College from 2015-2018. Before that he was the head football coach for three seasons at McNary High School in Keizer, Oregon.
Quarterback Aidan Kuykendall is using his COVID-related fifth season. He has completed 59% of his passes for 938 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Kuykendall is also a dangerous runner with 190 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Senior WR Justin Genovia leads the team in pass receptions (25) and receiving yards (358) with three touchdowns. Junior WR Jared Paredes has 15 catches for 226 yards and four scores. Sophomores Joseph Castillo (288 yards) and Steven Wright (207) yards have combined for nearly 500 rushing yards. The Bearcats have a game-changer on defense in 5th-year defensive lineman Keaton Adams, who has 30 tackles. He ranks among conference leaders with nine tackles for losses of 42 yards, including 2.5 sacks. Junior LB Dylan Hall leads the team in overall tackles (35).
Willamette led last Saturday's game at Lewis & Clark for the first 29 minutes, going up 14-3 early and holding a 17-11 advantage before the Pioneers scored right before halftime. L&C outscored the Bearcats 21-0 in the second half to win 39-17. Kuykendall completed 16 of 27 passes for 288 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Paredes caught both of the touchdowns, while Genovia led the team with seven catches for 121 yards. Wright had 60 rushing yards on 11 carries. Adams led the team with eight tackles.
The Series: Willamette University is Whitworth's second-oldest continuing rival. The teams first met on the field in 1908 and Whitworth won 18-0. The biggest Pirate win in the series was 82-7 in 2019. The biggest Bearcat victory was 67-0 in 1912. Willamette holds a 33-25 edge all-time, but the Pirates have won the last seven matchups, the Bucs' longest winning streak in the series. Willamette's last win over Whitworth came in 2013 in Salem by a score of 50-21. Whitworth won the last game played in Salem in 2018
Last Meeting: Whitworth dominated offensively, defensively and on special teams, and turned two turnovers directly into touchdowns during last season's 66-7 win over Willamette in Spokane.
The Pirates limited the Bearcats to 175 total yards, 78 rushing and 97 passing, and 2.2 yards per play. During a 1:57 stretch at the start of the third quarter, Whitworth turned three straight Willamette turnovers into 17 points. Derrick Platt returned a fumble 25 yards for a touchdown. Patrick Serrano's interception led to Nate RaPue's 41-yard field goal. The Pirates then returned an interception 32 yards for a touchdown. The Bucs finished with a season-high six sacks and nine tackles for loss.
Whitworth rolled up 496 yards of offense and averaged a season-high 8.6 yards per play. Jaedyn Prewitt completed 14 of 18 passes for 295 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 37 yards and a score. Solomon Hines scored three touchdowns. He ran 10 times for 45 yards and two scores, including a 20-yard burst. He also took a short pass 30 yards for a touchdown on fourth and five in the second quarter. Whitworth ran for 165 yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Matthew Fiesta led the receivers with four catches for 68 yards, while Kanen Ables caught three balls for 26 yards. Twelve different Pirates caught a pass in the game.
Nate RaPue made all nine of his extra points and one of two field goals. He averaged 59.5 yards per kickoff and Willamette elected to take a fair catch on every kickoff in the second half after the Bearcats were limited to 12.4 yards per return in the first half. Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros only had to punt three times, and averaged 37.0 yards. Jarvis Natividad set up a touchdown with a 47-yard punt return and averaged 19 yards per kickoff return. Fiesta averaged nearly eight yards per punt return on four attempts.
Coming up next: Whitworth will host Puget Sound on October 29th.
