SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University football team returns home for the first time in three weeks when the Pirates host the University of Puget Sound on Saturday in the Pine Bowl. 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 (4-3 overall, 2-2 NWC) won 42-14 at Willamette last Saturday, while Puget Sound (0-6, 0-4) lost in overtime to Lewis & Clark 47-41.
The Pirates: Down to a fourth string QB who had never taken a varsity snap, Whitworth turned to a wildcat formation on offense and used it effectively in a 42-14 win at Willamette last Saturday, the Pirates' ninth consecutive win over the Bearcats.
Whitworth generated 484 yards of offense, including 323 rushing yards, the most running yards for the Bucs since Oct. 5, 2019. Noah Stifle, that fourth string QB, performed as needed. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 160 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He was sacked once. That TD pass was a 43-yard completion to Ethan Peloquin in the fourth quarter. Solo Hines dominated while running out of the wildcat formation. He carried the ball 15 times for 243 yards with four touchdowns, averaging 16.2 yards per carry. Dylan Ashbeck also took snaps in the wildcat formation. He ran four times for 36 yards and completed his only pass, a one-yard touchdown to Isaac Fields. Overall, Whitworth averaged a season-best 8.1 yards per play.
The Whitworth defense controlled most of the game, holding Willamette to 282 total yards and 1 of 16 on third down conversions. The Bearcats put together back-to-back scoring drives late in the third quarter and early in the fourth, but had little other success. Dylan Ventress led Whitworth in tackles once again, finishing with 11 total stops. Jacob Hogger made eight tackles and picked off a pass in the first quarter. Patrick Serrano had seven tackles and his third interception of the season. Derrick Platt also made seven tackles, had a 14-yard sack and broke up a pair of passes.
Whitworth missed a field goal attempt in the second quarter, only the second miss of the season for Alvaro Campos Ontiveros. He averaged 41.5 yards per punt, a season-best average for a game. Jarvis Natividad returned four punts for 35 yards, but also lost one on a fumble. He returned three kickoffs for 71 yards.
Leading the Defense: Senior linebacker Dylan Ventress made a career-high 15 tackles against Pacific Lutheran on Oct. 15. He now leads the Northwest Conference in total tackles (66) and tackles per game (9.4).
Spreading the Wealth: Sixteen different players have caught at least one pass for the Pirates this season. Six different players have caught a touchdown pass. Riley Morrison leads the team in receptions (33). 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 41 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 406-415-18. 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 Dylan Ashbeck.
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 Loggers: Puget Sound is 0-6 overall and 0-4 in the NWC. The Loggers are still looking for their first win this season and they came close in last Saturday's overtime loss to Lewis & Clark. UPS is averaging 18.3 points and 293.3 yards per game, while allowing 48.0 points and 478.3 yards per contest. Head coach Jeff Thomas is in his 13th year at Puget Sound and has posted a 34-79 record.
Senior RB Silas Washington has been a mainstay in the attack for the last four seasons. He has 590 yards and eight touchdowns rushing, averaging 4.5 yards per carry. He also averages 12.0 yards per catch and has a receiving touchdown. Sophomore Mason Binning has taken over the QB duties. He has completed 51% of his passes for 1,025 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. Senior WR Izaiah Jerenz has 34 catches for 430 yards and two scores, while Joe Gallagher has 44 receptions for 400 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore safety Amarian Culpepper leads the defense for the second straight year with 54 tackles, three pass breakups and a blocked kick. Senior DE Ezekial Sayavong has 36 tackles, including 5 tackles for 22 yards in losses, and has forced two fumbles.
Puget Sound trailed 23-13 early and 34-27 in the fourth quarter before grabbing a 41-34 lead over L&C with six minutes left. The visiting Pioneers scored the tying touchdown with 2:28 to play and won 47-41 in overtime. Washington ran 19 times for 139 yards and a score. Binning completed 19 of 39 passes for 230 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Jerenz caught nine passes for 122 yards and a touchdown, while Gallagher had 10 catches for 108 yards and a score. Culpepper finished with ten solo tackles in the game and Sayavang had eight tackles, including two sacks, and one forced fumble.
The Series: Puget Sound is Whitworth's oldest and longest running football rival. Whitworth's first official collegiate game was a 6-0 victory over the College of Puget Sound in 1904 (when Whitworth was located near Tacoma). The teams have played each other 74 times and the Pirates hold a 47-26-1 edge in the series with the Loggers. The biggest Pirate win in the series was 70-11 in 2012. The biggest Logger win (41-0) came in 1967. Puget Sound ended a 23-game losing streak to Whitworth in 2019 with a 34-23 victory at Baker Stadium.
Last Meeting: Whitworth scored on its first five possessions and went ahead 35-7 after one quarter in last season's 68-14 win at Puget Sound. The Pirates played every healthy available player on offense and defense.
Solomon Hines ran four times for 47 yards and two touchdowns as Whitworth picked up 201 rushing yards. Isaiah Jones ran five times for 63 yards and had a 15-yard touchdown. Quarterback Jaedyn Prewitt was part of the effective running game as well, picking up 34 yards and a touchdown on four carries. Prewitt completed 15 of 20 passes for 334 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Matthew Fiesta, Jarvis Natividad and Alan Ballew all had touchdown receptions in the game. Whitworth had 341 yards of offense in the first quarter and finished the game with a season-high 625 yards.
Whitworth allowed 154 yards in the first quarter, but only 181 the rest of the way. Colton Chelin picked off his second pass of the season in the third quarter, returning the ball 15 yards to set up a touchdown. The Pirates had four sacks for 33 yards in losses.
Nate RaPue made field goals from 21 and 28 yards and averaged 58.1 yards per kickoff, including two touchbacks. Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros only had to punt three times and averaged 38.7 yards per attempt. Natividad returned four punts for 40 yards (10.0 per return). Whitworth's special forces covered ten kickoffs and limited Puget Sound to an average of 17.1 yards per return.
Coming up next: Whitworth will travel to Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon on November 5th for the final road contest of 2022.
