SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University football team will close the season on Saturday at home against George Fox University. The Pirates will honor their senior class during a pregame ceremony. The game kicks off at 12:30 pm and will be heard live in Spokane on KSBN 1230am and on the internet at KSBN.net. The radio broadcast will begin at 12:15 pm (PDT).
Check the 2022 Pirate football schedule for live links to video, audio and stats for Saturday's game.
Whitworth (6-3 overall, 4-2 NWC) won 28-17 at Pacific (Ore.) last Saturday to clinch the team's ninth straight winning season. George Fox (7-2, 4-2) defeated visiting Lewis & Clark 41-20.
Tickets: Digital tickets are required for entrance to the Whitworth Pine Bowl for all fans. Tickets can be purchased in advance using the Hometown Ticketing App. Follow the link for access. Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for senior adults, non-Whitworth students and children. Whitworth students get free admission by using a student ID number.
The Pirates: Whitworth scored two first quarter touchdowns and two fourth quarter touchdowns to defeat Pacific (Ore.) 28-17 in the Bucs' final road game of the season. The Pirates held the Boxers' vaunted running game to 45 yards.
Luis Salgado had a big game, rushing for 108 yards on 17 attempts (6.4 yards per carry). He scored Whitworth's first touchdown on the Pirates' third play, a 39-yard run. His second score turned a tight 14-10 lead into a 21-10 advantage in the fourth quarter. Jaedyn Prewitt completed 21 of 30 passes for 288 yards with an 11-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to Ethan Peloquin, who finished with five catches for 73 yards. Logan Kitselman ran for his fourth touchdown of the season on Whitworth's second possession. The Pirates finished with 383 yards of offense and picked up 24 first downs. Whitworth converted 5 of 10 third downs.
The defense came up with four sacks for 27 yards. The Pirates held Pacific to 338 yards of offense and 17 first downs. The Boxers converted 5 of 13 third downs. Dylan Ventress had another big game with 12 total tackles. JT Munoz had a 12-yard sack late in the game, while Elijah Uwekoolani had a seven-yard sack earlier in the fourth quarter.
Audio Highlights of Saturday's game - courtesy Bud Nameck:
- Luis Salgado runs 39 yards for Whitworth's first touchdown (Listen)
- Logan Kitselman runs for the Pirates' second score (Listen)
- Elijah Uwekoolani nets a key fourth quarter sack (Listen)
- Jaedyn Prewitt throws an 11-yard touchdown to Ethan Peloquin for Whitworth's final score (Listen)
- JT Munoz ices the game with a late sack (Listen)
Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros made all four of his extra points to remain perfect (36-36) this season. He also punted twice, averaging 39 yards. Jarvis Natividad returned the opening kickoff 39 yards to set up Whitworth's first touchdown. The Pirates' special teams stopped Pacific on a fake field goal attempt while the score was 14-3.
Leading the Defense: Senior linebacker Dylan Ventress made a career-high 15 tackles against Pacific Lutheran on Oct. 15. He leads the Northwest Conference in total tackles (85) and tackles per game (9.4).
Spreading the Wealth: Luis Salgado became the 19th Whitworth player to catch a pass in a game this season. Nine different players have caught a touchdown pass. Riley Morrison leads the team in receptions (38). Evan Liggett leads the team in receiving yards (396). Morrison, Liggett and Isaac Fields each have three touchdown catches. Alan Ballew tops the squad in yards per catch (24.25).
The Ironman: Colten 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 43 in a row on October 29th, which is the most ever in school history. He has eight career interceptions and 40 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 408-415-18. 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.
Nine in a Row: With the win over Pacific last Saturday, Whitworth clinched its ninth consecutive winning season under head coach Rod Sandberg. The previous longest streak of winning campaigns in school history was seven, from 1959 through 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 Zach Brooks.
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 Bruins: George Fox University (7-2 overall, 4-2 NWC) can set a team record for victories in one season if the Bruins can knock off the Pirates on Saturday. The Bruins are coming off a win over visiting Lewis & Clark last week. Pacific comes into this week averaging 31.1 points and 392.3 yards on offense, while giving up 21.3 points and 324.2 yards per game.
Chris Casey, who was Whitworth's defensive coordinator from 1994 - 2004, is in his tenth year (42-36) as head coach at George Fox. He was the head coach at Aloha (Ore.) High School from 2005 through 2012, where he won a 6A state title in 2010.
The Bruins feature two of the most dangerous weapons in the Northwest Conference on offense. Senior QB Haden Schaan is in his third year as the starter. He has completed 62.5% of his passes for 2551 yards with 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He has also run for 140 yards and three scores. Senior WR Leon Johnson III has dominated defenses all season with 49 receptions for 1133 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averages 23.1 yards per catch. Junior Logan Candanoza leads a committee of running backs with 250 yards (4.0 ypc) and two touchdowns. Freshman DE Jacob Erickson has been a breakthrough on defense, with nearly half of his 31 tackles going for loss (14.5), including 10 sacks for 55 yards. Senior DB Chris McCoy has 66 tackles, one interception and 15 passes defended.
George Fox used three third quarter touchdowns to break open a 41-20 win over visiting Lewis & Clark in the Bruins' home finale last Saturday. Schaan threw for 329 yards and only needed 12 completions to reach that total (on 16 attempts). He threw a pair of touchdowns to Johnson (63 yards and 32 yards) and a 90-yard scoring strike to William Moffitt. Johnson finished with three catches for 102 yards. Erickson had one of George Fox's four sacks. Kiegan Schaan returned a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Coaching Connections: In addition to head coach Chis Casey, other members of the Bruins' staff have a strong connection to Whitworth. Defensive Coordinator John Bates was an All-Conference safety at Whitworth (96-99) and coached two seasons with the Pirates. Special Teams Coordinator Ian Sanders was also an All-NWC defensive back at Whitworth (1997-2000). Strength coach Nic Brockhoff earned All-NWC recognition as a linebacker during his Pirate career (2011-2014).
The Series: Saturday's game is the eighth meeting between the two schools and Whitworth leads the series 5-2. The Bruins won last year's game and picked up their first win of the series in 2017, 43-23 in Spokane. The Pirates earned their largest margin of victory in the series in 2018 in Newberg (38-14).
Last Meeting: Down to a third string quarterback, Whitworth still had a shot to win on the final play when Gio Fregoso's 11-yard pass to Dylan Ashbeck was knocked away in the endzone as time expired, allowing George Fox to hang on for a 16-10 win in Newberg in the season finale for both teams. The Bruins scored the winning touchdown with 1:46 left when Haiden Schaan completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Adam Hawker. GFU missed the extra point, leaving the door open for a potential Pirate comeback.
Isaiah Jones had a one-yard touchdown run in the first half, and Nate RaPue kicked a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter to tie the game 10-10.
Fregoso completed 25 of 36 passes for 184 yards. He only had the one interception. Kanen Ables, who began the season as a backup QB but moved to tight end, finished with eight catches for 46 yards, including a 4th down conversion on the final drive that kept the Pirates' hopes alive. Dillon Kuk also had eight catches for 55 yards. Solomon Hines ran for 69 yards on 15 carries, while Isaiah Jones rushed for 55 yards on 15 carries and scored the only touchdown.
Whitworth outgained GFU 315-279 and had 20 first downs to only 13 for the Bruins. The Pirates had the ball for 33:30. Schaan completed 19 of 33 passes for 218 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 23 yards on 13 attempts. Whitworth limited George Fox to 61 yards rushing on 27 carries. Leon Johnson III had four catches for 109 yards.
Patrick Serrano led Whitworth's defense with eight tackles, while Jacob Hogger made six stops to go with an interception. The Pirates sacked Schaan four times.
