SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to break away from Eastern Oregon in a 33-7 non-conference football victory on Saturday afternoon at the Pine Bowl.
The Pirates (1-1) got their first win of the season while the NAIA Mountaineers slipped to 0-3.
Ryan Blair completed 28 of 40 passes for 305 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first start at Whitworth. Evan Liggett caught seven of those passes for 73 yards and both touchdowns.
Logan Kitselman's five-yard run midway through the first quarter gave the Bucs their first touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt failed.
The Pirates' next possession ended on a failed fourth down conversion deep in EOU territory. But after Whitworth got the ball back, Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros kicked a 35-yard field goal with five and a half minutes left in the second for a 9-0 lead.
The end of the half proved interesting, but scoreless. Eastern was driving deep into Whitworth territory, but Patrick Serrano prevented a touchdown with an interception in the endzone with 1:51 left. The Pirates were moving for another potential score when Mountaineer DB Blain Shaw took the ball away from Whitworth receiver Riley Morrison at the EOU 25 and returned the ball 40 yards to the Pirate 35-yard line with 50 seconds left. But Whitworth held the Mountaineers on downs to keep the 9-0 lead.
The beginning of the second half featured an exchange of turnovers – a Whitworth interception and an EOU fumble. Campos-Ontiveros kicked a 33-yard field goal to extend the lead to 12-0.
The Mountaineers answered with their only scoring drive of the game. Aiden Patterson scored on a 35-yard run to complete a 74-yard possession and pull EOU within 12-7 with 3:43 left in the third.
The rest of the game was all Pirates with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Jet Uechi scored on a two-yard reverse to complete a 79-yard drive. After a quick three-and-out by the Whitworth defense, Liggett grabbed a short pass and went four yards for a score to finish off a 37-yard drive. After an EOU fumble, the Bucs went 32 yards to score on Blair's 15-yard fade pass to Liggett with 4:38 to play.
Whitworth outgained EOU 415-222. The Pirates took the ball away four times and gave it up on twice on the two interceptions.
After getting held to -3 yards rushing the previous week in the season opener, Whitworth ran for 100 yards today. Isaiah Jones rushed 14 times for 41 yards, while Solo Hines picked up 33 yards on five carries. EOU also sacked Blair four times for 27 yards in losses. Morrison led Whitworth with 8 receptions for 71 yards, while Uechi had four grabs for 65 yards and Isaac Fields had four for 64 yards.
Andrew James started at QB for EOU and completed 9 of 15 passes for 78 yards with one interception. He also ran for 20 yards on five carries. Luke Ross went 3 of 5 for 11 yards in the second half. Patterson ran four times for 46 yards, including the 35-yard score. Anthony Peterson rushed 10 times for 30 yards.
BJ Mullin led the defense with eight tackles, while Dylan Ventress had seven. Colton Chelin had six tackles, two fumble recoveries and a pass break up. Derrick Platt also had six stops, including an 11-yard sack that led to a fumble.
Zak Donato led the EOU defense with 12 tackles.
Whitworth will stay at home next Saturday, taking on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.) at 1:00 pm in the Pine Bowl.
