SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth Pirates will play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in the Pine Bowl in a key non-conference west coast football matchup on Saturday. 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). Saturday's game is also Military Appreciation Day at Whitworth.
Whitworth (1-1) is coming off a 33-7 win over Eastern Oregon in last Saturday's 2022 home opener. CMS steamrolled Whittier 42-0 in its season opener on Saturday.
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 broke open its game with EOU in the fourth quarter, thanks to three touchdowns in that final period, on the way to a 33-7 win. The Pirates outgained the Mountaineers 415-222 and had a 4-2 edge in turnovers. Whitworth had a possession advantage of 37:27 – 22:33.
Ryan Blair completed 29 of 40 passes for 316 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first start. Both touchdown passes went to Evan Liggett, who finished with seven catches for 73 yards. Riley Morrison had eight receptions for 71 yards. One week after being held to -3 rushing yards, the Pirates opened more holes and netted 100 yards on the ground. Solo Hines ran five times for 33 yards (6.6 ypc) before leaving the game. Isaiah Jones picked up 41 yards on 14 attempts. Logan Kitselman and Jet Uechi each ran for touchdowns.
The defense limited the Mountaineers to 13 first downs and took the ball away at key moments in the game. EOU netted only 94 yards passing in the game. Colten Chelin finished with eight tackles, including one for loss. He forced one fumble and recovered another. He also broke up a pair of passes. BJ Mullin also had eight stops, including one for loss, while Dylan Ventress made seven tackles. Derrick Platt had an 11-yard strip sack, leading to another EOU turnover. Patrick Serrano had a touchdown-saving interception in the endzone at the end of the first half.
Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros handled nearly all the kicking duties in the second game. He made both of his field goal attempts (35 and 33 yards) and all three of his PATs. He also punted once for 43 yards. Nate RaPue returned to handle kick off duties.
Audio Highlighs from Saturday's Game - courtesy Bud Nameck
- JT Muñoz makes a stop for no gain on fourth down just before halftime (Listen)
- Jet Uechi scores on a trick play in the third quarter (Listen)
- Derrick Platt's sack forces a fumble, recovered by Mason Bertelli (Listen)
- Evan Liggett catches a 15-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Blair (Listen)
Military Appreciation Day: Saturday is Military Appreciation Day at Whitworth football. The game will feature a skydiving demonstration and flyover by a vintage Air Force plane. Halftime events will include a coining ceremony performed by Whitworth President Scott McQuilkin. Admission is FREE for all members of the military/veterans and their families. Please visit the red Whitworth "Serving our Veterans" tent just outside the entrance on game day to pick up your free tickets.
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 36 in a row last Saturday. He could end his career with the most starts of any player in Whitworth history. He has eight career interceptions and 37 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 403-414-18. 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 has taken 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.
A Long Way from Home: Carnegie Mellon was Whitworth's first-ever road trip to the Eastern Time Zone. The game was played in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, nearly 2,300 miles from Spokane. Previous opponents that held the mark for longest football trip from campus include Hardin-Simmons (Abilene, Texas – 1,800 miles) and Wisconsin-Stout (Menomonie, Wis. – 1,230 miles).
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 Matthew Fiesta.
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 will carry two of Whitworth's games this season: the home opener on September 10th against Eastern Oregon and the October 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 Stags: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will be a strong contender in the Southern California Athletics Conference this season. The Stags are coming off a 7-3 record in 2021, including a 4-2 mark in the SCIAC. CMS defeated in-conference foe Whittier 42-0 at home in its season opener last weekend. It was a non-conference game for the teams.
Head coach Kyle Sweeney is in his 11th season with a 56-49 record. He led CMS to the 2018 Division III playoffs after capturing the championship of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference.
The Stags welcome back several key players from 2021. Sophomore RB Justin Edwards was the 2021 SCIAC Newcomer of the Year, a first team All-SCIAC selection and a D3football.com All-Region honoree last fall after he ran for 1146 yards and 16 touchdowns, which set a single-season TD record for CMS. Zach Fogel returns as the starting quarterback after he completed 67% of his passes for 877 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions in seven games in 2021. Wide receiver Anderson Cynkar was the leading receiver as a freshman in 2021, with 34 catches for 461 yards and four touchdowns. Starting guards Kamarion Porter (first team) and William Zhang (second team) were All-SCIAC honorees last fall. Outside linebacker Stile Satterlee (35 solo tackles) was a first team All-SCIAC selection, while defensive backs Ben Cooney (9 PBUs) and Michael Colangelo (3 int) were second team honorees.
Last week CMS dominated Whittier 42-0 at home. The Stags scored a pair of touchdowns in each of the first three quarters before calling off the dogs. Edwards ran 17 times for 112 yards with two touchdowns. Fogel completed 8 of 12 passes for 174 yards with three touchdowns. Cynkar caught four of those attempts for 69 yards and two scores. Joey Asta (OLB) led the defense with five tackles, including two for losses of ten yards. The Stags outgained the Poets 446-124 and had a 27-5 advantage in first downs. They ran for 239 yards and passed for 207 in a very balanced performance.
The Series: Whitworth leads the brief series 2-0 after last season's win in Claremont, California. The first meeting between the teams was the 2018 NCAA Division III first round playoff the Pirates won 48-6 in Spokane in 2018.
Last Meeting: Whitworth passed its first road test of the 2021 season with a 31-15 win at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on September 18th. The Pirates built a 31-0 lead early in the third quarter and did not allow the Stags to score until 16 minutes remained in the game.
Whitworth's offense rolled up 408 total yards and 23 first downs. The Pirates passed for 268 yards and ran for 140 more. The Bucs converted on 50% of their third downs (7 of 14) and held the ball for 31 minutes. Jaedyn Prewitt completed 17 of 28 passes for 200 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Ethan Peloquin caught six of the passes for 74 yards and two of the touchdowns. Solo Hines ran 15 times for 98 yards and his 50 yard burst set up a TD. Isaiah Jones carried 11 times for 23 yards.
Whitworth's defense came away with three interceptions, giving the Pirates nine picks in the first three games of the season. Whitworth finished with 12 pass breakups. Jacob Hogger grabbed his third pick in as many games, while Patrick Serrano led the team with nine tackles.
Nate RaPue was selected as the NWC's Special Teams Student-Athlete of the Week. He made his only field goal attempt from a season-long 39 yards away and converted all four of his PATs. He also averaged 55 yards on six kickoffs, including two touchbacks. Omar Campos-Ontiveros averaged 38 yards per punt. The Pirates averaged better-than 27 yards per kickoff return and seven yards per punt return.
Coming up next: Whitworth will have the week off in preparation for the Northwest Conference opener on October 1st at Lewis & Clark.
