SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth football team will take a five-game winning streak into a second straight home game this coming Saturday against Pacific University. The Pirates will take on the Boxers in a Northwest Conference contest that kicks off at 1:00 pm and can be heard live on KSBN 1230am and on KSBN.net.
Whitworth (5-0 overall, 3-0 NWC) is coming off a 63-21 win over Puget Sound on Homecoming / Hall of Fame Saturday in the Pine Bowl. Pacific (1-4, 1-2) is coming off a 51-35 Homecoming loss to visiting Lewis & Clark. Check the Whitworth football schedule above for live coverage of the game.
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 touchdowns on its first eight possessions, put up 42 points in the second quarter and went ahead 49-7 at halftime on the way to a 63-21 win over Puget Sound.
The Pirates ran for a season-high 299 yards on 40 carries, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. Luis Salgado only ran the ball five times, but those rushes amounted to 119 yards and three touchdowns. One of those runs was a career-high 71-yard burst in the second quarter. Fellow running back Solo Hines ran for 43 yards and one touchdown and caught a pass for an 18-yard score. Quarterback Austin Ewing completed 8 of 12 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns, both of which went to Dillon Kuk. Kuk finished with three catches for 78 yards. Backup quarterback Ryan Blair ran nine yards for a score during his only possession at the start of the second half. Nathan Owens picked up 60 rushing yards and scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Whitworth finished with 465 total yards and only threw 13 passes in the entire game. Of the Pirates' first eight scoring drives, six took three plays or less.
The Pirate defense came away with nine sacks for 55 yards and 12 total tackles for loss. Ryan Kinney finished with a team-high eight tackles, while Dylan Ventress had seven stops. Five of the sacks came from Dylan Owen (2.5 for 19 yards) and JT Muñoz (2.0 for 11 yards). Muñoz also had two of Whitworth's seven QB hurries. Luke McCorkle nabbed his first interception of the season. After Puget Sound gained 140 total yards on its first two possessions, the Loggers' high-powered offense picked up only 195 over the rest of the game.
In addition to his heroics on offense, Solo Hines had an impact on special teams by blocking a field goal that would have given UPS the lead back after the game was tied 7-7 and he also blocked a PAT late in the third quarter. Iden Bone made all nine of his extra points and averaged 56.6 yards per kickoff. Spencer King only had to punt once in the game.
Team Captains: The Pirate team captains in 2023 are WR Dylan Ashbeck and QB Ryan Blair from the offense and safety Atticus Templeton and CB Tiliti Adams from the defense. A special forces captain is selected on a week-by-week basis. Last game was linebacker Jacob Brandvold.
Whitworth's special teams captains, week by week: Sept. 2 – LS Marcus Viramontes; Sept. 9 – KR Cameron Sheley; Sept. 16 – LB Zach Brooks; Sept. 30 – Luke Roberts; Oct. 7 – Zach Loveless; Oct. 14 – Jacob Brandvold.
Offensive Defense: Whitworth's defense has been downright offensive this season, scoring four touchdowns. JT Muñoz had a 33-yard fumble return for a touchdown on the final play of the first half against Pacific Lutheran on September 30th. Muñoz now has two defensive touchdowns in his career following a fumble recovery touchdown against Puget Sound in 2022.
At Willamette on October 7th, Dylan Ventress and Atticus Templeton returned fumbles for touchdowns, while Omari Williams took an interception to the endzone. Whitworth's four defensive touchdowns leads the NWC and ranks third in NCAA Division III. The Pirates lead the Northwest Conference, and rank 18th in NCAA Division III, in turnover margin (+1.60 per game) with 15 takeaways and only seven turnovers this season.
Winning in the Redzone: Through five games of 2023, Whitworth has won the redzone on offense and on defense. On offense, the Pirates have scored 22 out of 26 trips into the redzone, a .846 average that ranks second in the NWC. The Bucs have been even better on defense, limiting opponents to ten scores on 17 trips to the redzone, a .588 clip that ranks second in the NWC and ranks 17th in NCAA Division III.
He can really Kuk: Dillon Kuk has eight touchdown catches this season, which leads the NWC and ranks 16th in NCAA Division III. Kuk leads Whitworth in receiving yards (384) and yards per catch (25.6).
NWC/NCAA Leaders: Solo Hines leads the NWC and ranks second in Division III with three blocked kicks this season. On offense, Luis Salgado leads the conference and 41st in the nation in rushing touchdowns with seven, while Austin Ewing leads the conference and is 10th in the nation in passing efficiency (183.9). On defense, Daniel McKeirnan leads the NWC and ranks 24th in the country with three interceptions.
Leading the Evergreen State: Since Rod Sandberg took over as head coach in 2014, Whitworth has the best winning percentage of any football playing university in Washington State. Heading into 2023, the Pirates are 64-21 since 2014, a winning percentage of .753. That figure is better than the University of Washington (73-37, .664), Washington State (61-46, .570), Eastern Washington (72-35, .673), Central Washington (59-28, .678), Pacific Lutheran (34-42, .447) and Puget Sound (33-48, .407).
400+: Whitworth won for the 400th time in school history on October 16, 2021 vs. PLU. The Pirates' all-time record in football now stands at 412-417-18. 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 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.
Perfect Ten: With the win over Puget Sound last week, Whitworth clinched its tenth consecutive winning season under head coach Rod Sandberg. That extended the longest streak of winning campaigns in school history. The previous long streak of seven was set between 1959 and 1965.
West Coast Crossover: September 16th was part of a crossover weekend between the Northwest Conference and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In addition to Whitworth's 24-17 win at Chapman, Pacific Lutheran defeated California Lutheran and Linfield won at Redlands. George Fox lost at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Pacific (Ore.) fell at Pomona-Pitzer and La Verne won at Puget Sound, ending the weekend with three victories for each conference. Last season the NWC went 6-1 against the SCIAC on the crossover weekend, including Whitworth's 12-7 win over CMS.
Looking Back at 2022: Whitworth posted its ninth consecutive winning season under head coach Rod Sandberg, extending the longest stretch of winning campaigns in school history with a 28-17 win at Pacific (Ore.) on Nov. 5. A season-ending 28-14 loss to George Fox dropped the Pirates from a tie for second place to fourth place in the final Northwest Conference standings. Whitworth suffered back-to-back losses to Linfield and Pacific Lutheran early in the NWC schedule, costing the Pirates a chance at the league title. Whitworth opened the season with a 35-17 loss at eventual NCAA Division III playoff participant Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) before defeating Eastern Oregon and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Winning the Opener: Whitworth has won eight of its ten season-openers under head coach Rod Sandberg, including last week's win at Eastern Oregon. The Pirates are 5-1 at home and 3-1 on the road. Whitworth's only season-opening losses under Sandberg came in 2016 and 2022.
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 ninth season as the voice of the Pirates in 2023. 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.
The Head Coach: In nine 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 64-21 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 .753 is the best among Whitworth coaches with at least five seasons and currently ranks among the top 20 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 Boxers: Pacific University is 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the NWC this season. The Boxers average 352.8 yards and 19.8 points per game and they allow 386.2 yards and 24.0 points per contest.
Ian Falconer has a 12-11 record in his third season as Pacific's head coach. He spent 10 years as an offensive assistant with the Boxers. Prior to his time at Pacific, Falconer was offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Lewis & Clark from 2006 through 2009.
Sophomore running back Brody Bantolina leads the Northwest Conference with 548 rushing yards (109.6 ypg). He averages 6.4 yards per carry and has scored five touchdowns. Senior QB Ryan Helt has taken every snap for Pacific this season. He has completed 59.7% of his throws for 914 yards (182.8 ypg) with five touchdowns and two interceptions. The Boxers have a balanced group of receivers. Senior WR Isaiah Pitre has 15 catches for a team-high 217 yards with a team-leading three touchdowns. On defense, junior linebacker Hunter Brown has 41 tackles (third in the NWC) and 6.0 tackles for 16 yards in losses. Junior DB Jesse Stroede has two interceptions, three pass breakups and a forced fumble to go along with 15 tackles.
Last Saturday the Boxers lost 51-35 at home to Lewis & Clark in their Homecoming game. The offensive shootout saw Pacific have slight advantages in total offense (536-533) and first downs (28-26), but L&C scored touchdowns on three straight possessions spanning the second and third quarters to turn a 14-10 deficit into a 31-14 lead. Bantolina ran for 167 yards and two touchdowns, while Holt completed 22 of 33 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns in Pacific's best offensive game of the season. Pitre caught one of the touchdowns. Senior DB Niko Ioseta led the defense with nine tackles and he forced a fumble that he also recovered.
Last Meeting: Whitworth scored two first quarter touchdowns and two fourth quarter touchdowns to defeat Pacific (Ore.) 28-17 in the Bucs' final road game of 2022. 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. 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 a big game with 12 total tackles. JT Munoz had a 12-yard sack late in the game.
Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros made all four of his extra points to remain perfect (36-36) on the 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.
The Series: Whitworth leads the all-time series 25-5-1, including an 9-3 record since the Boxers resumed their program in 2010. The teams first met in 1910 with Pacific earning a 21-0 victory. The Pirates and Boxers would not meet again until 1967 when Whitworth won 21-0. The teams played every year between 1973 and 1984. The series resumed from 1987 - 1991. Then Pacific dropped its program and did not field a varsity team from 1992 through 2009. Whitworth's largest margin of victory was 45-0 in 1976. The Boxers' largest win came in that initial meeting between the schools. Pacific won two in a row in 2013 and 2014. Pacific also won the last match-up in Spokane, 14-7 in 2021.
Coming up next: Whitworth will travel to Lewis & Clark to take on the Pioneers in Portland on October 28th.
