SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth Pirates make their return to the NCAA Division III football playoffs this week by hosting the Chapman Panthers, champions of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. The game kicks off at noon and can be heard live on KSBN 1230am and on KSBN.net. Check the Whitworth football schedule above for other links to live coverage of the game.
No. 18/20 Whitworth (9-0 overall) defeated Linfield 28-24 on the road last Saturday in a winner-take-all matchup of unbeaten Northwest Conference opponents. Chapman (6-3) defeated Pomona-Pitzer 41-20 in the first-ever SCIAC title game.
Tickets: Digital tickets are required for entrance to the Whitworth Pine Bowl for all fans. For best results, 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, students and children. Because this is an NCAA-owned event, no regular season passes are permitted.
Also, fans are not allowed to bring artificial noisemakers of any kind. And as a friendly reminder, no pets are not allowed in the Pine Bowl.
NCAA Playoff Info: The NCAA Division III football playoffs consist of a 32-team field. The championship game, known as the Stagg Bowl, will be played on Friday, December 15th in Salem, Virginia. All games up to final are played on campus and will start at noon local time. Click here for an interactive online bracket.
With the vast majority of NCAA Division III schools located east of the Mississippi River, Saturday's contest in the Pine Bowl will be the last of the 16 to kick off. All others will start two or three hours before the Pirates and Panthers.
Playoff History: Whitworth last appeared in the NCAA DIII playoffs in 2018 following a 10-0 regular season. The Bucs rolled past Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 48-6 in the first round, then lost 45-24 on the road at 3rd-ranked St. John's. In 2015 the Pirates were invited as an at-large participant and lost 48-10 at 2nd-ranked Linfield in the first round. In 2006 Whitworth finished the regular season 10-0 and defeated an unbeaten Occidental squad 27-23 in the first round of the tournament in the Pine Bowl. The Pirates fell to St. John's (Minn.) 21-3 in the second round, also played in the Pine Bowl Whitworth's first NCAA playoff appearance came in 2001 when the Pirates lost at home to Pacific Lutheran 27-26 in overtime in the first round.
The Bucs had one NAIA playoff appearance, falling 13-7 at Humboldt State in the semifinals in 1960.
Chapman is making its fourth NCAA playoff appearance, the last coming in 2019 when the Panthers defeated Linfield in overtime in the first round before losing at St. John's in the second round.
The Pirates: Whitworth rallied from a 24-14 4th quarter deficit to defeat 4th/8th-ranked Linfield 28-24 in McMinnville, Oregon on Saturday in a game that decided the Northwest Conference title, the league's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs and ended the Wildcats' 33-game NWC winning streak.
Austin Ewing fired a five-yard touchdown pass to Evan Liggett with 29 seconds to play in the game to complete a game-winning 75-yard drive that took 14 plays. Ewing completed 37 of 52 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for a touchdown, but had to survive three interceptions. Dillon Kuk caught 12 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. Liggett had five catches for 53 yards and his game-winning score. Caelin Johnson caught five passes for 41 yards, with four of those receptions converting first downs. Luis Salgado caught seven passes for 37 yards and ran for 25 yards on nine attempts. Solo Hines ran for a seven-yard touchdown on fourth and one to get the Pirates within three points in the fourth quarter. Whitworth finished with 368 yards of total offense.
The Pirate defense bounced back from a shaky start after Linfield scored on its first two possessions. But Whitworth settled down and limited the Wildcats to ten points over their next nine drives. Zach Brooks had ten tackles, including a three-yard sack, and recovered a fumble to lead the defense. JT Muñoz made six stops, including a key tackle for loss, and broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage. Caleb Shawen made five stops and forced a fumble, while Zach Loveless picked off a pass.
Iden Bone made all four of his extra points to improve to 54-54 on PATs this season. Bone also averaged 52 yards on his four kickoffs, including one squib kick at the end of the game, and punted once for 42 yards. Spencer King punted twice and averaged 41.5 yards.
An Historic Matchup: Thanks to Linfield's crack research team, it was confirmed that last Saturday's game marked the first time in Northwest Conference history that two unbeaten teams met in the final game of the regular season. There had been occasions when two schools met in the regular season finale with unbeaten conference records. The most recent years where 2004 and 2005, when Linfield and Willamette collided with unbeaten NWC records. Linfield won both contests.
National rankings: Fresh off the dramatic win at Linfield, Whitworth made its debut in both prominent NCAA Division III polls this week. The Pirates are ranked 20th in the D3football.com top-25 poll and tied for 18th in the AFCA Division III Coaches Poll.
Unblemished Bucs: Only five previous teams in Whitworth history have finished a regular season unbeaten. The first time came in 1954 when Jim Lounsberry's Pirates went 8-0, outscoring opponents 269-40. The 1955 team kept the streak going with a 9-0 record, giving up only 34 points all season. The 1960 Pirates finished 9-0 under Sam Adams during the regular season before losing 13-7 at Humboldt State in the NAIA semifinals. Forty-six years later Whitworth went 10-0 during the regular season under John Tully, finishing 11-1 after falling to St. John's (Minn.) in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs. In 2018 the Pirates finished 9-0 in the regular season under head coach Rod Sandberg and advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
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 receiver Dylan Ashbeck.
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; Oct. 21 – Cameron Sheley; Oct. 28 – Riley Morrison; Nov. 4 – Michael Workman; Nov. 11 – Dylan Ashbeck.
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 10th in NCAA Division III. The Pirates lead the Northwest Conference, and rank 24th in NCAA Division III, in turnover margin (+1.22 per game) with 24 takeaways and 13 turnovers this season.
Party in the Backfield: The Whitworth defense has been disruptive in other ways this season. The Pirates lead the NWC and rank third in NCAA Division III in sacks (3.89 per game). Whitworth has sacked opposing quarterbacks 35 times for 204 yards in losses. It has been a team effort with 17 different players sharing at least one sack. JT Muñoz leads the team with six sacks for 45 yards. The Bucs also lead the NWC in tackles for loss per game (7.1). Whitworth has 64 total tackles for losses of 261 yards.
Winning in the Redzone: Whitworth has won the redzone on offense and on defense in 2023. On offense, the Pirates have scored 36 out of 46 trips into the redzone, a .783 average. The Bucs have been even better on defense, limiting opponents to 19 scores on 32 trips to the redzone, a .594 clip that ranks second in the NWC and ranks 15th in NCAA Division III.
Scoring in Bunches: Whitworth is putting up points in near record-setting numbers this season. The Pirates have scored 387 points in nine games, an average of 43.0 points per contest. That average leads the NWC and ranks 16th in NCAA Division III. The scoring pace is just off the school record average of 45.9 points per game, set in 2016.
To Protect and Serve: Whitworth had to replace four starters on the offensive line in 2023 and that group has developed into a strong unit for the Pirates. Whitworth leads the NWC and ranks ninth in all of NCAA Division III in tackles-for-loss allowed per game (3.33). The Pirates also lead the conference in sacks allowed per game (1.00). The starting line is comprised of Kiefer Furness (LT), Jake McCabe (LG), Patton Miller (C), Jake Trost (RG) and Dillon Helle (RT).
Flyin' Hawaiian: Graduate transfer quarterback Austin Ewing is having a big impact on Whitworth's success this season. He has completed 171 of 239 passes (71.55%) for 2,257 yards with 21 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Ewing has also run for five touchdowns this season. He leads the NWC, and ranks 17th in NCAA Division III, in passing efficiency with a rating of 175.7. He also leads the NWC and ranks 17th in DIII in yards per pass attempt (9.44).
He can really Kuk: Dillon Kuk has been an explosive receiver in 2023. He has 11 touchdown catches this season, second in the NWC. Kuk also ranks second in the NWC in scoring (8.2 points per game).
NWC/NCAA Leaders: Solo Hines leads the NWC and ranks ninth in Division III with three blocked kicks this season. On defense, Daniel McKeirnan leads the NWC and ranks 17th in the country with five interceptions (0.6 per game), while Zach Brooks is tied for the lead in the NWC in fumble recoveries (3).
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).
Even-Steven: Whitworth won for the 400th time in school history on October 16, 2021 vs. PLU. After Saturday's win at Linfield, the Pirates' all-time record in football now stands at 417-417-18, marking the first time Whitworth is at the .500 mark since the Bucs were 32-32-2 all-time after a loss to open the 1929 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 on October 14th, 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. In 2022 the NWC went 6-1 against the SCIAC on the crossover weekend, including Whitworth's 12-7 win over CMS.
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 Panthers: Chapman comes into Saturday's game 6-3, riding a six-game winning streak following last weekend's drubbing of Pomona-Pitzer in the SCIAC title game. The Panthers average 25.56 points and 356.9 yards on offense and have relied on a stellar defense that gives up only 15.56 points and 315.1 yards per contest.
Head coach Bob Owens has led the Panthers since 2006 and has a 112-99 record as their head coach. But the last seven seasons are the most successful stretch of results in school history. Chapman is 46-21 over that span with three Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference titles. He was the D3football.com West Region Coach of the Year in 2019 after leading the Panthers to a 10-1 record and the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
Chapman has started three quarterbacks this season. Nathaniel Espinoza, who started against Whitworth, was injured in the third game. Junior Luke Peterman has started the last four games and has completed 68% of his passes for 839 yards with nine touchdowns and no interceptions. He has an array of talented receiving targets, let by junior Amir Adams who has 33 receptions for 554 yards and five touchdowns. Senior Isaiah Woods (513, yards, 4.9 ypc, two touchdowns) and junior Gio Ursino (483 yards, 4.7 ypc, four touchdowns) have split time at running back. Sophomore safety Collin Keefe leads a talented defense with 56 tackles and three interceptions. Junior LB Jordan Kade has 49 tackles, including 10.5 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles. Fellow junior LB Alexander Terriquez, a first team All-SCIAC selection in 2022, has 48 stops, including 8.5 tackles for loss.
Chapman built a 24-0 halftime lead against Pomona-Pitzer before the Sagehens rallied to within 27-20 in the third quarter. Peterman helped the Panthers put the game away with two fourth quarter touchdown passes. Chapman picked off six Pomona-Pitzer passes in the game and held the Sagehens to 17 net rushing yards. Kade had six tackles, including 1.5 sacks, and one of the interceptions. Freshman safety Roman Hardin picked off three passes to go along with four stops. Peterman was outstanding, completing 18 of 24 passes for 307 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Jason Bruce caught two of those TD passes. Ursino ran for 88 yards and a score.
Last Meeting: Whitworth scored two fourth quarter touchdowns to rally from a 17-10 deficit to a 24-17 win at Chapman on September 16th in Orange, California. Daniel McKeirnan's interception with just under two minutes left in the game sealed the victory for the Pirates in their only night game of the season.
McKeirnan's interception capped an outstanding performance by the Whitworth defense. After allowing 266 yards in the opening half, the Pirates limited the Panthers to 116 yards in the second half, including only 44 yards in the fourth quarter (three possession). McKeirnan had five solo tackles and a pass break up to go with his interception. Tiliti Adams led the team with seven tackles and two pass break ups, while Dylan Ventress made five stops and forced a fumble.
Luis Salgado was selected as the NWC's Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for football after he rushed for 95 yards on 18 carries (5.3 ypc) and scored the game-winning touchdown on an eight-yard run with 6:26 to play in the game. Fellow running back Solo Hines finished with 132 all-purpose yards (58 receiving, 54 KO returns and 20 rushing). Austin Ewing started at quarterback and completed 17 of 28 passes for 217 yards with one touchdown. His one-yard run tied the game at 17-17 at the start of the fourth quarter. Ryan Blair directed the game-winning drive, completing 4 of 6 passes for 66 yards, including a third and 10-yard completion to Salgado. Evan Liggett led the receivers with six catches for 92 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown.
Bone made one out of two field goal attempts and averaged 60 yards per kickoff. Spencer King averaged 37.5 yards per punt with a long of 44 yards. The game turned on a key play at the start of the fourth quarter when Chapman was called for a leaping penalty on a blocked field goal attempt. Whitworth turned the automatic first down into a game-tying touchdown.
For Chapman, Nathaniel Espinoza finished 22 of 36 for 291 yards with one touchdown and one interception for Chapman. Amir Adams had seven catches for 145 yards and one score. Espinoza was also the Panthers' leading rusher with 51 yards on 11 carries.
The Series: Whitworth holds an 8-4 advantage in the all-time series and won the first meeting 49-22 in Spokane in 2000. Three of Chapman's wins have come in California –in 2011, 2013 and 2019. Whitworth's largest margin of victory in this series was a 37-7 victory in Orange in 2015. The Panthers' 21-point win in 2013 (38-17) is their largest margin of victory. Whitworth won the last game played in Spokane 31-28, the closest game of a perfect 10-0 regular season for the Pirates.
Coming up next: The winner of Saturday's game will face the winner of a game between 3rd-ranked Wartburg (10-0) and Illinois College (9-1) at a location to be determined.
