SPOKANE, Wash. – The #10/#14 Whitworth Pirates will play a second straight Northwest Conference football road contest when the Bucs battle Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm at Hanson Stadium. Check the online football schedule live links.
Whitworth (6-0 overall, 3-0 NWC) won 42-24 at Puget Sound last Saturday. Pacific (3-3, 1-2) fell 51-37 at George Fox.
The Pirates: Whitworth scored the final three touchdowns of the game to break away from a tough challenge by the Loggers and clinch its 11th straight winning season. The Pirates led 15-0 in the second quarter before UPS rallied for leads of 16-15 and 24-21 in the third. Whitworth had three one-play scoring drives on Saturday.
The Pirates finished with a season-high total of 547 yards and averaged 9.9 yards per play. Quarterback Ryan Blair completed 20 of 34 passes for 363 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Nathan Owens had a breakout game catching balls out of the backfield. He finished with six catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns. The first was a 19-yard fade route in the endzone. The second was a short shuffle pass he turned into a 73-yard score in the third quarter. Evan Liggett also caught a pair of touchdowns to increase his nation-leading total to 12. The first was a short swing pass he turned into an 87-yard play for the Bucs' first touchdown. Luis Salgado rushed for 168 yards on only 15 carries (11.2 ypc) and scored a touchdown. The Pirate offensive line did not allow a sack.
Because the offense scored so quickly, so often, the Whitworth defense was on the field for over 39 minutes. The Loggers gained over 500 yards but needed 99 plays to do it (5.2 yards per play). Joshua Lawson came up with a career-high 13 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and broke up three passes. Micajah Weisner added nine tackles. JT Muñoz had a sack, a fumble recovery and a one-yard tackle for loss on fourth down. Dylan Owen and Ephraim Watkins had the other two Whitworth sacks.
Iden Bone went 1-2 on field goal attempts and 3-5 on extra points in his first game of the season on natural grass. Matthew Herzog only punted twice, for an average of 35.0 yards. Jake Gaffaney kicked off eight times for an average of 56 yards with two touchbacks. Whitworth averaged 21.0 yards per kickoff return.
Lawson honored by NWC: Joshua Lawson is this week's NWC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week in football. He had career-highs in total tackles (13), solo tackles (11) and pass breakups (3). He is the first Whitworth player selected for the defensive award this season.
11th Heaven: With the win over Puget Sound on October 19th, Whitworth clinched its 11th 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.
Team Captains: The Pirate team captains in 2024 are QB Ryan Blair and OG Jake Trost from the offense and ILB Zach Brooks and DT JT Muñoz from the defense. A special forces captain is selected on a week-by-week basis. Last week's special forces captain was Trey Rose.
Special Forces Captains, week-by-week: Sept. 7 – Luke Roberts; Sept. 14 – Ryan Kinney; Sept. 21 - Micajah Weisner; Oct. 5 – Dawson Tobeck; Oct. 12 – Chris Knutson; Oct. 19 – Trey Rose.
In the Polls: The Pirates cracked into the top ten in this week's AFCA Coaches poll at 10th, up from 12th in last week's poll. It is Whitworth's highest ranking since the Pirates were 8th in the final regular season poll of 2006. Whitworth held steady in the D3football.com poll at 14th.
Whitworth was picked second in the Northwest Conference preseason poll behind Linfield. The Wildcats received seven first place votes to only one for the Bucs.
It's Better to Take than Give: Whitworth's defense is off to a blistering start taking away the ball. Through six games this season the Pirates have 15 takeaways, which leads the NWC and ranks 16th in NCAA Division III. More importantly, Whitworth leads the nation in turnover margin (15-1, or +2.33 per game). The Bucs are second in the NWC and rank 13th in Division III in fumbled recovered (7) and second in the NWC in pass interceptions with eight. Daniel McKeirnan, who earned first team All-NWC and led the Bucs in interceptions last season, has three in 2024.
Selfish with the Ball: On the flip side, the Pirate offense has been downright selfish with the ball. Whitworth leads all of NCAA Division III in turnovers lost with one. The Pirates gave up one interception in the first half of the season opener at Gustavus Adolphus and have gone 22 quarters without a turnover since. Whitworth is one of 11 NCAA Division III teams not to have given up a fumble so far this season.
Touchdown Machine: Evan Liggett has 12 touchdown receptions in 2024, which leads all of NCAA Division III and is more than double any other player in the NWC. He has caught 33 passes for 685 yards, an average of 19.1 yards per reception. He leads the NWC in receiving yards per game (114.2) and yards per reception (20.8). Liggett was a second team All-Northwest Conference honoree in 2023 when he caught seven touchdowns.
Surgical Precision: Ryan Blair has thrown the ball to devastating effect for Whitworth's opponents in 2024. He has completed 121 of 184 passes (65.8%) for 1710 yards with 25 touchdowns and only one interception. He is third in NCAA DIII in touchdown passes. His passing efficiency rating of 187.6 leads the NWC and ranks 11th in NCAA Division III.
Inside Man: Zach Brooks, Whitworth's inside linebacker, is proving his worth in 2024. Brooks leads the NWC, and ranks 15th in Division III, in tackles per game (10.2). Brooks, who was a first team All-NWC honoree in 2023, led Whitworth in tackles in the first five games of the season.
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 2024, the Pirates are 74-22 since 2014, a winning percentage of .771. That figure is better than the University of Washington (87-38, .696), Washington State (66-53, .555), Eastern Washington (76-42, .644), Central Washington (68-32, .680), Pacific Lutheran (39-47, .453) and Puget Sound (36-54, .400).
Above Water: The Pirates' all-time record in football now stands at 424-418-18. This season Whitworth moved above the .500 mark in all-time won-loss record for the first time since the Bucs were 32-31-2 before the start of 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. Whitworth won for the 400th time in school history on October 16, 2021 vs. PLU. 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 record in football was 248-337-18, 89 games under .500. Since that point Whitworth is 176-81.
Winning the Opener: Following the win at Gustavus Adolphus on Sept. 7, Whitworth has won nine of its 11 season-openers under head coach Rod Sandberg. The Pirates are 5-1 at home and 4-1 on the road. Whitworth's only season-opening losses under Sandberg came in 2016 and 2022.
On the Internet: This season Whitworth's games air live on the internet at WhitworthPirates.com. Inland Northwest Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Bud Nameck, familiar in Spokane as the KXLY channel 4 sports director for over 20 years and the longtime host of the KXLY 920am Morning News, is in his tenth season as the voice of the Pirates in 2024. 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: Now in his 11th season, 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 80-22 record over that span, including three appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs (2015, 2018 and 2023). 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 .771 is the best among Whitworth coaches with at least five seasons and currently ranks among the top 10 active coaches in all of Division III. He coached the Pirates to the fourth unbeaten regular season in school history (9-0) in 2018 and repeated that accomplishment last season. 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.
Sandberg wins in 100th game: Rod Sandberg coached his 100th game at Whitworth on Oct. 5 at Pacific Lutheran. Only John Tully, who went 131-103 in 24 seasons as Pirate head coach, reached the 100-game plateau at Whitworth. Sandberg is 79-22 in his 11th season.
The Boxers: Pacific is 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the NWC heading into Saturday's game. Pacific fell 51-37 at Lewis & Clark last Saturday in a wild offensive shootout. The Boxers have the best rushing offense in the NWC and put up 36.5 points and 424.7 yards per game. They have allowed 33.3 points and 447.3 yards per contest. Ian Falconer has a 16-17 record in his fourth 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.
Junior RB Brody Bantolina leads the NWC with 980 rushing yards (163.3 ypg) and an average of 8.0 yards per carry. He leads the conference in rushing touchdowns as well (12). In addition, junior RB Kalai Pasi has five rushing touchdowns. But the Boxers can throw effectively too. Senior QB Braeden Titus has completed 58.1% of his passes for 1354 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Junior WR Josiah Chaffin has 30 catches for 587 yards (19.6 ypc) and five touchdowns. Sophomore safety Anthony Lopez leads the defense with 41 tackles, two interceptions and five pass breakups. Junior LB Rylan Ma'ae has 7.5 tackles for loss among his 36 total tackles.
Last week Pacific found itself down 34-7 in the third quarter at L&C before rallying to within 41-34 late in the game. Bantolina ran for 136 yards and two touchdowns, while Titus completed 15 of 29 passes for 232 yards with a touchdown to Chaffin, who finished with five receptions for 109 yards. Ma'ae led the defense with 12 tackles, while Lopez had nine stops and an interception.
Last Season: Whitworth led 35-7 at halftime and 42-7 after three quarters before visiting Pacific put up two late touchdowns in the Pirates' 42-20 victory. Whitworth posted season-highs in total offense (553 yards) and first downs (28).
Whitworth averaged 8.4 yards per play and threw for a season-high 390 yards. Evan Liggett caught two touchdown passes (12 yards and 44 yards) and finished with seven receptions for 105 yards. Backup tight end Taylor Wells caught his first career TD. Luis Salgado rushed for 113 yards on only 13 carries (8.1 ypc) and scored a touchdown. The Pirate defense limited Bantolina to 81 yards on 19 carries and no touchdowns. Daniel McKeirnan was selected as the NWC's Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week following his two interception, nine-tackle performance. Zach Brooks had eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Both tackles by JT Muñoz went for loss – a five-yard sack and a four-yard tackle for loss on a running play. Whitworth held Pacific to 4 of 13 on third down conversions.
Iden Bone made all six of his extra points and missed his only field goal attempt (34 yards) at the end of the first half. He averaged 61.3 yards per kickoff, with two touchbacks.
The Series: Whitworth leads the all-time series 26-5-1, including an 10-3 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.
Coming up next: Whitworth will return home for the first game since October 12th to host Lewis & Clark on November 2nd.
