SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth Pirates are set to host Eastern Oregon University on Saturday for the first home football game of the 2024 season. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm the Pine Bowl and a broadcast is available at WhitworthPirates.com. Saturday is also Military Appreciation Day at the Pine Bowl.
Whitworth is coming off a 40-7 season-opening win at Gustavus Adolphus College last Saturday in Saint Peter, Minnesota. EOU lost its season opener last week at Montana Wesetern. Check the Whitworth football schedule above for other 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 their own student ID number to purchase a ticket.
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 Pirates: While the offense took a while to find its rhythm, the defense was in mid-season form in the season-opening 40-7 win at Gustavus Adolphus. The Pirates officially took the ball away six times, including five interceptions. The one fumble recovery was a defensive touchdown. The Bucs also took back possession after a blocked field goal when the ball passed the line of scrimmage and Whitworth was able to recover first.
Daniel McKeirnan had two of the five interceptions, while Zachary Brooks came up with 11 tackles to lead a Pirate defense that held the Gusties to 290 total yards. In 2023 Gustavus Adolphus averaged 470 yards and 36 points per game. Ryan Kinney scored Whitworth's first defensive touchdown of the season when he picked up a mishandled snap deep in Gustie's territory and scored in the third quarter. Both of McKeirnan's interceptions came in the first half to help the Bucs take a 13-0 halftime lead while the offense found its groove. Chris Knutson returned a first-half interception 63 yards deep into GAC territory and WR Evan Liggett picked off a pass on the final play of the first half while he was playing safety on a Hail Mary. Omari Williams had Whitworth's fifth interception of the game in the fourth quarter. The Pirates finished the game with five sacks.
Liggett was the best offensive player on the field on Saturday, catching eight passes for 183 yards with touchdowns of 36, 39 and 43 yards. Quarterback Ryan Blair completed 22 of 38 passes for 332 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in his first start since the 2022 season. Tight end Taylor Wells caught five passes, while Caelin Johnson had four receptions for 60 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown. Whitworth's rushing attack was kept in check for much of the day. Luis Salgado ran for 41 of the Pirates' 61-net yards on the ground.
Placekicker Iden Bone made two field goals, missed one and had one blocked. He also went 4 of 5 on extra point attempts. Matthew Herzog averaged 37.2 yards per punt, while Jake Gaffaney averaged 61.9 yards per kickoff, including three touchbacks. Nathan Owens returned both GAC kickoffs and averaged 21.5 yards.
Pair of Pirates honored: Evan Liggett and Daniel McKeirnan were named to the initial D3football.com Team of the Week for the 2024 season. Liggett was also chosen as the Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
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 will be selected on a week-by-week basis. The week 1 special forces captain was: Luke Roberts.
In the Polls: The Pirates are ranked 23rd this week in both the D3football.com top-25 poll and the AFCA Division III Coaches Poll. The Bucs are up one spot in the D3football poll and two spots in the coaches poll.
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.
Winning the Opener: Whitworth has now won nine of its 11 season-openers under head coach Rod Sandberg, including this year's win at Gustavus Adolphus. 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.
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 419-418-18, marking the first time Whitworth is above .500 mark or better since the Bucs were 32-31-2 all-time 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 all-time record in football was 248-337-18, 89 games under .500.
Perfect Ten: With the win over Puget Sound last 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.
Looking Back at 2023: Come-from-behind wins in the two non-conference contests at Eastern Oregon (42-28) and Chapman (24-17) sparked a remarkable 7-0 run through the Northwest Conference. Along the way the Pirates defeated PLU 42-13 and George Fox 24-13, two teams that had beaten Whitworth the season before. A momentous season-finale at Linfield featured two undefeated teams, the first time in NWC history two unbeatens had met at the end of the regular season. The Bucs came back from a 24-14 second half deficit to win 28-24. Whitworth defeated Chapman again, this time in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs, before losing at 3rd-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) in the second round. Head coach Rod Sandberg was voted as NWC Coach of the Year. Whitworth finished 17th in the final D3football.com poll. Ten Pirates earned first team All-Northwest Conference, including Offensive Player of the Year Austin Ewing (QB). Eight other players picked up second team or honorable mention consideration.
On the Air Again: Whitworth's games will air live this season on the internet at WhitworthPirates.com. Bud Nameck, familiar to listeners in Spokane as the (now retired) 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 75-22 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 20 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.
The Mountaineers: Eastern Oregon is a member of the NAIA and the Frontier Conference. The Mountaineers are coming off a 2-8 season, including a 2-6 finish within the Frontier Conference. The last winning season at EOU came in 2018 when the Mountaineers finished 6-4.
Head coach Tim Camp is in his 16th season guiding the Mountaineers. He is the all-time winningest coach in school history with a record of 82-85 to date.
Eastern Oregon returns two high-performing standouts on offense. Senior WR Malachi Spurrier earned first team All-Frontier Conference last season after catching 67 passes for 920 yards with eight touchdowns. His QB was Quincy Glasper, now a senior, who completed 58.6% of his throws for 2,346 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Junior linebacker Jason Grant, a 2023 first team All-Frontier honoree as a sophomore, led the defense with 81 tackles, including 2.5 sacks, and two interceptions. Senior DT Tyler Exline had 5.5 tackles for loss, including 3 sacks, and a fumble recovery.
Last weekend the Mountaineers opened the season with a 59-21 loss at NAIA #11 Montana Western. The offense struggled to get untracked and finished with 253 yards of offense and ten first downs. The defense allowed 593 yards. Glasper completed 16 of 31 passes for 217 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Spurrier caught seven of those balls for 153 yards and both scores. Grant was the team's top tackler (12) and he broke up a pass.
Last Season: Whitworth defeated Eastern Oregon 42-28 in La Grande, Oregon in a game that appeared to turn completely in the Pirates' favor after one key sequence. With the Pirates trailing 14-7 late in the first half, Daniel McKeirnan's interception and return to the EOU 27 was followed three plays later by a touchdown pass that tied the game with 16 seconds left on the clock. Whitworth scored on its first three possessions of the second half and eventually led 42-14 before the Mountaineers scored two late touchdowns.
Ryan Blair came into the game just after halftime and completed 9 of 11 passes for 149 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Evan Liggett had a strong day catching the ball with four receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown. While 318 of Whitworth's 392 yards came through the air, the Bucs struggled to establish a consistent running game as EOU stacked the box to stop the run. Luis Salgado picked up 42 yards on 13 carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run in the second half.
McKeirnan led the defense with nine tackles, including seven solo stops. Zach Brooks added eight tackles, while Caleb Shawen finished with seven, including three tackles for loss. Ryan Kinney picked off Whitworth's third interception of the game. The Pirates forced EOU to turn the ball over on downs five times in the game as the Mountaineers finished 1 of 6 on fourth down attempts.
Whitworth got what it needed from the special teams. Iden Bone made all six of his extra point attempts, averaged just over 60 yards per kickoff and did not attempt a field goal. The Pirates' only lost fumble came on a punt return late in the game.
The Series: Following last season's victory in La Grande, Whitworth took a 17-16-2 lead in the series. EOU and Whitworth played each other 28 years in a row from 1978 through 2005. The biggest Whitworth win in the series was 42-6 in 1987. The biggest Eastern win was 63-20 in 1991. The last game played in Spokane was a 33-7 win for the Pirates in 2022, the first meeting between the schools since 2005.
Coming up next: Whitworth will host Chapman University next Saturday at 1:00, the teams' third meeting in 12 months. The Pirates and Panthers met in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Division III playoffs.
