SPOKANE, Wash. – The #19/#20 Whitworth Pirates and Chapman Panthers face each other for the third time in the last 12 months in a battle of defending conference champions this Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm the Pine Bowl and a broadcast is available at WhitworthPirates.com. Saturday is also Faculty Appreciation Day at the Pine Bowl.
Whitworth (2-0) is coming off a 31-19 home-opening win over Eastern Oregon last Saturday. Chapman (1-0) had a bye on Sept. 14 following a 43-23 win over visiting Pacific (Ore.) on Sept. 7. 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 a student ID number.
Faculty Appreciation Day: Whitworth football would like to recognize the faculty who make such a difference in the lives of its student-athletes at Saturday's game. All faculty members and up to three family members can get free admission by using the Whitworth I.D. number as a code on the Hometown Ticketing app.
The Pirates: Saturday was a tale of two halves in Whitworth's 31-19 win over Eastern Oregon. The Pirates scored on all five of their first half possessions and did not allow the Mountaineers past the Pirate 43-yard line on the way to a 31-0 halftime lead. The Pirates lost their offensive flow in the second half while EOU scored three touchdowns to narrow the gap.
Zach Brooks led the defense with 12 tackles, including a sack, while Caleb Shawen added nine stops. Daniel McKeirnan intercepted his third pass of the season, while Jacob Brandvold forced a fumble that was recovered by Alex Smith. Whitworth led in turnover margin 2-0.
Luis Salgado ran the ball 24 times for 150 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season. Ryan Blair completed 17 of 27 passes for 211 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Renat Mamikonyan Jr. competed 4 of 6 passes for 67 yards as a backup. Evan Liggett caught two more touchdown passes, finishing with four receptions for 31 yards. Caelin Johnson also caught four passes, including a touchdown.
Iden Bone made one field goal from a career-best distance of 44 yards but missed from 49 later in the game. He also went 4-4 on PATs. Jake Gaffaney averaged 61.2 yards per kickoff, including a pair of touchbacks. Matthew Herzog punted twice for an average of 41.5 yards. Cameron Sheley averaged 23 yards on his three kickoff returns.
West Coast Crossover: Saturday's game is part of a crossover weekend between the Northwest Conference and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In addition to Saturday's game at the Pine Bowl, Pacific Lutheran will visit Cal Lutheran, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps travels to George Fox, Puget Sound goes to La Verne, Linfield hosts Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer heads to Pacific. With Occidental and Whitter dropping their football programs in the last couple of years, that leaves two NWC schools without a cross-over opponent. Lewis & Clark will play Montana Western and Willamette takes a bye week. Last season the NWC went 3-3 against the SCIAC on the crossover weekend, including Whitworth's 24-17 win at Chapman.
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 2 special forces captain was Ryan Kinney.
Special Teams Captains, week-by-week: Sept. 7 – Luke Roberts; Sept. 14 – Ryan Kinney.
In the Polls: The Pirates moved up in both Division III polls this week. Whitworth advanced four spots in the AFCA Coaches poll to 19th and three positions in the D3football.com poll to 20th.
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. Early in the season the Pirates lead NCAA Division III in total takeaways (9) and in turnover margin (4.0 – 1.0) per game. Daniel McKeirnan, who earned first team All-NWC and led the Bucs in interceptions last season, already has three in 2024.
Touchdown Machine: Evan Liggett already has five touchdown receptions in 2024, which leads the NWC and ranks second in NCAA Division III. He was a second team All-Northwest Conference honoree in 2023 when he caught seven touchdowns.
Inside Men: Zach Brooks and Caleb Shawen, Whitworth's pair of inside linebackers, are proving their worth in 2024. Brooks leads the NWC in tackles per game (11.5), while Shawen ranks second in tackles per game (9.0). Brooks was a first team All-NWC honoree in 2023, while Shawen claimed second team honors.
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 420-418-18. 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 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.
Winning the Opener: Following the win at Gustavus Adolphus on Sept. 7, Whitworth has now 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.
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 76-22 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.
The Panthers: Chapman made the 2023 NCAA Division III playoffs as the champions of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletics Conference. The Panthers turned around an 0-3 start with six straight victories to qualify. Chapman (1-0 so far this season) is the SCIAC favorite in 2024 and receiving votes in the D3football.com poll.
Head coach Bob Owens has led the Panthers since 2006 (19th season) and has a 100-60 record as their head coach. Since 2013 Chapman is 67-31 with four 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 key weapons back on both sides of the ball. Senior QB Luke Peterman took over at mid-season in 2023 and sparked the winning streak by completing 69% of his passes for 1,075 yards with 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He picked up the first SCIAC Offensive Player of the Week award in 2024. Senior WR Amir Adams earned first team All-SCIAC in 2023 when he caught 38 passes for 629 yards with five touchdowns. Senior RB Gio Ursino is a multiple time All-SCIAC selection. In 2023 he ran for 527 yards and five touchdowns. Senior LB Kade Jordan is the reigning SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year. In 2023 11 of his 58 total tackles went for loss (42 yards). Senior CB Renick Martin is 6'-4". He was a first team All-SCIAC selection in 2023 after he made 38 stops and broke up seven passes.
Chapman defeated visiting Pacific (Ore.) of the NWC 43-23 in its season opener on September 7th after outscoring the Boxers 22-6 in the second half. Peterman completed 19 of 26 passes for 375 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Adams caught seven of those passes for 148 yards and three scores, while Ursino ran for 137 yards on 28 carries. The Panthers rolled up 531 yards of total offense, while the defense limited Pacific to 273 yards. Jordan had an eight-yard sack.
Last Season: Whitworth defeated Chapman twice in 2023, first a 24-17 come-from-behind win on the road on September 16th. The Bucs outscored the Panthers 14-0 in the fourth quarter. Daniel McKeirnan's interception with under two minutes to play sealed the victory.
On November 18th the Pirates hosted Chapman in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Whitworth outscored the Panthers 21-0 from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter, opening a 35-14 lead on the way to a 42-28 win in the Pine Bowl. In a cleanly-played contest, neither team turned the ball over and there were only five total penalties.
The Pirates rolled up 557 yards of offense, 414 yards passing and 160 on the ground. WR Evan Liggett had a big day with eight receptions for 126 yards, while Luis Salgado totaled 99 yards on 13 carries (7.6 ypc), ran for a score and caught a touchdown.
After allowing 225 yards in the first half, the Whitworth defense limited Chapman to 12 yards in the decisive third quarter and 141 total in the second half. Caleb Shawen led the Pirate defense with a career-high 12 tackles, including one for a three-yard loss. Zach Brooks and Daniel McKeirnan had eight stops apiece. Nathaniel Hummel had two of Whitworth's four sacks.
The Series: Following last season's wins, Whitworth holds a 9-4 advantage in the all-time series with Chapman. The Pirates won the first meeting 49-22 in Spokane in 2000. One of the Panthers' four victories has come in Spokane – 49-34 in 2014. Whitworth's largest margin of victory in the 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.
Coming up next: Whitworth gets a week off (Sept. 28) before opening Northwest Conference play at Pacific Lutheran on October 5th.
