SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth heads into One Big Weekend getting ready to take on the George Fox University Bruins in its second Northwest Conference game of the season. Saturday's contest will kick off at 1:00 pm and will stream live on FloSports.
Whitworth (2-2 overall, 1-0 NWC) is coming off a 28-14 win at Pacific (Ore.) in its NWC opener last Saturday. The Bruins (0-4, 0-1) were within 21-17 of nationally-ranked Linfield late in the second half last week before falling 35-17.
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.
One Big Weekend: October 10th-12th is a big weekend on campus as Whitworth celebrates Homecoming 2025 and Family Weekend at the same time. Alumni events will take place throughout the weekend, as well as family events. Included in all these festivities will be induction of the 35th class to the Whitworth Athletics Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame on Saturday morning. The class will be introduced at halftime of the football game.
The Pirates: Whitworth trailed 7-6 heading into the fourth quarter before outscoring host Pacific 22-7 in the final period to pull out a 28-14 win over the Boxers.
Luis Salgado led the offense with his best game of the season. He ran for 116 yards on 21 carries and scored two of the three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. He also converted a two-point PAT to give the Bucs a 14-7 lead. Salgado was selected as the NWC's Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts. Logan Lacio had his best day of the season as a starting quarterback, completing 23 of 35 passes for 229 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. That TD pass was a 27-yard toss to sophomore Drake Matthies, who caught the first three passes of his Pirate career in the game. Whitworth finished with 372 yards of offense.
The Pirate defense was rock solid, especially in the first half when the Whitworth offense was only able to score three points. The defense allowed only 70 total yards before halftime. After Pacific blocked a field goal attempt and returned the block to the Whitworth 30-yard line, Chris Knutson came up with an interception in the Pirate endzone. Then the Boxers blocked a punt and took over at the Whitworth 36. The defense did not allow a first down and stopped Pacific on downs. Drew Cody led the way with 11 tackles, including a 12-yard sack. Hunter Letteer added eight tackles, while Knutson finished with five stops and two passes defended to go with his interception.
Iden Bone made two out of three field goal attempts, from 36 and 31 yards. His 44-yard attempt in the second quarter was blocked. Caleb Northcroft returned his first career kickoff 44 yards in the second half.
Team Captains: The Pirate team captains in 2025 are RB Luis Salgado and TE Taylor Wells from the offense and safety Trey Rose and DL Lane Watkins from the defense. Sophomore Hayden Throneberry was the special forces captain last Saturday at Pacific. A new special forces captain is selected by the coaches on a week-by-week basis.
Running Man: Luis Salgado is a two-time first team All-Northwest Conference honoree. He has gained 2,488 yards in his career with a 6.1 yards per carry average and has run for 27 touchdowns. Also a threat catching the ball out of the backfield, Salgado has 79 career receptions for 505 yards and four scores. In 2024 he was Whitworth's first 1,000-yard rusher since Duke DeGaetano ran for 1,001 yards in 2016 and posted the second-highest single season total in school history with 1216 yards, behind only the 1293 yards Damian Putney put up in 1999.
Defensive Stopper: Sophomore Drew Cody leads the Northwest Conference in total tackles (41) and tackles per game (10.3) so far in 2025. The Pirate inside linebacker also leads the NWC, and ranks 25th in NCAA Div. III, in solo tackles per game (6.0).
"Foot"ball Excellence: Whitworth's kickers have been a bright spot in 2025. Iden Bone leads the NWC in field goals made (7) and in scoring by a kicker (28 points, 7.0 points per game). He ranks 3rd in NCAA Div. III in field goals per game (1.75) and 38th in DIII in field goal percentage (0.778). His 47-yard field goal is the longest in the conference this season.
Matthew Herzog is second in the NWC and 11th in all of NCAA Division III in punting average (42.2 yards per punt). He has five punts of over 50 yards, the most in the conference this season.
Jake Gaffaney has averaged 60.1 yards per kickoff with five touchbacks, the most touchbacks of any player in the NWC.
NWC Poll: Whitworth was picked second in the Northwest Conference preseason poll behind Linfield. The Wildcats received five first place votes while the Bucs got two and PLU one.
Class of Distinction: Thirty-two Whitworth Pirates played their last game in the Pine Bowl against Pomona-Pitzer in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs last November. That number marks the largest outgoing class in team history, which included nearly a dozen 5th-year players who used the extra eligibility awarded after the COVID-19 outbreak. Among that number were 10 starters on defense and nine on offense. Fourteen of those 19 departed starters earned All-NWC recognition. Quarterback Ryan Blair was the NWC Offensive Player of the Year. Linebacker Zach Brooks was the NWC Man of the Year, an award encompassing athletic ability, academics, leadership and community service.
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 2025, the Pirates are 84-24 since 2014, a winning percentage of .778.
Above Water: The Pirates' all-time record in football now stands at 430-422-18. Last 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 182-85.
West Coast Crossover: September 20th was a crossover weekend between the Northwest Conference and the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In addition to Redlands's win at Whitworth at the Pine Bowl, Willamette won 29-14 at La Verne (Calif.), Linfield defeated Chapman 28-13 in Oregon, and Lewis & Clark shut down Pomona-Pitzer 28-3 on the road. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won 28-21 at George Fox while Cal Lutheran defeated Puget Sound 55-28 in Tacoma. The NWC finished the weekend 3-3 against the SCIAC.
11th Heaven: With the win over Puget Sound on October 19th last fall, 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.
Winning the Opener: Following the win over Gustavus Adolphus this season, Whitworth has won 10 of its 12 season-openers under head coach Rod Sandberg. The Pirates are 6-1 at home and 4-1 on the road. Whitworth's only season-opening losses under Sandberg came in 2016 and 2022.
Looking Back at 2024: Whitworth opened the season with a 40-7 win at Gustavus Adolphus, leading to a 3-0 record against non-conference opponents. The Pirates finished 6-1 against the Northwest Conference, including a 31-0 win at George Fox and a 39-32 win at Pacific in which Luis Salgado broke the NWC record for rushing yards in a single game (365). The only loss was 34-7 to Linfield in the season finale. At 9-1, Whitworth was invited to the NCAA Division III playoffs and defeated Pomona-Pitzer 21-13 in the first round to claim a second straight 10-win season for the first time in school history. The Pirates were defeated in the second round by eventual champion North Central (Ill.).
Watch on FlowCollege: Like the rest of the Northwest Conference, Whitworth's home athletic events will be steamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $120 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
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 11th season as the voice of the Pirates in 2025. 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.
Listen to Road Games: Fans can tune in online to listen to Pirate ROAD games for free at WhitworthPirates.com. Bud Nameck will provide play by play when Whitworth is away from the Pine Bowl.
The Head Coach: Now in his 12th 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 an 84-24 record over his first 11 seasons, including four appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs (2015, 2018, 2023 and 2024). 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 .778 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. In 2023 and 2024 he coached Whitworth to the first-ever back-to-back ten-win seasons in school history, as well as the first back-to-back NCAA playoff appearances. 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 Bruins: George Fox (0-4, 0-1) comes into Saturday's game hungry for its first victory in 2025. The Bruins took on defending NWC champion Linfield in their conference opener and led 14-0 after one quarter and were within 21-17 early in the fourth. Whitworth and George Fox have one common non-conference foe in 2025. The Bruins lost 10-7 at Redlands on Sept. 6 in the season opener. The Pirates lost 34-17 at home to the Bulldogs on Sept. 20th. George Fox is averaging 13.8 points and 276.3 yards per game this season. The Bruins are allowing 27.8 points and 354.yards per contest.
Spencer Crace is in his first season as head coach at GFU after spending seven seasons as the offensive coordinator at Pacific Lutheran.
The offense runs through first-year QB JJ Leman, a product of Mead HS just a mile from Whitworth's campus. Leman has either passed or run on 202 of the Bruins' 269 plays in 2025. He has completed 47.9% of his throws for 684 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also run for 172 yards and two scores. Leman's most dangerous target has been first-year WR Karsen Denault, who has 14 receptions for 309 yards (22.1 ypc) and two touchdowns. Senior DE Jacob Erickson has been the most impactful defensive player in the conference this season. He leads all of NCAA Division III in tackles for loss (13.0) and sacks (8.5 for 49 yards). He also has two forced fumbles and a blocked kick.
A blocked punt for a touchdown and a 53-yard touchdown pass by Leman gave George Fox a 14-0 lead in the first quarter at home against Linfield last Saturday. The game stayed close into the fourth quarter when Ben Rembisz kicked a 40-yard field goal to pull the Bruins within 21-17. Linfield returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and added an insurance TD with 3:11 to go in a 35-17 win. Lemen completed 18 of 45 passes for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Denault caught three of those passes for 58 yards. Erickson had a big game with 13 tackles, including two sacks for 11 yards, a pass break up and a blocked field goal attempt.
Last Meeting: Whitworth got its second shutout of the season and earned its largest margin of victory in the series with a 31-0 victory at George Fox in 2024. The Pirates' defense limited the Bruins to 50 yards and no first downs in the first half. GFU finished the game with 134 yards and five first downs. Chris Knutson made a game-changing play, jumping in front of a screen pass at the GFU four-yard line and waltzing into the endzone for a 14-0 lead in the final minute of the first half.
Whitworth's offense rolled up 458 yards, including 244 on the ground against the NWC's second-best running defense. Luis Salgado ran for 136 yards on 14 carries (9.7 ypc), while Kurt Solano picked up 83 yards and scored a rushing touchdown. Tight end Taylor Wells caught his second touchdown in as many games.
Iden Bone made a 24-yard field goal and had a 47-yard effort blocked. He also made all four PATs. Matthew Herzog punted twice for an average of 37.0 yards.
The Series: Saturday's game is the 11th meeting between the two schools and Whitworth leads the series 7-3. Whitworth won the last game played in Spokane 24-13 in 2023. GFU's last win was 28-14 in Spokane in 2022. The Bruins' largest margin of victory was 43-23 in 2017, also in Spokane. The Pirates' biggest win in the series was the 31-0 win in Newberg in 2024.
Coming up next: Whitworth will play at Linfield on October 18th in the first of two straight conference road contests.
