SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth needs one win in its final two games to clinch the Northwest Conference's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III football playoffs. That quest starts this week at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Saturday's contest will kick off at 1:00 pm and will stream live on FloSports.
The Pirates (6-2 overall, 5-0 NWC) are coming off a 10-6 win over Pacific Lutheran. The Bearcats are 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the NWC after suffering a 31-9 loss to George Fox.
The Pirates: Only one week after needing to outscore Lewis & Clark to pull out a victory in Portland, Whitworth relied on its defense to overcome Pacific Lutheran in a 10-6 home win last Saturday in the Pine Bowl.
Lane Watkins was selected as the Northwest Conference Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week for his efforts leading the defense. He had six tackles, two of which were for losses of four yards. He intercepted a pass at Whitworth's three-yard line to prevent a PLU touchdown and blocked an extra point after the Lutes' only score. Omari Williams had the Pirates' other interception, also deep in Whitworth territory, in the third quarter. Hunter Letteer led the Bucs with eight tackles, while Drew Cody and Chris Knutson had seven stops apiece.
The Whitworth offense was held to 280 yards, most of which came through the air. Logan Lacio completed 25 of 34 passes for 233 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Caleb Northcroft caught five passes for 51 yards, while Tyson Hoke caught four for 41 yards. Dawson Tobeck caught his first touchdown pass of the season early in the third quarter. Luis Salgado was held to 44 yards on 15 carries.
In addition to the blocked extra point, Whitworth had some other big plays on special teams. Northcroft returned a kickoff 43 yards and Hayden Throneberry had a 31-yard punt return. Iden Bone kicked a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter but missed a 34-yard attempt in the fourth. Jake Gaffaney averaged the maximum of 65 yards per kickoff, two of which went for touchbacks.
NWC Standings Update: Whitworth is alone atop the NWC standings with a 5-0 record with Linfield in second place at 4-1. The Pirates hold the tiebreaker against the Wildcats, based on the head-to-head result. One win in the final two games would give Whitworth the automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. Two wins clinches the Pirates' second outright conference title in the last three seasons and third under Rod Sandberg.
Power of 12: With the win over PLU last Saturday, Whitworth clinched its 12th 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 2025 are RB Luis Salgado and TE Taylor Wells from the offense and safety Trey Rose and DL Lane Watkins from the defense. Junior LB Collin Campbell was the special teams captain vs. PLU. A new special forces captain is selected by the coaches on a week-by-week basis.
The Oregon Trail: Whitworth is making four trips to the Willamette Valley this season. The Pirates have defeated Pacific University (Oct. 4), Linfield University (Oct. 18) and L&C (Oct. 25). Whitworth visits Willamette this weekend. The 2025 season is the first time Whitworth has had four NWC games in Oregon since Rod Sandberg took over as head coach.
Road Warriors: Whitworth has won 12 consecutive Northwest Conference road games, dating to the 2022 schedule. It is the longest conference road winning streak in school history.
Value the Ball: Whitworth has taken great care of the football in 2025. The Pirates lead the NWC and rank fourth in NCAA Division III with only five turnovers allowed. The Bucs have lost three fumbles and had two passes intercepted in seven games.
Running Man: Luis Salgado is a two-time first team All-Northwest Conference honoree. He has gained 2,957 yards in his career with a 5.9 yards per carry average and has run for 31 touchdowns. Also a threat catching the ball out of the backfield, Salgado has 86 career receptions for 550 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. Salgado needs 43 yards to become only the fourth player in school history to surpass 3,000 career rushing yards and 382 yards to break Whitworth's career rushing record of 3,338 held by Adam Anderson (2007-10).
Defensive Stopper: Sophomore Drew Cody is second in the Northwest Conference in total tackles (73) and second in tackles per game (9.1) so far in 2025. The Pirate inside linebacker is also second in the NWC, and ranks 36th in NCAA Div. III, in solo tackles per game (5.38).
"Foot"ball Excellence: Whitworth's kickers have been a bright spot in 2025. Iden Bone was named to the Fred Mitchell Award mid-season watch list as the top place kicker in all divisions below FBS. He leads the NWC in field goals made (12) and in scoring by a kicker (58 points, 7.3 points per game). Bone ranks second in NCAA Div. III in field goals per game (1.5) and 16th in DIII in field goal percentage (0.800). His 47-yard field goal is the longest in the conference this season.
Matthew Herzog is second in the NWC and 33rd in all of NCAA Division III in punting average (39.7 yards per punt). He has six punts of over 50 yards.
Jake Gaffaney has averaged 60.2 yards per kickoff with 12 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 434-422-18. 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 186-85.
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.
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 Bearcats: Willamette comes into Saturday's game 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the NWC. The Bearcats are playing their final home game of the season and will honor their seniors prior to kick off against Whitworth.
Under first year head coach Aric Williams, Willamette is averaging 18.1 points and 291.9 yards of offense per game and has allowed 33.4 points and 427.6 yards per contest. Williams came to Willamette from Montana Tech, where he spent two seasons as Defensive Coordinator. He is a 2004 graduate of Oregon State, where he was a second team All-Pac 12 cornerback.
Junior Luke Rasmussen has taken the most snaps at QB for Willamette and has completed 48% of his passes for 1,333 yards with nine touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The big play receiver is senior Trajan Clark, who has 20 catches (second on the team) for a team-high 434 yards and four touchdowns. He has averaged 21.7 yards per catch. Junior LB Javi Rodriguez is third in the NWC in total tackles (61) and second in the conference in tackles for loss (11.0 for 50 yards). Sophomore FS JonJon Delgado leads the NWC with four interceptions to go with 31 tackles.
Last Saturday George Fox outscored Willamette 21-6 after halftime to pull away for a 31-9 victory. The Bearcats were held to 131 yards of total offense. Rasmussen started at QB and completed 4 of 8 passes for 26 yards. Alex Rivera IV took over in the second quarter and completed 6 of 20 passes for 80 yards and one touchdown in the fourth quarter to Jordan Robinson after GFU had opened a 31-3 lead. Delgado led the defense with eight tackles.
Last Meeting: Whitworth scored touchdowns on six consecutive possessions between the end of the first quarter and the start of the third quarter while posting its first shutout in two seasons in a 48-0 victory over Willamette. Dawson Tobeck caught five passes for 98 yards with one touchdown, his third straight game with a TD catch. Whitworth's running game came alive with 185 yards on 25 carries (7.4 yards per carry). Luis Salgado ran 10 times for 75 yards and two touchdowns, while Kurt Solano picked up 68 yards on six carries.
Whitworth held Willamette to three-and-out on five of its first six possessions to help build a 35-0 halftime lead. The Bearcats had only 75 yards of offense at halftime. Whitworth forced two fumbles. The first was forced and recovered by Trevor Gravelle, who added four tackles. Caden Keithley forced the other at the Pirates' one yard line with only seconds to play in the game, punching the ball out from the receiver's possession and through the endzone for a touchback that preserved the shutout.
Iden Bone had his best day of the season, making a pair of 29-yard yard field goals and all six of his extra points. Matthew Herzog only punted twice, including a career-best 58-yard effort. Jake Gaffaney averaged 61.5 yards per kickoff, with three touchbacks.
The Series: Willamette University is Whitworth's second-oldest continuing rival. The teams first met on the field in 1908 and Whitworth won 18-0. The biggest Pirate win in the series was 82-7 in 2019. The biggest Bearcat victory was 67-0 in 1912. Willamette holds a 33-29 edge all-time, but the Pirates have won the last 10 matchups, the Bucs' longest winning streak in the series. Willamette's last win over Whitworth came in 2013 in Salem by a score of 50-21.
Coming up next: Whitworth will close out the regular season with a home game against Puget Sound on November 15th with the kickoff at noon.
