SPOKANE, Wash. – Visiting Redlands outscored Whitworth 21-0 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 34-17 win over the Pirates in a non-conference football game on Saturday afternoon at the Pine Bowl.
Laurence Williams returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown on the key play of the fourth quarter for the Bulldogs (2-0), who defeated the Pirates (1-2) for the sixth straight time in a series that had not been played since 2011. Redlands limited Whitworth to nine yards of offense in the final period.
The Pirates got on the board first, taking advantage of a muffed punt at the Redlands 14-yard line, a fumble that was recovered by Drew Cody. Four plays later Luis Salgado ran for a three-yard touchdown to put the Bucs ahead 7-0.
Redlands answered back immediately when Luke Coleman found Kevork Markossian open on the right flank for what appeared to be a first down gain, but when Markossian got past his defender he raced 81 yards for the tying touchdown.
The Bulldogs took their first lead when Aidan Petruescu connected on a 40-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the first quarter.
Whitworth's best offensive drive came in the second quarter when the Pirates went 92 yards in only seven plays. Salgado broke off a 62-yard run to the Redlands' 30 on the first play before finishing it off with a one-yard plunge to give the Bucs the lead at 14-10.
Petruescu kicked his second field goal, from 36 yards, with 16 seconds left in the half to make it 14-13 at the break.
Defenses dominated the third quarter. The only points came on Iden Bone's 39-yard field goal with 2:27 left.
The Bulldogs jumped back in front with 12:18 left in the game when Coleman hit Trevor Cadem with another pass to the sideline on what appeared to be a fourth down conversion before he broke up field for a 34-yard touchdown.
After an exchange of punts, Whitworth took over on its own 20 with 5:00 to play. After a six-yard sack, Williams intercepted Logan Lacio at the 20 and went untouched into the endzone to put the visitors ahead 27-17.
The Pirates went three and out on their next possession and Redlands scored again on Taylor Bowie's ten-yard run with 2:40 to play.
The Bulldogs outgained the Pirates 415-207. Whitworth had only 29 yards after halftime. Lacio completed 14 of 34 passes for 121 yards with the one interception. Several of his passes were dropped by his receivers. Salgado ran for 98 yards on 17 carries and scored twice. Nate Peterson caught five passes for 30 yards, while Caleb Northcroft caught four for 49 yards.
Coleman completed 18 of 30 passes for 239 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Markossian had three receptions for 104 yards as Coleman spread his passes around to a dozen different receivers. Bowie finished with 67 yards on 17 attempts with a score.
Lane Watkins led the Whitworth defense with eight tackles, including a 13-yard sack. Drew Cody made seven stops.
Whitworth gets a bye week before opening Northwest Conference play at Pacific (Ore.) on October 4th.
