REDLANDS, Calif. – Visiting Whitworth outscored Redlands 20-0 in the second half to earn its first win of the season, 33-14 over the Bulldogs on Saturday night at Ted Runner Stadium.
Linebacker Drew Cody led a Pirate defense that limited Redlands to 91 yards of offense in the second half with 10 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery.
Whitworth (1-1) ended a six-game losing streak to UR that dated to 2006. The Bucs will get a week off before hosting Pacific (Ore.) in the NWC opening weekend on October 3rd.
After forcing the Bulldogs (0-2) to punt on the game's opening possession, the Pirates went 70 yards in 17 plays, using 9:00 of the clock. But the Bucs had to settle for Iden Bone's 27-yard field goal after they had first and 10 at the UR 14-yard line.
Redlands got on the board on the first play of the second quarter when QB Tobey Schmidt completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to Rowshawn Lacey to complete a 75-yard drive.
Five minutes later the Bulldogs were driving again when Wyatt Hess intercepted Schmidt in the Whitworth endzone. The Pirates then drove 80 yards in ten plays to score their first touchdown, a one-yard plunge by Grant Spillman out of the wildcat formation.
Redlands responded with its second touchdown of the second quarter, driving 75 yards in nine plays. Schmidt threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Taylor Bowie for a 14-10 lead with 1:56 left in the half.
It appeared that was how the half would end when the Pirates were forced to punt. But Matthew Herzog pinned Redlands at its own one-yard line with a 53-yard bomb with 1:22 to go and the Bulldogs were forced to punt out of their own endzone with just under a minute left, allowing Whitworth to take over at the 31 with 53 seconds to go. Six plays later Bone kicked a 21-yard line as time expired to pull the Pirates within 14-13 at the half.
That momentum carried into the second half, at least defensively. The Pirates held Redlands to 26 yards combined on its first two possessions, forcing two punts. Taking over on its own 43 with 2:16 to play in the quarter, Whitworth went 57 yards in only three plays, including a 23-yard end-around by Spillman and 19-yard touchdown pass from QB Logan Lacio to tight end Nate Peterson. A two-point attempt failed and the Bucs led 19-14.
After forcing another three-and-out by the Bulldogs, Whitworth scored on its first play of the fourth quarter when Lacio hit a streaking Nathan Owens for a 66-yard touchdown pass – the longest play of the young season for the Pirates. The extra point increased the lead to 26-14.
Cody intercepted Schmidt at the Redlands' 37-yard line with 11 minutes to go. Seven plays later Whitworth had third and goal at the Bulldogs' 21-yard line. Lacio passed to Chris Holt over the middle for a touchdown with 7:07 to play in the game.
With just under two minutes to play, Cody clinched the win for Whitworth by forcing and recovering a fumble at the Redlands' 43-yard line.
Lacio completed 24 of 38 passes for 303 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Owens caught five passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. The TD catches by Peterson and Holt were the first of their careers. Spillman finished with 58 yards running on eight carries and a touchdown, while Kurt Solano ran for 66 yards on 11 carries.
Whitworth outgained Redlands 426-291 and had a 3-0 edge in turnovers.
Schmidt completed 22 of 32 passes for 175 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for Redlands. Lacy caught seven passes for 89 yards.
