Pirates Fall Short In Final Minutes Of Fourth Quarter

Small colleges

Whitworth College had a lead with less than 10 minutes remaining, but Willamette scored two touchdowns in the final 5 minutes for a 37-26 win Saturday at Salem, Ore.

The loss dropped the Pirates to 0-6, 0-2 in the Northwest Conference of Independent Colleges and extended their losing streak to 14. Willamette, No. 16 in the NAIA Division II poll, improved to 5-1, 2-0.

Willamette trailed 19-16 at the half and 26-23 in the fourth quarter after Whitworth’s Julio Torres scored on a 2-yard run with 9:56 remaining. The fourth-quarter drive covered 63 yards in 14 plays.

The Bearcats then drove 80 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 27-yard pass from Chuck Pinkerton to Danny Osborne that made it 30-26 with 5:17 left.

The Pirates’ comeback hopes ended with 1:20 remaining when safety Chris Calaycay picked off quarterback Rob Leslie’s pass at the Whitworth 18 and ran untouched into the end zone.

Whitworth got 73 rushing yards on 22 carries from Damian Putney.

Torres gained just 14 yards on six carries but had two touchdowns rushing and one receiving.

Leslie, who played in place of starter Casey Doyle (out with a concussion), was 19 of 32 for 208 yards and a touchdown, but threw three interceptions.

The Pirates are at home against Lewis & Clark next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Central Washington 34, Western 20

Central Washington (3-4, 1-1 CFA) scored 27 second-half points and rallied from a 10-point deficit to defeat No. 2-ranked Western Washington (5-1, 1-1) in Ellensburg.

Linfield 20, Puget Sound 14 (OT)

Tramaine Payne’s four-yard touchdown run gave Linfield an overtime win over Puget Sound (0-6, 0-2), at Tacoma. Geoff Buffum hit Brandon Flood with a 39-yard touchdown pass for Linfield (3-3, 1-1) to send the game into overtime.

Willamette 37, Whitworth 26

Whitworth 12 7 0 7 - 26 Willamette 16 0 7 14 - 37

Whi-Earnst 29 pass from Leslie (Stueckle kick)

Wil-Williams 7 run (Williams pass)

Wil-Osborne 1 run (Espadron-Coker pass)

Whi-Torres 4 pass from Leslie (pass failed)

Whi-Torres 1 run (Stueckle kick)

Wil-Christopherson 4 pass from Pinkerton (Blair kick)

Whi-Torres 2 run (Stueckle kick)

Wil-Osborne 27 pass from Pinkerton (Blair kick)

Wil-Calaycay 18 interception return (Blair kick)

A-500.

Whi Wil First downs 19 20 Rushes-yards 38-109 46-214 Passing 208 128 Comp-Att-Int 19-32-3 11-17-2 Return Yards 7 33 Punts-Avg. 5-25.8 3-39.0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-0 Penalties-Yards 7-35 8-73 Time of Possession 32:24 27:36

Individual statistics

RUSHING - Whitworth, Putney 22-70, Bratonia 7-20, Torres 6-14, B.Williams 1-4, Leslie 2-1. Willamette, Rideout 8-92, Pinkerton 10-37, Bailey 10-35, Osborne 6-24, Scott 4-15, D.Williams 8-11.

PASSING - Whitworth, Leslie 19-32-3-208. Willamette, Pinkerton 11-17-2-128.

RECEIVING - Whitworth, B.Williams 6-51, Glenn 5-56, Stueclke 2-35, Earnst 2-28, Simmons 2-23, Torres 2-15. Willamette, Osborne 5-69, D.Williams 2-13, Bushman 1-22, Spencer 1-19, Christopherson 1-4, Rideout 1-1.

, DataTimes