Pirates find defensive gem
Those wild, high-scoring shootouts that have come to characterize Whitworth College football in recent years could well be a thing of the past, thanks to the Pirates’ new-found sense of defensive pride.
That pride surfaced again on Saturday as the unbeaten and nationally ranked Bucs scraped their way past Azusa Pacific 17-14 on a postcard-like autumn afternoon in the Pine Bowl.
Senior quarterback Joel Clark engineered another late-game scoring drive that was capped by Cam Collings’ tie-breaking 28-yard field goal with 2 minutes, 57 seconds left, and the Pirates defense made it stand up by stuffing Azusa on its final two possessions.
“Our defense, like they’ve done all year, just stepped up and played very, very well again,” Whitworth coach John Tully said after watching his Bucs, ranked No. 17 among NCAA Division III teams, raise their record to 4-0 in turning back the NAIA Cougars (1-4) in front of a crowd of 2,305.
“They made plays when they needed to, which was really nice.”
The Pirates defense limited Azusa Pacific to 250 yards of total offense, while coming up with three big turnovers.
The first, a fumble recovery by Philip Entel, set up Whitworth’s second touchdown, which came on a 5-yard run by Kyle Havercroft. The third, an interception by backup defensive end Jermane Easterlin just moments after Collings’ decisive field goal, sealed the win.
“Our defense was solid again,” said Clark, who ran 9 yards for the Pirates’ first touchdown and completed 10 of 16 passes for 176 yards. “The last couple of weeks, we’ve shown a lot of character.
“We know we’re not going to blow every team out, and we know it’s going to be a dogfight for us from here on out this season.”
It was Clark who triggered a 76-yard touchdown drive in the final 66 seconds of regulation to force the first of two overtimes in last week’s 14-13 road win over Wisconsin-Stout. He was at his best late in the game against the hard-luck Cougars, as well, connecting on two crucial throws while leading his team 84 yards – from its 5-yard line to the APU 11 – on the game-winning drive.
“That’s kind of what we did last week, which was nice to see again,” Tully said. “It was a great drive that came when we really had our backs to the wall.”
Azusa Pacific, which lost starting quarterback Rudy Carlton to an arm injury on its first series of the game, had a chance to answer Collings’ late field goal but kicked it away when Carlton’s replacement, sophomore Ryan Bridges, hit Easterlin in the chest with a hurried screen pass deep in his own territory.
Whitworth failed to score following Easterlin’s pick, but drove to the Cougars 4 before turning the ball over on downs with just a little more than a minute left.
Tully said he wasn’t sure how much Carlton’s injury factored into the outcome.
“The big thing is that our defense just played well,” he added. “They made plays and they did a lot of good things out there. I think you have to give the credit to them.”
The Pirates, who lost senior center Jon Erlenmeyer to what looked to be a serious leg injury late in the game, will travel to Puyallup Saturday to kick off their Northwest Conference season against Pacific Lutheran.
Pacific Lutheran 32, Puget Sound 28: Brett Gordon passed for 336 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Lutes (1-3) to a victory over the Loggers (3-1) in a Northwest Conference opener for both teams in Tacoma.
Central Washington 24, Saint Cloud State 14: Mike Reilly threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for another score to lead the Wildcats (3-2, 1-2 North Central Conference) past the Huskies (2-3, 0-2) in Ellensburg.
Minnesota-Duluth 20, Western Washington 10: Ted Schlafke passed for 329 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1) to an NCC victory over the Vikings (1-4, 0-3) in Bellingham.