Whitworth opens NWC play with convincing win over PLU

The 14th-ranked Whitworth Pirates put on a dominating show in their Northwest Conference opener on Saturday in Puyallup, Wash.

The Pirates held the ball on offense for 44 of 60 minutes and ran off 89 plays to just 44 for Pacific Lutheran en route to a 19-7 victory.

Whitworth’s dominating effort also contained a 442-200 edge in total offense and the defense forced five turnovers – four of them interceptions.

Whitworth is 5-0 on the season – just the second time since 1960 it has opened a season with five straight victories.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Pirates got going. Kyle Havercroft scored on 4-yard run at the 12:52 mark of the second quarter and Cam Collings booted a 37-yard field goal with 25 seconds left in the quarter to give the Whits a 10-0 lead at the half.

Collings stretched the lead to 13-0 with a 23-yard field goal at the 6:06 mark of the third quarter and a Havercroft TD run capped the scoring for the Pirates.

Havercroft finished with 126 yards on 30 carries.

Chase Reed’s 29-yard run to the end zone in the third quarter was the lone score for the Lutes (1-4, 1-1).

Linfield 42, Puget Sound 17: Trevor Scharer passed for 270 yards and three touchdowns to lead the 18th-ranked Wildcats (2-2, 2-0) to a victory over the Loggers (3-2, 0-2) in NWC play in Tacoma.

South Dakota 10, Central Washington 7: Brooks Little caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Noah Shepard with 15 seconds left in the game to rally the 14th-ranked Coyotes (5-1, 3-0) to a win over the Wildcats (3-3, 1-3) in North Central Conference action in Vermillion, S.D.

Western Washington 24, St. Cloud State 17: The Vikings (2-4, 1-3) blocked two punts and scored three touchdowns in the final 5:07 to rally past the Huskies (2-4, 0-3) in NCC play in St. Cloud, Minn.