Countdown to Whitworth-Linfield: Pirates will lean on standout RB Luis Salgado, who rushed for a NWC-record 365 yards earlier this season

It didn’t take long for running back Luis Salgado to catch the attention of Whitworth head coach Rod Sandberg.

“The game was against Pacific, his freshman year,” Sandberg said.

Salgado, now a junior, rushed for 108 yards on 17 attempts and two touchdowns in a 28-17 win at Pacific on Nov. 5, 2022.

“That was the second-to-last game, and we were banged up,” Sandberg said. “We gave him a shot, he took it and hasn’t looked back since.”

The former two-way standout from Kamiakin High School in Kennewick announced his arrival at Whitworth on a single play the week before when he scored on a 63-yard run.

“That was the catalyst for the Pacific game, for sure,” Salgado said.

The 5-foot-8, 188-pound Salgado has been in the starting lineup since his breakout moment.

He rushed for 717 yards and nine touchdowns and had 37 receptions for 280 yards and four touchdowns last season. He was named to the All-Northwest Conference first team. He’s on his way to a repeat honor with 1,150 yards and nine TDs and 24 receptions for 164 yards.

His biggest feat came in Whitworth’s 39-32 win at Pacific last month when he rushed for a school- and NWC-record 365 yards on 25 carries and three TDs. He also had two catches for 21 yards.

“It’s a crazy number – that’s how many days are in a year, 365,” Salgado said.

He eclipsed the 303 yards on 40 carries Damion Putney had in 1999.

“We didn’t know he was going to be this good,” Sandberg said. “It’s hard to know with running backs. But he’s a gamer.”

Salgado has the usual dings a running back has at this point of the season. He said nothing will hold him back from the showdown to decide the NWC championship Saturday when perennial power Linfield visits.

Last year at Linfield, the Pirates rallied from a 24-14 deficit with two TDs in the fourth quarter to win 28-24, earning a playoff berth.

Before Salgado settled in at running back, he was an all-conference linebacker at Kamiakin. He was a four-year starter at linebacker, getting his first start halfway through his freshman season. He was named the Mid-Columbia Conference Defensive Player of the Year his junior season.

On offense, Salgado floated between three positions. He was playing behind running back Tuna Altahir, a starter at Eastern Washington, before taking over his senior season. Salgado rushed for 1,235 yards his final year.

“He would have been a good defensive player for us, but his upside was higher on offense,” Sandberg said.

The key for Salgado is making defenders miss in space, and Sandberg said that is tops in Salgado’s abilities.

Salgado doesn’t shy away from contact. It’s that natural gift at linebacker that comes through. He enjoyed hitting opponents as an outside linebacker.

“Luis is definitely one of the coolest young men I have ever had the pleasure coaching,” said Kamiakin head coach Scott Biglin, a former standout quarterback at Whitworth. “Well mature beyond his years. Even as a freshman, his football IQ was as high as anyone in our program. He was undersized, but he made up for it by knowing what an offense or defense was doing and using that knowledge to put himself in the best position to make the play.”

That’s why Sandberg calls Salgado a student of the game.

“Nobody watches more film than Luis,” Sandberg said. “He’s a complete player – run, block, catch. He helps our offense be multidimensional.”

Salgado may be a better student, period, than a football player. He graduated at Kamiakin as its valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average. He’s presently in the heart of his studies as an engineering major.

Salgado takes no shortcuts. He said the word that best describes him is discipline.

“I got a job this summer working the grounds at Whitworth. At work at 7 a.m. and off at 3:30 p.m.,” Salgado said. “Then it was straight to conditioning. There were times I didn’t want to get up and go to work or go to conditioning, but you do it.”

Biglin said character sets apart Salgado.

“The thing that I am most proud of is he is a young man that has never changed who he is,” Biglin said. “He cares so much about others and holds others to his high standards without being a jerk about it.

“He is a tremendous person who cares. When he sees my son and daughter, he talks with the as if he was their brother. He speaks with love in his heart which truly shows his character and his love for other and how well they are doing.

“He’s going to do some really great things in life when football ends. He will definitely have a huge impact on this world. I can’t wait to see.”

Whitworth (9-0 , 6-0 NWC) has a chance to win back-to-back NWC titles for the first time since 2005-06. Linfield (8-1, 6-0) stands in the way.

A standing-room-only crowd is expected at the Pine Bowl.

“This is the first round of the playoffs,” Sandberg said. “Our guys are built for this, they’re ready for this, they’re excited for this, they worked really hard this offseason to get to here and make it count.”

Salgado agrees.

“You have to be able to take punches,” Salgado said. “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth and we’re going to get punched in the mouth.

“We have to remember our game plan, our focus. Do your job one play at a time and nothing more. Nobody has to play hero ball.”