Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Stranglehold

Whitworth puts clamps on Chapman

Whitworth’s Brandon Martin (46) mauls Chapman receiver Chris Langstaff in the first half. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)

Whitworth passed its final non-conference test. Ran it, too.

The balanced attack resulted in a season-high 410 yards and the defense kept Chapman off the scoreboard until midway through the fourth quarter as the Pirates rolled to a 23-8 victory Saturday to the delight of a homecoming crowd of 2,150 at the Pine Bowl.

Whitworth evened its record at 2-2 heading into a road game against defending Northwest Conference champion Willamette. Chapman (1-1) is 0-4 against the Pirates this decade.

“It’s awesome to be two-dimensional,”offensive tackle Jeff Kintner said. “The way we were throwing the ball, I think we’re going to be a team to be reckoned with going into league.”

It was the re-emergence of the running game that was the biggest difference from last week’s 29-24 loss to Redlands. In that one, Whitworth gained just 47 yards on 33 carries against a stout Redlands defense. The Pirates surpassed that with 61 ground yards in the first quarter and finished with 189 to go with quarterback Andrew Durant’s 221 passing yards.

“We take big pride in our ability to run the ball,” Kintner said. “When your ego gets put in check like that (last week), we had to come back and answer up and I think we did that.”

Standout running back Adam Anderson (ankle) went through pre-game drills, but still isn’t 100 percent and didn’t play. Senior Milton Nelson ran for 83 yards and Sean Scott had 68 of his 97 yards in the second half.

The Pirates led 2-0 after a frustrating first half. The safety came when Panthers QB Blake Vanderweil was hit as he attempted a pass. The ball dribbled back into the end zone where a Chapman player picked it up but was swarmed by the Pirates.

Whitworth was in the red zone three times, but came away with zero points, despite a 191-36 edge in total yards. Andy Largent’s 26-yard field-goal attempt was barely off the ground before it was blocked by Tyler Halstead. Fumbles derailed two drives.

“We turned the ball over and that can’t take place if we want to be successful from here on out,” head coach John Tully said, “but I was very pleased with the way the guys responded. We told them we wanted to win the game in the third quarter and we were able to get two touchdowns.”

The first came following a 70-yard drive. Eric Entel made a sliding catch for an 11-yard gain on third-and-3. On the next play, Scott was stuffed as he tried left guard, but he stayed on his feet and bounced outside to finish off a 4-yard touchdown run.

After an interception by Scott Carr, Whitworth covered 37 yards in seven plays with Entel making another diving catch on a 12-yard TD play.

Chapman, which had just 7 yards passing in the first half, moved into Pirates’ territory behind the arm of backup QB Eric Willcockson, but a 36-yard field-goal attempt was wide. Whitworth took over at the 20 and moved to its 46, where it faced third-and-9. Durant hit Largent near midfield and the senior slipped out of the grasp of at least four defenders before scoring.

The Pirates limited Chapman to 148 yards and just two third-down conversions. Carr, Kyle Duncan and Cailen Thomason had interceptions.

Whitworth 23, Chapman 8

Chapman 0 0 0 8 -8
Whitworth 0 2 14 7 -23

Whit- Hadley safety

Whit- Scott 4 run (Largent kick)

Whit- Entel 12 pass from Durant (Largent kick)

Whit- Largent 54 pass from Durant (Largent kick)

Chap- Lambesis 5 pass from Willcockson (Delahoussaye pass from Willcockson

Chap Whit
First downs 10 24
Rushes-yards 25-57 57-189
Passing yards 91 221
Passes 10-20-3 17-26-0
Punts-Avg. 3-50.3 3-36.7
Fumbles-lost 2-1 4-3
Penalties-yards 3-16 5-50

Individual Statistics

Rushing–Chapman, Lloyd 18-83, Willcockson 3-10, Samuels 1-1, Vanderweil 2-0. Whitworth, Scott 19-97, Nelson 22-84, Jansen 8-34, Parker 2-1, Durant 6-4.

Passing–Chapman, Willcockson 13-7-1-90, Vanderweil 7-3-2-1. Whitworth, Durant 26-17-0-221.

Receiving–Chapman, Langstaff 6-46, Delahoussaye 2-39, Lambesis 1-5, Hartman 1-1. Whitworth, E.Entel 6-74, Largent 5-101, D.Entel 3-29, Scroggins 3-17.