Whitworth Pirates win season finale to even NWC record

Led by Ronnie Thomas, the Whitworth football team wrapped up the 2011 season on a good note.

Thomas scored two of his three touchdowns in the final 6 minutes and the Pirates slid past Puget Sound 40-34 Saturday in a Northwest Conference season finale in Tacoma.

With the score tied at 34, Whitworth went on a seven-play drive capped by Thomas’ 37-yard winning touchdown run with less than 2 minutes to play.

Thomas finished with 153 yards rushing and three scores.

After a 1-5 start to the season, the Pirates won three of their last four games and finished 4-6 overall and 3-3 in the NWC.

• Zack Halverson ran for a score and threw for another to give Pacific Lutheran (6-3, 4-2) a 13-6 Northwest Conference win over Willamette (4-6, 3-3) in Salem, Ore. … Carroll (10-1, 9-1) wrapped up the Frontier Conference title with a 42-24 win over Montana State Northern in Havre, Mont. … Levi Taylor (Lewis and Clark HS) ran for 126 yards and two scores to lead Central Washington (4-6, 4-4) to a 42-14 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Dixie State in Ellensburg in CWU’s finale.