Thomas Clouse

Whitworth raced to a 39-0 halftime lead Saturday before letting up the on gas against La Verne. The Leopards scored 20 unanswered points, but the Pirates held on to win 39-20.

Whitworth didn’t start sharply, but an improved Pirates defense held Whittier in check long enough to allow the offense to roll over the Poets in an impressive 47-11 season-opening win Saturday. After turning the ball over on downs in the first series, Whitworth sophomore quarterback Ian Kolste hit Nick Kiourkas on scoring strikes of 49 and 38 yards.

The Whitworth Pirates earned coach Rod Sandberg’s first road victory last season with a 30-17 decision over Whittier. Sandberg said he knows little about the team the Poets are bringing to the Pine Bowl today to open the season for both squads.

When the Whitworth Pirates held their final scrimmage last Friday, the team had almost as many starters on the sidelines as they did banging against each other on the field.

When Rod Sandberg entered his first spring in 2014 as the head coach of Whitworth, he only had a handful of linemen on the roster who were healthy enough to practice. It’s not exactly the blueprint he envisioned, especially after Sandberg hired Alan Stanfield from Shadle Park to run an up-tempo offense that seeks to run 110 plays a game.

When you tied for the lead in NCAA Division III passing yards per game, replacing the quarterback becomes a challenge. Ian Kolste got his sophomore season restored after he hurt his shoulder in a win last year at Whittier. Prior to that game, he had been named the starter ahead of graduated senior Bryan Peterson, who then went on to set several school passing records and led the nation with 34 completions per game.

A day after a social media post depicting soccer players wearing blackface at an informal event, Whitworth University suspsended the five players shown in the photograph.

Whitworth University issued an apology on Facebook on Tuesday after a photo was posted showing five women’s soccer players wearing afro wigs – including four wearing blackface – in an apparent attempt to appear as members of The Jackson Five for a skit at an informal event at a bowling alley. Whitworth’s Lawrence Burnley, the school’s chief diversity officer, posted the apology. He said the photo was quickly taken down and that the school “has absolutely no tolerance for the type of behavior demonstrated.”

Wind charts. Thermals. Bedding areas. Travel lanes. Finding the edge of the wind. These are the tools that Troy Pottenger uses every day during the summer to locate what he hopes is that buck of a lifetime. While his goal is to someday find that 200-inch class whitetail buck, he’d be just as happy to take home a mature bruiser who has lived in the Idaho high country for eight or nine years.