Chilled Pirates Think Win Would Be Cool

Even though the Whitworth Pirates are 0-3 in the Mount Hood League and 1-6 overall, linebacker and team captain Jeff Baxter said the team and coaching staff hasn’t lost its sense of humor.

As daylight and degrees have dwindled, the 13 players on the Whitworth roster from Hawaii have had a tough time adapting to the freezing temperatures. Whitworth defensive coordinator Chris Casey has had a little bit of fun at their expense.

“All week long, the Hawaiians have whined about how cold it is,” Baxter said. “(Wednesday) Coach Casey is checking out the blue sky just before sunset and says to some of them, ‘See, look at this nice blue sky. It’s just like Hawaii. Blue sky, blue water… ‘

“Everybody else is just standing around cracking up at them and they’re all huddled up looking at their breath,” Baxter said.

Saturday, Whitworth will take its frigid players and the rest of the squad on the road to Tacoma to face Puget Sound (0-3, 1-6) at 1 p.m.

But laughs aside, Baxter said more than anything, the Pirates just want to win a game.

He said he believes the team is working tremendously hard. But Baxter also said sometimes that isn’t enough consolation.

“We want to win a game for the coaches. It would be nice to see smiles on some of their faces again.”

Baxter said regardless of the team’s youth and inexperience, young or old, no one wants to lose.

“We wanted to have winning season this year. We wanted to show Spokane that for once, this school could win some football games. But right now, all we can do is try to keep progressing so that the team has something to go off of next year.”

Last week on the road against Lewis and Clark, Whitworth was beaten 23-7. Puget Sound lost 42-20 to Willamette. However, the Loggers had a 20-7 lead in the second quarter before the Bearcats stormed back to win.

Puget Sound is led by senior quarterback Chris Schlect. Against Willamette, Schlect completed 21 of 36 passes for a season-high 355 yards and three touchdowns.

As for Whitworth, freshman quarterback Josh Parbon injured his shoulder against Lewis and Clark. He left the game and never returned.

As a result, he is doubtful for Saturday’s game. Senior J.J. Green probably will start.

, DataTimes