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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Whits Lose Game, Qb And Running Back Pirates Fall In Home Opener With Green, Williams On Bench

By the end of the first quarter against Central Washington on Saturday, two of three Whitworth football players pictured on the Pirates media guide weren’t playing.

As a result of a lot of misfortune, the Wildcats went on to win 27-10.

Friday, Whitworth senior quarterback J.J. Green was diagnosed with mononucleosis so he never suited up. His status for the Western Washington contest at Bellingham on Saturday remains in doubt.

Brion Williams, Whitworth’s starting senior tailback, left the game before the end of the first quarter with what he said, after a visit to training room, was a slight tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right leg. His status is also questionable.

So with all of that going against Whitworth, the Pirates led CWU 10-7 at halftime and trailed just 14-10 after three quarters. However, Central Washington (2-1) scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

CWU’s senior quarterback John Kitna threw for 454 yards, completing 35 of 49 passes for one touchdown. His 454 yards is 10th best in the history of the Columbia Football Association. Kitna’s career best is 456 yards. As a team, Whitworth (1-1) amassed just 212 total yards.

Whitworth was able to stay in the game with the help of five Central Washington fumbles. Three of them came in the first quarter.

After CWU coach Jeff Zenisek gave his team a “rear-end chewing” at halftime, the Wildcats settled into an offensive continuity they are more accustomed to.

“We just had to play fundamental football,” CWU coach Jeff Zenisek said. “Offensively, they (Whitworth) didn’t do much the rest of the game.”

True enough. Whitworth didn’t get a first down in the second half. Also, the Pirates were victimized by two fumbles of their own. The most costly occurred when running back Tim Rust fumbled at CWU’s 9-yard line early in the second quarter when the Pirates led 3-0.

Green’s backup, true freshman Josh Parbon, played admirably under the circumstances and completed 12 of 20 passes for 118 yards while scoring Whitworth’s only touchdown. But lacking Green’s experience and valuable right arm, the Pirates were forced into an offensive conservatism that they aren’t used to.

On the ground, Whitworth had 41 rushing attempts and gained just 94 yards. Poor field position also hurt Whitworth.

“We were playing out of our own backyard all day,” Pirates coach John Tully said. “But I was impressed with our effort. This team plays hard and it practices hard. When you do that, good things will eventually happen.”

CWU 27, Whitworth 10

Cent. Wash. 7 0 7 13 - 27

Whitworth 3 7 0 0 - 10

Whit-FG Jensen 21

Cent-Holt 16 pass from Kitna (Greenlee kick)

Whit-Parbon 1 run (Jensen kick)

Cent-Christian 3 run (Greenlee kick)

Cent-Christian 2 run (Greenlee kick)

Cent-Christian 2 run (kick failed)

A-1,850

CWU WC First downs 28 11 Rushes-yards 38-128 41-94 Passing yards 454 118 Return yards 87 157 Passes 35-49-1 12-20-2 Punts-Avg. 4-32 9-35 Fumbles-lost 6-5 2-2 Penalties-yards 10-108 3-67 Individual statistics

Rushing - CWU Kitna, 14-58, Christian, 14-47, Henry 8-22. WC - Williams 10-24, Olson 7-24, Parbon 7-19.

Passing - CWU Kitna 35-49-1-454-1. WC - Parbon 12-20-2-118-0.

Receiving - CWU Holt 9-113, Henderson 6-89. WC - Wicks 3-27, Sund 2-20.

, DataTimes