No. 6 Montana Tech To Give Whitworth Tough Test

Western Washington University moved to No. 1 in this week’s NAIA Top 25 football poll.

The entire state should be celebrating for the boys from Bellingham…especially Whitworth College. For the first time since the 1978 season, the Pirates and the Vikings don’t face each other.

Great news for the Whits, who have lost the last seven times to Western, by a combined score of 236-67.

The bad news for the Whits: Montana Tech, the 1996 NAIA Division I national runner-up, has been added to the schedule and will be the Pirates’ next opponent, Saturday at the Montana school in Butte.

Montana Tech, may not be No. 1 but is darn close at No. 6 in this week’s NAIA Top 25. That’s the Montana Tech Orediggers, who last played Whitworth in 1976 and came away a 70-0 winner.

“It’s going to be a great indication on where we’re at,” Whitworth coach John Tully said. “It’s a great challenge.”

The Pirates’ first gauge on the improvement scale came last weekend in their season-opener at Western Oregon. Whitworth lead 14-3 in the first half but fell 15-14.

Whitworth allowed one touchdown (a 74-yard pass) and three field goals. The winning kick, a 37-yarder, came with 10:45 left in the game.

“The only thing I’m disappointed about is that we had a chance to put them away and we didn’t,” Tully said.

Whitworth quarterback Josh Parbon scored on 1- and 5-yard runs in the first half, but the Pirates were shut down in the second half. The offense totaled 272 yards (4.1 average). It also lost all three of its fumbles.

Whitworth’s defense, meanwhile, allowed just 69 rushing yards on 30 carries. Overall it gave up 292 yards.

“Our guys aren’t satisfied to just play well anymore,” said Tully, whose team is coming off consecutive 1-8 seasons. “Now it’s a matter of taking the next step.”

A win over the Orediggers would be considered one small step for small-college football, one giant leap for the NAIA Division II Pirates.

Montana Tech, from the Frontier Conference, is coming off wins over NCAA Division II schools, 31-14 over Humboldt State of Arcata, Calif., and 27-14 over Fort Lewis of Durango, Colo.

Tech, a team that returned nine starters on offense and eight on defense, is led by All-Frontier Conference QB Mark Jensen. The 6-foot-1, 202-pound senior passed for two scores and ran for two more against Humboldt. He followed by completing 17 of 32 passes for 238 yards and two TDs against Fort Lewis. , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COMING UP Saturday: Whitworth (0-1) at Montana Tech (2-0), noon (PDT). Radio: KSBN (1230-AM)