Pirates Fall Prey To Tech

Small colleges

Damian Putney’s 12-yard touchdown run provided Whitworth College with its only score Saturday afternoon as the Pirates fell to NAIA sixth-ranked Montana Tech 31-7 in a non-conference football game at Butte.

Jimmy Watson led Montana Tech (3-0) with first-half touchdowns from 2 and 4 yards out. Watson’s TDs were sandwiched around Dustin Serslanda’s 43-yard field goal and gave Montana Tech a 17-0 halftime lead.

After a scoreless third quarter, Whitworth scored 30 seconds into the final period to cut the deficit to 17-7. The 62-yard, eight-play drive was highlighted by Putney’s 21-yard run that moved the ball to the 22-yard line.

Whitworth’s offense did not cross the 50-yard line again.

Putney, a 5-foot-11 sophomore running back, led the Pirates with 86 yards on 20 carries.

Montana Tech’s Orediggers added two more rushing touchdowns - a 16-yard quarterback sneak by Mark Jensen and a 29-yard dash by Chris Turner. Turner rushed for 161 yards on 16 carries as Tech amassed 366 yards on the ground.

Whitworth was held to 217 yards of total offense on 50 plays. Quarterback Josh Parbon completed 7 of 15 passes for 103 yards. He threw one interception.

The Pirates play their home opener Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against Pomona-Pitzer (Calif.).

Montana Tech 31, Whitworth 7

Whitworth 0 0 0 7 - 7

Montana Tech 9 8 0 14 - 31

MT-Watson 2 run (pass failed)

MT-Sersland 43 field goal

MT-Watson 4 run (pass good)

WC-Putney 12 run (Torco kick)

MT-Jensen 16 run (Sersland kick)

MT-Turner 29 run (Sersland kick)

A-NA.

WC MT

First downs 11 27

Rushes-yards 35-114 57-366

Passing 103 249

Comp-Att-Int 7-15-1 19-33-1

Return Yards 43 40

Punts-Avg. 9-45.8 3-41.3

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 2-1

Penalties-Yards 13-83 7-75

Time of Possession NA NA

RUSHING-Whitworth, Vaday 2-4, Putney 20-85, Mitrovich 1-9, Parbon 12-16. Montana Tech, Watson 17-65, Turner 16-161, Roesti 1-0, Konen 8-54, Jensen 11-74, Snyder 1-4, Holman 2-8.

PASSING-Whitworth, Parbon 7-15-1-103. Montana Tech, Jensen 19-33-1-249.

RECEIVING-Whitworth, Glenn 1-19, Stanley 2-31, Gustafson 1-39, Stoekle 3-14. Montana Tech, Snyder 2-83, Almania 4-52, Watson 1-8, Roesti 3-31, Evans 9-75.

PLU 46, Western 44 (3 OT)

At Puyallup, Wash., Peter Finstuen ran in a two-point conversion in the third overtime to give the Knights a victory over the Vikings.

Pacific Lutheran improved to 2-0 while Western’s Vikings, ranked No. 1 in the NAIA, fell to 1-1.

Western running back Ryan Wiggins scored on a 9-yard run in the third OT period, but the Vikings failed on the two-point conversion attempt. PLU tied the game on a 1-yard run by Finstuen then got the game-winning points.

UPS 22, Simon Fraser 17

At Tacoma, Jeff Heier rushed for 134 yards and one touchdown to lead the Loggers to their first victory over the Clansmen in five years.

Quarterback Christian Lindmark connected on 18 of 27 passes for 125 yards with one interception for the Loggers.

Puget Sound’s defense forced three turnovers, including a 24-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Robert Cleland at the 13:49 mark of the second quarter.

Central 32, E. Oregon 21

At La Grande, Ore., Ty Nunez ran for 169 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Wildcats (2-0) to a win over the Mountaineers (0-2).

With the Wildcats facing a 21-9 deficit early in the second half, Casey Jacox threw a 53-yard pass to Ty Nunez with 5:39 left in the third. That narrowed the Mountaineers’ lead to five points.

, DataTimes