Whits Take Tumble Big Third Quarter Key For Linfield

There were no long faces on the Whitworth College football team when the final horn sounded at the Pine Bowl late Saturday afternoon.

The looks of disappointment and disbelief already were expressed when Linfield College scored 25 third-quarter points on its way to a 31-7 rout.

For the first 30 minutes, the Pirates held the Wildcats to field goals of 27 and 31 yards and went in to the half with hope, trailing 6-0.

But Linfield - a team that has not lost to Whitworth since 1975 - quickly put an end to any suspense, scoring on four consecutive third-quarter possessions to take a 31-0 lead.

It was a game Whitworth wanted to win badly. It was to have been a statement game that would have showed the Northwest Conference the Pirates have indeed arrived.

Both teams entered with first-place records. The Wildcats left with a 4-1 mark and a 2-0 conference record, while Whitworth dropped to 3-2, 1-1 with a date at Pacific Lutheran (3-1, 0-1) next Saturday. The Lutes lost at Willamette (3-2, 1-0) Saturday, 29-20.

Little went right for the Pirates this Saturday, who lost 3 of 3 fumbles and were intercepted once. On its first possession, Whitworth faced first-and-goal from the 2-yard line and couldn’t punch it in on three runs by Damian Putney. It came away with nothing when Matt Stueckle’s 20-yard chip-shot field goal sailed wide right.

“It was big,” Whitworth coach John Tully said about the missed opportunity that might have set the tone. “We had a chance to get up early. We thought it might be a close game, a defensive struggle.”

It was a struggle all right, particularly for Whitworth quarterback Josh Parbon and Putney.

Parbon, who came in averaging a league-leading 256.2 passing yards per game, completed 5 of 16 passes for 72 yards. He was replaced by Scott Biglin with 11 minutes left. Parbon also was picked off once and sacked four times for a total loss of 26 yards.

Linfield held Whitworth to 141 yards of total offense and a 2.6 yards-per-play average. Linfield compiled 369 yards on 76 plays.

“Our offense was absolutely pitiful and I’ll take the blame for that,” said Parbon, who has thrown nine touchdown passes this season. “I need to step up when we need to make plays. I didn’t do that today. But give them credit. They definitely dominated.”

Putney’s performance was equally flat, rushing for 66 yards on 21 carries. He entered with a league-leading 165.8 yards rushing per game which included a school record 303-yard game earlier this season. But he never managed to bust through the Wildcats’ swarming defense. His longest carry gained 10 yards.

“I think our offense got dominated in all aspects,” Putney said. “When you get dominated like that, it’s a little hard to generate yardage.”

Linfield’s Carl Haberberger rushed for 102 yards on 25 carries with touchdown runs of 5 and 1 yards. Curt Musser completed 13 of 22 passes for 187 yards. Musser’s 11-yard pass to Josh Harrison came with 29 seconds left in the third quarter and put the visitors ahead 31-0.

“This was the best game of the season we’ve played thus far,” said Linfield coach Jay Locey.“We played well against a good team.”

Whitworth’s only points came off the defense. With 9:47 left in the game, Danilo Viloria picked off a Musser pass and ran it back 35 yards.

Linfield 31, Whitworth 7

Linfield 3 3 25 0 - 31

Whitworth 0 0 0 7 - 7

LC-FG Cannon 27 LC-FG Cannon 31 LC-Haberberger 5 run (Forsey pass from Musser) LC-Haberberger 1 run (Cannon kick) LC-FG Cannon 27 LC-Harrison 11 pass from Musser (Cannon kick) WC-Viloria 35 interception return (Stueckle kick) A-1,945

LC WC

First Downs 18 9

Rushes-Yards 51-182 29-50

Passing 187 91

Return Yards 79 85

Comp-Att-Int 13-25-1 8-25-1

Punts-Avg. 6-38.2 8-38.1

Fumbles-Lost 4-2 3-3

Penalties-Yards 6-76 5-37

Time of Possession 37:06 22:54

RUSHING-Linfield, Haberberger 25-102, Williams 15-58, Musser 9-10, LaMarche 1-6, Forsey 1-6. Whitworth, Putney 21-66, Biglin 1-8, Hansen 1-4, McGregor 1-3, Parbon 5-(minus 31).

PASSING-Linfield, Musser 13-22-0-187, LaMarche 0-3-1-0.

Whitworth, Parbon 5-16-1-72, Biglin 3-9-0-19.

RECEIVING-Linfield, Buchheit 5-71, Nosler 3-50, Forsey 2-38, Harrison 1-11, Bodway 1-9, Takamiya 1-8. Whitworth, McGregor 5-47, Stueckle 3-44.