Another Sturdy Test In Store For Whitworth Chapman Is Pirates’ Opponent In Home Opener
The way John Tully looks at it, Whitworth College’s two preseason football opponents play much like the teams the Pirates will face in the Northwest Conference - and that’s a good thing.
They’re both big, and they’re both physical.
“Our first two preseason games are great warmups for our league,” said Tully, whose team dropped its season opener 20-7 last weekend at the University of Redlands (Calif.).
Whitworth (0-1) will need all the warming up it can get considering who’s coming to town next weekend to kick off the conference schedule - defending NCAA Division III national champion Pacific Lutheran University.
Saturday’s noon date with Chapman College of Orange, Calif., in the Pine Bowl will provide a test for some of the younger Pirates.
Tully, who begins his sixth season as head coach, doesn’t have a choice but to go to his reserves.
His team is beat up, already.
Whitworth lost four starters in the first quarter of the Redlands game. Senior strong safety Danilo Viloria, a fourth-year starter, broke an arm and could be out for more than a month. Junior defensive end Shane Lyman injured a knee during warmups and is questionable for Saturday. The status of junior offensive lineman Kawika Johnson (ankle) also is uncertain.
Tully has not decided who will start at quarterback and said he expects to use Scott Biglin and Jesse Parbon, both sophomores. Biglin suffered a concussion in the Redlands game but will be ready to go Saturday.
“Whenever you have injuries, it gives other guys a chance to step forward and that’s what we’re looking at this week,” Tully said. “You never like losing starters at any point. The nice thing is we have some young guys who have the opportunity to step up.”
Whitworth spent much of this week working to defend Chapman’s option offense and trying to establish some offensive and defensive consistency, Tully said. The Pirates were limited to 279 yards of total offense last week, including only 117 passing yards.
Chapman (0-1), which lost its opening game 32-20 to Willamette University, is led by junior quarterback Stanley Villanueva. He passed for more than 2,300 yards in 1999 and completed 15 of 32 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns against Willamette. Villanueva’s favorite target last week was Steve Bryant, who hauled in two TD passes.
This sidebar appeared with the story: AT A GLANCE Whits vs. Chapman
Saturday: noon, Pine Bowl.
Notes
This is the first meeting between Whitworth and Chapman.
Whitworth is 3-0 at home vs. teams from California but 0-4 in games played in California the past three seasons. … Senior defensive end Sky Blake was named Northwest Conference defensive player of the week after recording 21 primary tackles and two assisted tackles in last week’s loss to Redlands. … Two former Whitworth athletes will be inducted into the college’s Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame at 10:30 a.m. Saturday before the football game. They are basketball player Rob McDonald and football player Charlie Reed. McDonald set school records for most points in a game (51), most free throws in a game (19), most points in a career (1,801), career scoring average (18.1 ppg), career rebounds (1,310), career rebounds per game (13.1), rebounds in a season (365) and rebounds per game in a season (13.1). He was an NAIA honorable mention All-American in 1966, when he led the Pirates to an 18-8 record. Reed, who played running back, set records that have held for nearly 40 years. In 1962, Reed helped Whitworth win the Evergreen Conference title. He holds the record for most rushing yards per game in a season (135.2). In 1963, he ran for 1,217 yards, a single-season mark that wasn’t broken until last fall.