Clark, Pirates win big
From the opening day of fall camp, John Tully has liked the depth his Whitworth College football team has at the quarterback position.
Sophomore Joel Clark was a known commodity, having started six games as a redshirt freshman in 2004. But Tully also knew he had a keeper in sophomore backup Zach Henningsen.
And on Saturday, Henningsen made the most of a rare chance to showcase his considerable talents by throwing for 149 yards and three touchdowns as the Pirates pasted outmanned Northwest Conference rival Lewis & Clark, 69-12, in front of a Pine Bowl crowd of 1,225.
What made Henningsen’s numbers even more impressive was that he threw the ball only three times after taking over for Clark, who completed all eight passes he attempted before being pulled – for humanitarian reasons – midway through the second period with the Pirates already leading 34-6.
Each of Henningsen’s three throws went for touchdowns, the longest coming on a 74-yard bomb to Jared Thomas. Henningsen, a 6-foot-1, 189-pounder from Hillsboro, Ore., also connected with Thomas on a quick screen that resulted in a 57-yard touchdown pass and later hooked up with Michael Allan on an 18-yard scoring toss.
By then, it was 55-6, and there were still almost 90 seconds left in the first half.
“I’ve said all along that Zach is a really outstanding quarterback,” Tully said after watching his Bucs (6-1 overall, 2-1 in the NWC) keep their league championship and NCAA Division III playoff hopes alive. “We’re just fortunate to have both of those guys. Our execution today was right on. We completed every ball, and every throw was right on.”
Clark and Henningsen, who had thrown only one pass prior to Saturday’s game, finished a combined 11 for 11 for 264 yards. In addition, the Pirates – behind Chris Ahsing’s 103 yards and two touchdown runs on just 19 carries – amassed 233 rushing yards.
Thomas scored three times, once on a 6-yard run, and third-stringers Drew Griggs and Nick Koller also ran for touchdowns as Tully yanked his starters early in the second period and played 50 of the 70-plus players he had in uniform.
“That was unbelievable,” Thomas said of the Pirates’ domination. “We came out and realized after the first couple of drives that we could score every time we had the ball. Obviously, our coaches weren’t going to let us do that, but it was still a lot of fun.”
Of Henningsen, Thomas added, “He’s not really a backup. If he was somewhere else, he’d be a starting quarterback. It’s just that Joel’s been so phenomenal.”
Lewis & Clark, which has been outscored 167-12 in its last three games, has only two healthy seniors on its roster. The young Pioneers (1-6, 0-3) checked it in early and were outgained 412-79 in the first half. Their only touchdown, prior to Rob Pugmire’s 18-yard scoring pass to Reuben Miller late in the third quarter, came on a 86-yard first-quarter kickoff return by Mike Wennerlind.
Whitworth’s 69 points were the most scored by the Pirates since 1976 and equaled the most ever scored against a Lewis & Clark team.
“You never like to see the score get like that,” Tully said. “It was unfortunate for them, but I was happy for our guys, because a lot of kids got opportunities and a lot of (playing) time.”
The Bucs, whose only loss came on the road against unbeaten and No. 2.-ranked Linfield, plays at Willamette this Saturday before closing out the regular season at home against Pacific Lutheran on Nov. 13.
“We’ve got to bring this same energy into next week, too,” Thomas said. “These next two games are playoff games for us, pretty much. Hopefully, we’ll have the same results.”
Central 31, Western 17
Central Washington (6-4, 4-1 in GNAC) overcame a 14-point deficit in the third quarter against Western Washington University (5-4, 2-3).
UPS 52, Colorado College 10
Junior quarterback Andy Carlson ran for 166 yards and passed for 193 more to lead the University of Puget Sound (4-4) to a victory over visiting Colorado College (2-6).
Willamette 26, PLU 21
The visiting Bearcats (6-2, 3-0 in Northwest Conference) scored twice late to top the Lutes (5-2, 2-2).