Pirates have work cut out for ‘04

The best thing about freshmen quarterbacks is that they eventually become sophomores. Which is why Whitworth College football coach John Tully is sleeping better at night these days.

It was Tully who, last year, made the difficult mid-season decision to hand the reins of the Pirates offense over to freshman Joel Clark.

As expected, Clark struggled at times, throwing nine interceptions as the Bucs limped in with a 4-6 overall record and finished fourth in the Northwest Conference at 2-3. But now Clark is back, this time as a seasoned sophomore, and Tully expects much better things from the former Mount Spokane High School standout, who completed 121 of 219 passes for 1,414 yards and four touchdowns last fall.

“He had a great summer. He’s put on 15 pounds, he’s stronger and his arm strength is better,” Tulley said of Clark. “And this first week of camp, his reads have been outstanding.”

In addition, Tully has redshirt junior Joe Gore, who started five games last year, and sophomore Zach Henningsen, an outstanding prospect from Hillsboro, Ore., available if Clark fails to live up to expectations.

“We’re really solid at quarterback,” Tulley added.

Still, the Pirates have some major holes to fill on offense after losing running back Billy Condon, a four-year starter, and first-team all-NWC receivers Dwayne Tawney and Cody Lamens.

Making the big changes on offense a little easier will be the return of linemen Chris Gilliam, Clark Pauls and Tyler Neely, who were all starters last fall. In addition, juniors Kevin Reese and Chris Stewart are healthy again after missing last season with injuries, giving Tully reason to believe his offensive line will be among the best in the NWC.

Defensively, though, the Pirates need help. Only four starters are back, and the linebacking corps is still reeling from the graduation losses of Mel Leary and Jon Hook, a couple of all-NWC performers. In addition, three of the four starters in last year’s secondary are gone, leaving senior strong safety Jeremy Scroggins as the lone holdover.

But Tully remains optimistic that he has capable backups from last season – like sophomore Nick Portrey and junior Travis Loidolt – ready to challenge for starting roles at linebacker. And he expects several of his relatively young and untested defensive backs to capably handle their new starting assignments, once they are issued.

Tully also hopes to get his defense playing a little faster and is experimenting with moving Scroggins and junior defensive end Daniel Jones to linebacker.

“Change is just part of the game,” Tully said in reference to the daunting task of replacing 13 starters from last year’s team. “You’re always missing kids from the previous year, but one of the exciting things about coaching is watching the young people who have been patiently waiting their turns finally get a chance to play.”

Adding to Tully’s challenge is a difficult non-conference schedule that includes road games against three California schools – Redlands, Menlo and La Verne.