Clark just keeps piling up yardage
The Whitworth Pirates are one game into their 100th season of college football.
In those 100 seasons, no one wearing a Whitworth uniform has accounted for more yards than Joel Clark, who will make his 23rd consecutive start at quarterback when the Bucs (1-0) face the University of La Verne (0-1) in their 2006 home opener in the Pine Bowl this afternoon at 1.
Clark, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior out of Mt. Spokane High School, passed for 188 yards and ran for 49 more in last weekend’s season-opening 28-3 road win over the University of Redlands. The 237 yards Clark amassed against the Bulldogs pushed his career total to 6,979 and moved him past former Pirates quarterback Danny Figuiera (1991-93) into the top spot on Whitworth’s all-time total yardage list.
He needs just 680 yards to break Figueria’s career passing yardage record and is also on pace to become the Pirates’ all-time leader in passing attempts, completions and touchdowns.
“Some guys are just made to play quarterback, and he’s one of those guys,” La Verne coach Don Morel said of Clark, who burned the Leopards for 271 passing yards and four touchdowns in a 47-29 non-conference win last fall. “The two things you notice about him are his athleticism and his decision-making abilities. We seldom see guys with both. … We see really athletic quarterbacks who often don’t make great decisions, or we see great decision-makers who aren’t very athletic. But Joel Clark is both.”
Morel said he has also been impressed with the improvement Clark has made since he took over the starting job as a freshman midway through the 2003 season.
“I’ve seen him play three years now, and I’ve watched him get better every year,” Morel explained. “And that doesn’t happen all the time in college football – especially at the Division III level, where a lot of kids tend to plateau.
“He has not allowed that to happen.”
Still, Morel views Clark, who was named a D-III preseason All-American by Football Gazette, as just one of several big-play standouts on Whitworth coach John Tully’s veteran team, which comes into today’s non-conference showdown ranked No. 20 in the D3football.com top-25 poll.
“Whitworth is going to be the best football team we’ll play all year, and I don’t think it’s even close,” Morel said. “From offense to defense to special teams, and then on to just their overall philosophy, they’re the most complete football team we’re going to see.
“They do a great job – they really do, and that’s not just a bunch of pregame fluff. If anything, I’m envious. I’d be excited to see Whitworth in the playoffs his fall.”
Tully, in his 12th season as the Pirates’ head coach, found little to criticize about his team’s season-opening performance against Redlands, in which senior tight end Michael Allan, another preseason all-American, caught a pair of touchdown passes and junior running back Chris Ahsing rushed for 104 yards and another touchdown.
In addition, Tully liked the play of his defense, which limited Redlands to 256 yards and came within a field goal of pitching its first shutout since 2003.
“I’m very excited we played as well as we did, especially on the road,” he said. “Our defense really stepped up, with our front seven playing very well, and our secondary was as good as ever.”
Tully also praised the consistency of his offense, which put together three long scoring drives, and the overall play of his special teams before adding, “The best part is, we can still get better.”