Pirates deflect Lutes’ furious rally

After Whitworth played a nearly flawless first half and built a 28-point lead, it was apparent that nothing short of an incredible comeback was going to save Pacific Lutheran from a fourth consecutive loss to the Pirates.

That’s nearly what happened.

In the final 3 minutes, the Lutes came up with a successful onside kick and two touchdowns – one on a nifty hook-and-ladder. For a few stunning seconds, PLU thought it had made another onside recovery, only to see the officials reverse the call as the Pirates hung on for a wild 28-21 Northwest Conference football victory in front of 2,325 Saturday at the Pine Bowl.

“We just about went out of our way” to make interesting, said Whitworth coach John Tully, whose team improved to 4-1, 2-0 in the NWC.

Whitworth led 28-14 with 2:14 left after PLU quarterback Brett Gordon’s 1-yard touchdown run. On the play, Whitworth’s Marc Grow was called for a personal foul, so PLU picked up 15 yards for the ensuing onside kick.

Neal Chalmers, who is also a starting linebacker, executed a perfect onside kick that was recovered by the Lutes at the Pirates’ 39. Craig Chiado caught a pass at Whitworth’s 25 and flipped the ball to Greg Ford, who took it down the sideline for a touchdown.

Suddenly, it was 28-21 with 2:04 left. Chalmers tried a line-drive onside kick that Whitworth’s Jay Tully batted with one hand and appeared to scoop up as a swarm of PLU players arrived at the Lutes’ 46, but an official inadvertently ruled it was PLU’s ball. Meanwhile, the fight for possession continued underneath the pile and penalty flags were tossed. Finally, the officials corrected the preliminary ruling, giving Whitworth possession while assessing a personal foul on the Pirates.

“Our kid says he had it and Whitworth’s kid probably would say he had it,” PLU coach Scott Westering said. “What I was told by the official on our sideline was they made a preliminary call that apparently wasn’t an accurate call. It sure would have been interesting if we’d got it.”

“It took what seemed to be hours to take the pile apart,” said Jay Tully, the coach’s son. “I didn’t know they called PLU first, but I’m just glad they ended up giving it to the right team at the end.”

PLU (4-1, 1-1) was out of timeouts and Whitworth ran out the final 2:04.

PLU’s frantic comeback wasn’t enough to overcome Whitworth’s first-half domination. Whitworth rushed for 133 yards in the first quarter against a defense that came in yielding a NWC-best 73.5 yards per game. The Pirates finished with 223 ground yards, including 170 from Adam Anderson. The offensive line created seams in the defense and when it didn’t, Anderson made yards by breaking tackles.

Whitworth had 42 offensive plays in the first half to PLU’s 18 and held a 15-minute, 30-second edge in time of possession.

Prior to the hook-and-ladder, Whitworth allowed just one play to gain more than 15 yards and the defense made the most of that one. Gordon hit Ryan Alwert in stride for a 58-yard gain, but Phillip Entel poked the ball free and Ryan Marshall recovered at Whitworth’s 20.

The Pirates drove 80 yards and went ahead 14-0 on Milton Nelson’s 9-yard run.

Linfield 37, Puget Sound 0: Receiver-turned-running back Travis Masters rushed for 149 yards and Dan Lever had two short rushing TDs to lead the 23rd-ranked Wildcats (2-2, 1-1 NWC) over the Loggers (2-3, 0-2) in McMinnville, Ore.

Central Washington 45, South Dakota 40: Mike Reilly passed for a career-high 399 yards and four TDs and Johnny Lopez scored three TDs – two rushing, one receiving – to lead the Wildcats (4-1, 3-1 North Central Conference) over the 22nd-ranked Coyotes (3-3, 2-1) in Ellensburg.

Western Washington 18, St. Cloud State 15: Josh Lider kicked four field goals, including a 35-yard game-winner with 21 seconds left, to lead the Vikings (2-3, 1-3 NCC) over the Huskies (3-3, 0-3) in Bellingham.