Redlands rallies past Whitworth

The Whitworth Pirates had momentum, a 10-point lead and possession of the ball in Redlands territory early in the second quarter.

But the 16th-ranked Pirates were held on downs and Redlands slowly began to take control. The Bulldogs had success against Whitworth’s highly regarded defense and their defense pitched a shutout over the last 3 1/2 quarters en route to a 24-12 non-conference football victory in front of 2,050 on a sun-kissed Saturday at the Pine Bowl.

“As we look at film, I think we’ll see some situations we could have taken advantage of,” Whitworth coach John Tully said. “We didn’t. Give Redlands credit. They had a few that they took advantage of and that was the difference.”

It was a disappointing opener for the Pirates, who were coming off an 11-win season and returned nine senior starters on defense. That unit played well, forcing three turnovers, but also yielded 251 yards on four Redlands scoring drives.

Whitworth, meanwhile, never found its stride on offense. The Bulldogs, also with nine returning starters on defense, often put eight players in the box. Other than a 67-yard touchdown scamper by Whitworth junior Kory Kemp on a designed quarterback run, Redlands contained both the run and pass.

“I felt like we had to win it on defense and we did,” said Bulldogs coach Mike Maynard, whose team had lost to Whitworth the last three years. “We got a couple scores in the second quarter and that was the turning point. We were kind of flat and we got a spark there.”

Kemp, making his first start with father, Jeff, and grandfather Jack – both ex-pro quarterbacks – in the stands, finished just 18 of 42 for 172 yards, more than half of that yardage coming in the fourth quarter. He was often under heavy pressure and had at least six passes batted or deflected at the line of scrimmage.

“It was pretty frustrating, I wasn’t quite on,” Kemp said. “I missed a couple of touchdown passes for sure. I wish I could have gotten those to my teammates.”

Early on, it went according to plan for Whitworth. Kemp’s 67-yard touchdown run on the third play from scrimmage made it 7-0. The Pirates tacked on an Andy Largent 33-yard field goal after Jacob Riley recovered a fumble by Redlands’ punt returner Kyle Godfrey midway through the first quarter.

But the Bulldogs’ offense heated up and produced a 71-yard scoring drive, overcoming a second-and-23 as quarterback Dan Selway hit Godfrey for 37 yards over the middle. Redlands was back in business when Adam Anderson fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but the Pirates’ defense held and forced a punt.

Whitworth managed only one first down in the second quarter and Redlands often had the better of the field-position battle. The Bulldogs went ahead when Selway, also making his first start, hit three straight passes and then raced 24 yards up the middle to set up Zack Schafer’s 2-yard scoring run.

Neither team scored in the third quarter. Whitworth came away empty after moving to the Bulldogs’ 27 and then again early in the fourth quarter after Redlands’ fourth turnover of the game.

The Pirates started at Redlands’ 33, but only picked up seven yards on a fourth-and-10 pass play. The Bulldogs responded with a run-dominated drive that chewed up more than five minutes and culminated in a field goal for a 17-10 lead.

Whitworth was at the Redlands’ 20 with 4 minutes left, but Kemp’s pass was deflected at the line and intercepted by Tyler Ferreria. Two plays later, Selway hit Brian Putnam in stride for a clinching 79-yard touchdown. Whitworth was stopped on downs at the Bulldogs’ 1 and Redlands intentionally took a safety with 7 seconds remaining.

“We gave up one big play and that was it,” Tully said of his defense. “They had to march for everything else. In the first half we had some field-position opportunities and we didn’t take advantage. … When we did get down the field, we needed to finish.”

The Pirates visit La Verne (Calif.) on Saturday.

Puget Sound 21, La Verne (Calif.) 7: At Tacoma, thanks to two touchdowns on the ground courtesy of James Olcott and another in the air brought down by Darrell Stewart, the Loggers opened up their campaign with a convincing win over the visiting Leopards in a non-conference contest.

After Loggers starting quarterback Kavin Williams was knocked out of the game in the first half with an injury, reserve quarterback Spencer Crace took over for Puget Sound. Crace completed 5 of 10 passes for 84 yards.

Pacific Lutheran 48, Cal Lutheran 17: At Thousand Oaks, Calif., seven Kingsmen turnovers – four fumbles and three interceptions – led to 27 points for Lutes and, ultimately, a PLU win.

Central Washington 44, Humboldt State (Calif.) 0: At Ellensburg, the Wildcats made sure that Beau Baldwin’s head coaching debut would be one to remember, racking up 435 yards of total offense and building a 37-0 halftime lead en route to a blanking of visiting Lumberjacks in non-conference action.