Pirates’ rally falls shy

Whitworth quarterback Andrew Durant was in the middle of an answer when a Redlands defensive coach approached.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the coach politely told a reporter before turning to Durant. “You did a great job today, kid. We threw everything we had at you.”

Durant threw a lot back, tossing two touchdown passes to fuel a second-half comeback, but Redlands held off the Pirates 29-24 to spoil Whitworth’s home opener in front of 1,850 Saturday at the Pine Bowl.

The Pirates (1-2), playing without All-American running back Adam Anderson, who watched from the sidelines with an ankle injury, trailed 23-3 after the Bulldogs (2-0) scored on Dan Selway’s 13-yard TD pass to Evan Reuter early in the third quarter.

Redlands was in the midst of another promising drive when Selway floated a pass into the left flat that was picked off by defensive end Nick Ashley at the Pirates’ 48. Whitworth quickly capitalized with Durant hitting Dale Entel for a 17-yard TD.

Redlands was in Whitworth territory again when linebacker Paul Werhane intercepted a Selway pass at the 22. Durant passed to Kyle Scroggins for 16 yards to convert on third down and found Justin Wimberly on play-action for 34 yards on fourth down. Milton Nelson, bottled up by the Redlands front seven throughout, soared over the pile for a 2-yard TD run and suddenly the Pirates were within 23-17 with 12:06 left.

“We kept fighting,” Werhane said. “We got the ball back for the offense and we started making plays out on the edge with our receivers. Durant really stepped up. He stuck in there and delivered the ball well and took the hits.”

Redlands responded with a 68-yard drive, capped by Daylan Swedlow’s 6-yard run. Whitworth refused to go away as Durant avoided a blitz and raced for 14 yards on fourth-and-10. After a 15-yard completion to Scroggins, Durant and Eric Entel connected on a 20-yard TD and the Pirates trailed 29-24 with 2:53 remaining.

With three timeouts and a defense that had forced two turnovers, Whitworth decided against an onside kick.

The strategy backfired when Swedlow gained 27 yards on first down. On third-and-4 at the Pirates’ 39, Swedlow found no running room inside, but darted to his left and picked up 5 yards. Redlands, which could crack the Top 25 this week, ran out the clock for its third straight win in the series.

“They just kept coming back and we couldn’t put them away,” Bulldogs coach Mike Maynard said. “I felt like there were three times in the first half where we didn’t get it in the end zone and we had some opportunities. They outplayed us in the second half. We had just enough to hold on.”

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 14, Puget Sound 6: The Stags (2-0) held the Loggers (0-2) to 163 yards of total offense en route to a non-conference victory in Claremont, Calif.

Cal Lutheran 49, Pacific Lutheran 7: Brian Stuart rushed for three touchdowns and the Kingsmen (1-1) scored TDs on six of their first seven possessions en route to a non-conference rout of the Lutes (0-2) in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Central Washington 42, Azusa Pacific 10: Freshman quarterback Ryan Robertson tossed three TD passes and senior linebacker Prince Hall piled up a career-high 14 tackles to lead the Division II fifth-ranked Wildcats (4-0) to a lopsided non-conference victory over the Cougars (0-4) in Ellensburg.