‘We’re in a great spot’: No. 20 Whitworth holds on to beat Chapman 35-28, go unbeaten in nonconference play
Happy but far from satisfied.
That aptly summarizes the state of Whitworth football after the 20th-ranked Pirates concluded nonconference play 3-0 on Saturday in a 35-28 win over the Chapman (California) Panthers at the Pine Bowl.
The final statistics show that Whitworth lost the battle of total offense by a substantial margin. Chapman (1-1) had 441 yards to Whitworth’s 285.
The key for the Pirates was special teams.
Andrew Cody blocked a punt and teammate Connor Perez recovered for Whitworth at Chapman’s 3-yard line.
On the next play, quarterback Ryan Blair hit Cade Conklin on a 3-yard touchdown pass, giving Whitworth a 14-7 lead with 7:34 to go in the second quarter.
“Special teams were huge,” Whitworth coach Rod Sandberg said. “We blocked a punt and get some energy, great field position and were able to punch it in. It gave us a little bit of a boost before the half.”
Chapman bounced back on the ensuing possession, tying the score at 14 when running back Gio Ursino dashed 20 yards with 4:39 go go before halftime.
Whitworth took the lead for good on its next possession. The Bucs drove 70 yards using 13 plays. Blair found wide receiver Evan Liggett for his second TD, a 2-yard pass that essentially was a jump ball for the 6-foot-3 receiver.
That put the Pirates ahead 21-14 with 29 seconds left in the half.
The Pirates doubled the margin to 28-14 early in the third quarter when safety Jacob Brandvold intercepted a pass at the Chapman 31.
Two plays later, Blair found receiver Cameron Sheley, who was making his first start, on a 10-yard scoring play.
Sheley set up another Whitworth touchdown later in the third when he returned a kickoff 55 yards.
Liggett finished with a team-high nine receptions for 95 yards, Sheley had six for 69 and Dawson Tobeck’s first reception came on Whitworth’s final TD, a 12-yard pass from Blair.
The win was Whitworth’s 14th consecutive regular-season victory and eighth consecutive win at home.
Whitworth has plenty of things to work on going into a bye week. The Pirates open Northwest Conference play Oct. 5 at Pacific Lutheran.
Self-scouting will allow the Pirates to see scoring opportunities that have been botched and busted pass coverage among other things.
“We’re in a great spot, especially going into the bye weekend,” Liggett said. “We get to watch all three games over again and study what we do. We’re still a step away from where we can be. The great thing is we’re not going to settle for average. We know we’re going to put the three wins behind us and get back to work.”
The Pirates will see scoring opportunities botched and busted pass coverage, among other things.
It was Whitworth’s third win over Chapman in a year’s span.
“It’s hard to beat a team that had two weeks to prepare for you and had circled this date for a long time,” Sandberg said. “We got their best shot.”
Sandberg is looking forward to the bye.
“It comes at a great time,” he said. “This is the perfect schedule. We played really talented nonconference teams to find out who we are. Now we have a bye week to regroup and evaluate as we head into conference.”