Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
SPOKANE, Wash. – Logan Kitselman's five-yard touchdown catch from Ryan Blair with 1:25 left lifted Whitworth to a 12-7 non-conference football victory over visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday afternoon at the Pine Bowl.
The Pirates (2-1) outlasted the Stags (1-1) in a defensive struggle. Whitworth outgained CMS 251-148.
Whitworth possessed the ball for over nine minutes of the first quarter, but a sack deep in Stag territory forced a punt. CMS had the ball for the rest of the quarter, driving 77 yards in ten plays. Justin Edwards ran in from two yards out on the first play of the second quarter to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
Whitworth got on the scoreboard with 6:49 left in the second when Derrick Platt sacked CMS QB Zach Fogel in the endzone for a safety. Alvaro Campos-Ontiveros pulled the Pirates within 7-5 at halftime with a career-long 43-yard field goal as time expired to cap a 47-yard drive.
Neither team scored in the third quarter. CMS had the only good opportunity to score, but Whitworth held the Stags on fourth down deep in Pirate territory at the nine-yard line.
Whitworth turned the ball over on downs at the CMS 35-yard line with 8:05 to play. But after forcing a punt, the Pirates drove 65 yards in ten plays to score the winning touchdown. Quarterback Ryan Blair converted a third and six at the CMS 13 with a six-yard scramble. Two plays later he found Kitselman in the left flat for the winning touchdown.
Blair completed 24 of 31 passes for 202 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Cameron Sheley caught five passes for 32 yards, while Isaac Fields and Riley Morrison had four receptions each. Isaiah Jones ran nine times for 32 yards as Whitworth finished with 49 net rushing yards.
Whitworth held Edwards to 94 yards on 22 carries. The Stags ran for 86 total yards after losing 27 on four sacks of Fogel. Fogel completed 7 of 12 passes for 62 yards. Anderson Cynkar caught three for 15 yards. Edwards had one 29-yard catch.
Patrick Serrano led Whitworth with 10 tackles (7 solo), including a 14-yard sack. Dylan Ventress had eight stops, while Platt made six tackles. Two of Platt's tackles were sacks totaling 12 yards.
Benjamin Cooney had nine tackles for CMS.
Whitworth will have a bye week before opening Northwest Conference play on October 1st at Lewis & Clark College.