Darnell Gilbert
Staff Writer

Whitworth beat up on defenseless University of La Verne, 43-28, with a dominating offensive performance last Saturday at the Whitworth Pine Bowl.

ULV could not seem to find an answer to running back Chris Ahsing who rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Joel Clark who passed for 271 yards and four touchdowns. The Pirates went to work on the Leopards by scoring 29 points in the first half.

“They beat us on the deep balls for touchdowns and they ran pretty well,” defensive coordinator Steve Johns said.

The Leopards managed to score early in the second quarter with a touchdown pass to Dustin Elliot from Brain Guerrero. Guerrero had a terrific game with 320 yards and four touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough.

The ULV defense could not contain Pirates receiver Michael Allan who had five catches for 94 yards and three touchdowns. Kyle Snell also added nine catches for 139 yards.

The Leopards attempted to make a late comeback with touchdowns from Roger Logan and Leandre Allen. Allen led the charge with two touchdown receptions of 32 and 31 yards. Allen finished the game with four catches for 77 yards. Elliot led the Leopards with 107 receiving yards.

“I was feeling like the defense couldn’t hold me,” Elliot said. “We still need a lot of fine tuning before next game”

The Pirates kept Phillip Craig in check allowing him only 62 yards of rushing, keeping him under the 100 yard plateau from which he surpassed against Pomona-Pitzer in the Leopards first win. Craig had one touchdown called back by a clipping penalty.

“Penalties were our problem,” Craig said. “We need to get disciplined mentally because we have the talent, we just have to play like it.”

The Leopards had eight penalties for 73 yards which lead to 16 points by the Pirates. On offense, center Mike Meyers had two questionable penalties called on him.

“Things weren’t clicking,” Allen said. “We made too many mistakes on defense and offense.”

The Pirates had 506 yards of total offense to 390 yards for the Leopards.
The Pirates were also 3 of 6 on fourth down conversions. Time of possession was lopsided as Whitworth controlled the ball for 37 minutes of the game.

“Whitworth is just a good team,” Craig said.

If the Leopards intend on competing against Puget Sound in tomorrow’s home opener, they need to cut down on the penalties and clamp up on defense. Puget Sound defeated the Leopards, 34-14, last year.

“If we want to win we need to tackle better and make sure we are focused on our assignments,” Johns said. “We cannot give up the big plays.”

Darnell Gilbert can be reached at flawlessgee@yahoo.com.