Bearcats rush for 134 yards but fall on the road at Whitworth

Spokane, WA - Whitworth's passing attack was too much for Willamette as the Bearcats fell in their second consecutive game against a nationally ranked opponent.  The Pirates passed for 359 yards on the day and four touchdowns.

Willamette was able to force a punt on Whitworth's first drive of the game and the Bearcats used a combination of short passes and effective runs to move the ball 36 yards to the Pirate 44 yard line before the drive stalled and Willamette was forced to punt.  

The Pirates had more success on their second drive and took only three plays for Ryan Blair to find James Lee for a 49-yard touchdown pass.  Whitworth converted on the extra point and take a 7-0 lead to the first-quarter break.

The second quarter started the same way the first quarter ended, with Blair throwing another 40-yard touchdown pass, this time connecting with Evan Liggett for forty-four yards.  Another three-and-out for Willamette was followed by another touchdown pass from Blair who found Dawson Tobeck down the middle for a 25-yard catch and run.

Whitworth eventually took a 35-0 lead into halftime on the strength of Blair's 280 yards and four touchdowns.  A week after turning the ball over five times against Linfield, the Bearcats were able to hold onto the ball and put together 54 total rushing yards led by Gabriel Herrera with 32.  Willamette's short passing game yielded only 21 yards on five completions in the first half.

Whitworth started the second half with the ball and was again able to move downfield on the Bearcat defense.  The Pirates capped off the opening drive with a 6-yard run by Luis Salgado that extended the lead to 42-0.

The next Bearcat drive was one of three in the second half where Willamette moved into Whitworth territory.  They advanced to the Whitworth forty-five before a sack pushed them back and forced a punt.  On their first possession of the fourth quarter, the Bearcats marched down to the Pirate seven yard line before a sack moved them back and a missed field goal kept them off the scoreboard.  Willamette got in the red zone again on their final possession, but a fumble at the Whitworth one yard line ended that drive and the game at 48-0.

Alex Rivera IV completed 13 of 20 passes on the day for 103 yards and added another 24 yards on the ground, while Gabriel Herrera led the Bearcats with 53 yards rushing.  Trajan Clark was the top target, catching 5 passes for 29 yards.  Jonah Luhrsen led Willamette in receiving yards with 38, including a 30-yard catch on the final drive. 

Dominic Corado led the defense with 8 tackles on the afternoon, followed by Hogan Smith with 7 and Judah Ali'ifua and Orion Woods with five each.

Willamette is on the road again next week, this time in Western Washington to take on Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, October 19th, at 1:00 pm.  The Bearcats return home on October 26th when they take on George Fox University.