Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

Whittier, Calif. - The Whittier College Football team stumbled in their season opener against the No. 19 ranked Whitworth University Pirates Saturday morning, falling 60-0 at Memorial Stadium.

Under the tutelage of new Head Coach Mike Neale and an entire new coaching staff, Whittier showed promise in a number of areas but couldn't match-up against the Northwest Conference juggernaut. 

On the opening possession, Duke DeGaetano went 66 yards for a touchdown giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead. After two three-and-outs by the Poets, Ian Kolste completed a 44 yard pass to Kevin Thomas setting up another touchdown from DeGaetano that extended the Pirate lead to 14-0.   

Griffin Hare completed the first quarter hat trick of rushing touchdowns going in from a yard out that moved the score to 22-0. 

Whittier put the momentum back in their favor at the start of the second quarter.  Kolste completed a 19-yard pass over the middle to Nick Kiourkas but was stripped by Andrew Rosales (Pico Rivera, Calif.) ending in Gregorio Verdugo (San Diego, Calif.) picking up the loose ball giving the Purple & Gold possession with great field position in the Pirates half.

But on the ensuing play, Miguel Redmond (San Jose, Calif.) would give the ball right back as he would fumble at the 50-yard line giving it right back to Whitworth.  They would then use that to go 51 yards in six plays ending in another rushing touchdown by DeGaetano that added to their lead at 29-0. 

The Poets put together a drive on their next series starting at their own 25 and drove 74 yards in 10 plays covering 5:12 but stalled on the Whitworth one-yard line turning the ball over on downs.  The sequence included a 25 yard hook-up from Matthew Valencia (Commerce, Calif.) to Joey Willm (Arcadia, Calif.), another completion to Nick Krska (Happy Valley, OR) for 29 yards and a six-yard rush from Brandon Wolford (Lakewood, Calif.).

The very next play, Whitworth would strike again this time with the long ball as Kolste would find Chase Takaki down the sideline for 92 yards down to the Whittier seven-yard line.  This would set up a 7-yard touchdown from Kolste to Michael McKeown giving the pirates a 36-0 lead. 

Right before the half, Whitworth would capitalize on a blocked punt as Kolste would connect on another touchdown finding Kiourkas from 11-yards out that made the halftime score 43-0. 

Both teams failed to score in the third quarter but in the final frame, Whitworth would add to their commanding lead with another 17 capped off with a 44-yard field goal by Vernon Parker.    

Whitworth totaled 605 yards of total offense compared to Whittier's 239 (118 Passing/121 Rushing).  Valencia finished the game 10-25 for 106 yards, Drew Lewis (Turlock, Calif.) led the rushing attack with nine carries for 51 yards, while Willm hauled in three catches for 37 yards averaging 12.3 yards per catch. 

Gregorio Verdugo (San Diego, Calif.) led the Poets with 16 total tackles (8 solo, 8 assist).  Michael Pirnik (Gilroy, Calif.) finished with nine (4 solo, 5 assist), while Cale Quistgard (Pleasanton, Calif.) and Nicholas Markarian (Chino Hills, Calif.) would each finish with eight a piece.   

The Poets travel to Austin, Texas next Saturday, September 17 to take on the Austin College Roos with kick-off set for 10:00am.