FB: Northwest Conference

[Gig Harbor Cat]

Actually its an annual trip that we make with our business partners Dens.  Somehow I will find a way to get the game.  I will just tell everyone in our group that I got lost for a couple of hours.  It could happen.

[CalCat]

Does anyone know if there're any PiWhit posters left in the world?

It may be the classic  "rats" deserting the sinking piRATe ship 

[bluenote]

You've got to give Linfield a lot of credit for what they've accomplished so far but.....this game vs Whitworth may be the most important game yet in the total scheme of things.

[Las Vegas Wildcards]

You've got to give Linfield a lot of credit for what they've accomplished so far but.....this game vs Whitworth may be the most important game yet in the total scheme of things.

I agree, thought last week may have been a  trap game at Menlo, but given the recent history of the games with the Pirates, I think Linfield will be ready for anything Whitworth brings to the table. Looking at the schedule, what seemed to be a disadvantage before the season(four straight road games), could be an advantage as the Cats will be playing three of their last four at home.

[coco]

This series of road games has been brutal and our guys have played like warriors. I don't remember another season like this ever. It's going to be awesome to have them back in the Catdome on the 17th.
You can't trust the Rats, especially at home. The Pine Bowl is pretty, but the temperature is going to be in the mid-forties on Saturday!

Just one more,guys, and then it's all at home, except for that little visit to the Catdome South.

GO CATS!

[desertcat1]

... "Get on the bus Gus"  ...

It's " RAT KILLING TIME " 

Go Cats .
Go Big D

[Gig Harbor Cat]

Its time for rattie roadkill  DC1

Insider info says that the Cat Bus packed an extra box of Purple frisbees for
ROCKETMAN and his crew.

Phone it in DC1

say hi from GHC to the twins  

[spiritof86]

I have nerves regarding the game, but am not all that nervous. I feel free- my MLB team, the cards, pooped the bed, so now I am able to concentrate on the wildcats alone. Eager to see a rat killing, complete with smashed guts on the pine bowl field.

[MonroviaCat]

I have nerves regarding the game, but am not all that nervous. I feel free- my MLB team, the cards, pooped the bed, so now I am able to concentrate on the wildcats alone. Eager to see a rat killing, complete with smashed guts on the pine bowl field.

Holliday.......Celebrate........  Go Dodgers!

[D O.C.]

You are not the only one after the mistakes the past three seasons

I have nerves regarding the game

but doubt leaves you so blind...

                                                                 EXPECT TO WIN

[Olinemom]

Get well soon Olinemom. 

Gig Harbor Cat

Thanks, I am doing great now.  And my Fall break began about 10 minutes ago!!  So no game this weekend, sleep is on my agenda.  LET'S GO CATS!! IT'S RAT KILLING TIME!! 

[Gig Harbor Cat]

Ok finally got connected  And yes GO DODGER BLUE !!!  2-0  baby
Ghc out

[MonroviaCat]

Ok finally got connected  And yes GO DODGER BLUE !!!  2-0  baby
Ghc out

I didn't think they had a shot based on the way the Cards had handled them this year but now things are looking pretty good--better close it out tomorrow or we'll be facing Carpenter and Wainwright again... Oh, and GO CATS!

[D O.C.]

One of those rankings that no one pays attention to, CFB:

RANK     SCHOOL     RATE     W     L     POWER     SCHED     S-Rank

1     Mount Union     0.941     4     0     85.17     0.586     47
2    UW-Whitewater 0.937    4    0    84.31    0.574    54
3    St John's MN    0.879    5    0    74.79    0.668    14
4    Wesley    0.863       5    0    74.46    0.519    101   
5    UW-La Crosse    0.863    4    0    77.84    0.579    52
6    Mary Hardin-Baylor    0.845    4    0    76.41    0.476    145
7    St Thomas    0.826    4    0    73.40    0.515    109
8    Linfield    0.821    4    0    73.45    0.583    49
9    Central IA    0.819    5    0    69.69    0.547    76
10    Wheaton    0.796    4    0    71.18    0.499    121
11    Willamette    0.792    4    1    72.22    0.597    43
12    Bethel MN    0.790    3    2    74.00    0.670    12
13    Wabash    0.783    4    0    69.30    0.420    183
14    Hampden-Sydney    0.783    5    0    67.03    0.483    143
15    Capital    0.769    4    0    67.72    0.531    90
16    North Central    0.766    3    1    71.60    0.504    118
17    Washington & Jefferson    0.765    5    0    65.45    0.436    174
18    Illinois Wesleyan    0.763    4    0    67.33    0.494    131
19    Monmouth IL    0.752    5    0    65.03    0.359    204
20    Delaware Valley    0.748    3    1    67.41    0.708    4
21    UW-Stout    0.747    4    0    65.57    0.488    138
22    Augustana IL    0.745    3    1    67.56    0.614    36
23    Otterbein    0.745    4    0    66.00    0.500    119
24    Albright    0.742    4    0    65.67    0.484    141
25    Coe    0.742    4    1    64.70    0.644    22
26    Redlands    0.738    3    0    67.92    0.497    128
27    Dickinson    0.731    5    0    60.96    0.498    125
28    Ithaca    0.731    4    1    64.21    0.546    81
29    Rowan    0.715    3    1    66.23    0.552    73
30    UW-Oshkosh    0.714    2    2    69.07    0.698    7
31    Cal Lutheran    0.711    2    1    68.68    0.569    62
32    Wittenberg    0.709    4    0    62.99    0.333    210
33    Mississippi College    0.706    4    1    62.57    0.609    37
34    St Olaf     0.706    3    2    66.75    0.598    42
35    Centre     0.698    5    0    57.96    0.491    135
36    Thomas More    0.692    4    0    60.20    0.474    147
37    Case Western    0.692    4    0    61.01    0.388    192
38    Johns Hopkins    0.691    4    1    61.41    0.547    78
39    Occidental    0.688    2    1    65.92    0.600    40
40    Ohio Northern    0.687    2    2    66.85    0.729    2

Format my bad, but who cares, eh?

[Bearcat Press]

BEARCATS SINK PIRATES WITH DOMINANT FIRST HALF SHOW

Tim Walsh
Sports Editor

Nearly every game is close when Willamette and Whitworth meet on the gridiron, and with the Pirates returning 18 starters from a team that gave the Bearcats fits last season in Spokane, another tight contest seemed certain.

But this time, Willamette had other ideas.

Behind a punishing defense and an offense finally hitting its stride, the Bearcats (4-1, 1-0 Northwest Conference) systematically dismantled the Pirates in a 42-13 romp at McCulloch Stadium. The victory, Willamette's most lopsided over Whitworth since 1997, bumped the Bearcats up to 17th in D3football.com's latest poll and all but knocked the Pirates (2-3, 0-1) out of the NWC title picture.

"Whitworth is a very, very good football team," Head Coach Mark Speckman said. "To beat them like that is tremendous."

Playing under sunny skies and a slight breeze, Willamette could not have asked for better weather – or a better start to the game. On just the second Pirate possession, Harmon Bruno picked off a Whitworth pass, and just three plays later, Deon Horne's hesitation at the line of scrimmage opened up a clear lane to the end zone 26 yards away.

After the ensuing kickoff, Pirate quarterback Andrew Durant overthrew an open receiver streaking down the sideline,
and on the very next play, NWC defensive player of the week Ralph Pineda ripped the ball out of the grasp of Whitworth's All-American tailback Adam Anderson. Pineda rumbled 14 yards to put the Bearcats up 14-0, throwing an exclamation point on the play by leveling Durant as he entered the end zone. It was exactly the start Speckman had been looking for.

"We really wanted to get ahead early," Speckman said. "We haven't been the fastest starting team, and it was important that we change that."

Whitworth responded with a long drive, but the Pirates missed the ensuing field goal attempt, thought they were able to pin Willamette at the two-yard line on a punt just minutes later. With 98 yards in front of them, the Bearcats' offense went to work.

Fifteen plays and nine minutes, 34 seconds later, they were in the end zone. Willamette went five for five on third down conversions – including four third down completions of 20 yards or more by Kevin Ramay – capping the drive off with a thread-the-needle touchdown pass to a cutting Scott Schoettgen, giving the Bearcats a 21-0 lead heading into halftime.

"On drives like that, you don't quite realize how long they are until you look up at the clock and go 'Wow,'" Speckman said. "I figured if we could score again to start the second [half], that would pretty much put the game away."

The Bearcats did just that, with Brian Widing hitting a wide-open Chad Pollard in the end zone on fourth down from 24 yards. But that touchdown would not have been possible without an "outstanding" kickoff return from Jose Green, according to Speckman. Green, the NWC special teams player of the week, is just 31 yards short of Willamette's all-time record for kickoff return yardage.

With the score suddenly 28-0, the Pirates had to abandon their ground attack and turn to the air. Anderson, who torched the Bearcats for 133 rushing yards last season, was held to just 32 on 11 carries by Willamette's outstanding team defense, and the entire Whitworth offense rushed for just 68 yards on 26 carries. Durant was sacked three times by relentless Bearcat pressure, particularly from defensive ends Walter Robinson and Cory Lowe.

"We felt if we could take away their tailbacks, we'd have a pretty good game, and we did," Speckman said.

The Pirates did manage to score two late touchdowns, closing within 28-6 and 35-13. But Ramay responded to both, finishing one long drive with another perfect touchdown pass to Schoettgen (this time into double coverage), and later running untouched into the end zone to hand the Pirates their worst NWC loss since 2002.

Speckman could not help but be pleased with his two freshman quarterbacks, who continue to battle for playing time. Widing, the starter, finished 3-5 for 36 yards and a touchdown, while backup Ramay went 9-11 for 124 yards and two scores, with a third coming on the ground.

"Well, I am a quarterbacks guru, after all," Speckman joked. "We're going to keep flying by the seat of our pants for now."

Still, some things need improvement heading into the annual Wagon Wheel game at Lewis & Clark, especially penalties: the Bearcats drew 10 false start or offsides calls.

"We're still a work in progress," Speckman said. "Penalties ... the sweep ... those things have got to get tightened up."

"But we did win a huge game," Speckman said. "That's one down."