TACOMA, Washington – Two of the top quarterbacks in the Northwest Conference go head-to-head when the Puget Sound football team travels to Spokane, Washington, for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Whitworth on Saturday, Oct. 21.
WHO
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Puget Sound at Whitworth
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WHERE
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Spokane, Wash. | Pine Bowl
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WHEN
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Saturday, Oct. 21, 1 p.m.
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LIVE
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SOCIAL
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Top of their game
Whitworth quarterback Ian Kolste and Puget Sound quarterback Tanner Diebold rank first and second, respectively, in the NWC for passing yards per game. Kolste averages 291.4 yards per game through the air, and Diebold averages 271.2. The Dynamic Diebold has 98 yards on the ground, whereas Kolste has 45 rushing yards.
Sack attack
Defensive linemen Braden Ash (five sacks) and Todd Blakely (two sacks) have combined for seven sacks and 14.5 tackles for a loss this season. Ash's five sacks lead the NWC.
Aerial arsenal
AJ Johnson and Dustin Harrison enter this weekend as the top two wide receivers in the NWC. Johnson leads the league with 76.8 receiving yards per game, and Harisson averages 71.6. Johnson's 15.3 yards per catch ranks fourth in the conference.
Rooting for Wood
Vance Wood leads the Loggers with five rushing touchdowns, including two at Pacific last week. Wood is tied with Duncan Varela for the second-most rushing yards on the team (147). Paul Thomas leads the Loggers with 150 yards on the ground.
Second(ary) to none
Puget Sound has the league's top passing defense, allowing just 172 passing yards per game. Three Loggers have at least two takeaways this season: Matt Ahnin, Brent McCoy, and Zackary Teats. Zach Blair, Jason Clayton, William Geary, and Scott Poetzinger all have one interception this season.
Scouting Whitworth (4-2, 1-2 NWC)
The Pirates were ranked No. 24 in the first week of the D3football.com Top-25, and they jumped all the way to No. 14 by week four. However, Whitworth suffered consecutive losses to Linfield and George Fox, and fell out of the national rankings entirely. The Pirates bounced from the losses by narrowly beating Pacific Lutheran, 17-14, last week. Whitworth leads the NWC in third-down percentage (47%), but its red-zone touchdown percentage (58%) in the third-worst in the conference. Tariq Ellis leads the rushing attack with 278 yards, and Garrett McKay has a team-high 365 receiving yards. Defensively, Patch Kulp has a team-high 49 tackles, and Chad Wilburg has 3.5 sacks.
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