WAVERLY, Iowa – Third-ranked Wartburg shut down visiting Whitworth 42-20 in the second round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs on Saturday afternoon at Walston-Hoover Stadium, ending the season for the visiting Pirates.
Wartburg (12-0) advances to play Wisconsin-Whitewater in the quarterfinals next Saturday. Whitworth's season ends with a 10-1 record.
"Wartburg is just a great football team," said Pirate head coach Rod Sandberg. "I am very impressed with their speed and physicality. The game did not go the way we planned or hoped, but I'm proud of our guys and the way they continued to battle and the way they finished."
The Bucs never led in the game, but ended the first quarter trailing only 7-6. American Rivers Conference Offensive Player of the Year Hunter Clasen scored the game's first touchdown with a one-yard run on third down to cap drive set up when the Pirates were unable to convert on 4th and 3 at the Wartburg 40-yard line. The drive took 12 plays to go 60 yards.
Whitworth responded with its only scoring possession of the half, going 76 yards in ten plays. Austin Ewing threw a two-yard pass to Dillon Kuk for the score, but the PAT hit the upright. Ewing completed a 44-yard pass to Evan Liggett and an 18-yard toss to Kuk during the drive.
The Knights began to pull away with three second quarter touchdowns. Clasen ran for this second score of the game from eight yards out with 8:28 to go. Quarterback Nile McLaughlin tossed touchdown passes of seven yards to Thomas Butters and three-yards to Drake George over the final five minutes. The touchdown pass to George came on the final play of the half.
Meanwhile, the Wartburg defense tightened down on the Pirate offense in the second quarter, limiting Whitworth to 25 yards on 17 plays, including minus-7 yards on the ground. Whitworth did not get a first down in the second and went 0-5 on third downs.
"The Wartburg defense is so sound and they don't give you anything," Sandberg said. "You think there is space, but they get to their spots and fill it before you know it."
McLaughlin and the Knights put the game completely out of reach in the third quarter with two long passing touchdowns. The first was a 73-yard pass to George on their first possession. The second was a 43-yard completion to Thor Maakestad midway through the period. Both touchdowns came on third down plays.
Whitworth got back on the board early in the fourth on a drive that started with four-and-a-half minutes left in the third. The Pirates went 84 yards in 11 plays and found the endzone when Ewing found Luis Salgado open over the middle and Salgado reversed course and sprinted to the right corner of the endzone for a 15-yard score.
Whitworth found the scoreboard one more time with 3:10 to play in the game, when Hines took a right-side swing pass from Ewing and scored from 11 yards away to cap a 55-yard drive.
The Knights outgained the Pirate 540-303. Ewing completed 34 of 48 passes for 296 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Salgado caught nine of those passes, but his open space was limited to 41 yards. Kuk finished with eight catches for 90 yards, while Liggett had six grabs for 119 yards. Whitworth was held to a net of seven rushing yards and Salgado finished with 13 yards on seven carries.
McLaughlin completed 25 of 31 passes for 352 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. George caught nine of those passes for 124 yards. Clasen ran for 82 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns.
Zachary Brooks led Whitworth's defense with ten tackles, while Atticus Templeton added nine stops. Joshua Lawson forced and recovered a fumble, while Nathan Hummel was in on both of the Pirate sacks and also forced a fumble recovered by Nathan DePaolo.