Leopards Fall To Whitworth In Home Debut
The University of La Verne dropped its 2007 home debut Saturday, falling 34-0 to visiting Whitworth University at Ortmayer Stadium.
La Verne falls to 0-2 on the season while the Pirates improve to 1-1.
The Pirates forced five Leopard turnovers and amassed 435 yards on offense in the win. Whitworth's defense also scored twice on the afternoon on a safety and fumble recovery en route to the shutout victory. Moreover, Whitworth held ULV to just 21 rushing yards on the day.
Whitworth got on the board at the 10:40 mark in the first quarter when the Pirate defense pressured ULV quarterback Troy Doolittle into an intentional grounding penalty in his own end zone, resulting in a safety and a 2-0 lead. Chris Ahsing would later cap a 6-play, 35-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring run to put the Pirates up 9-0. A 34-yard field goal by Andy Largent gave Whitworth a 12-0 cushion at the break.
Midway through the third quarter, a Leopard fumble was eventually grabbed by Marc Grow, who recovered the pigskin and plunged into the end zone to increase the Whitworth lead to 19-0. The Pirates would get two additional scores on a Milton Nelson 6-yard run and a 35-yard pass reception from Steve Silva.
Whitworth dominated the time of possession in the first half by controlling the ball over 21 minutes prior to intermission. For the game, the Pirates maintained possession for 37:29 compared to 22:31 for the Leopards.
Doolittle passed for a game-high 214 yards on 22-of-44 passing. Grady Thomas led ULV with 6 receptions for 74 yards with Phi Van Le catching 6 passes for 43 yards. Tight end Anthony De Jaeger hauled in 4 passes for 61 yards.
La Verne is idle next weekend before opening SCIAC action against Cal Lutheran Saturday, Sept. 29 at Ortmayer Stadium.
