TACOMA, Wash. -- Freshman quarterback Taylor Eglet passed for three second quarter touchdowns and running back Milton Nelon ran for 100 yards in the first half to lead visiting Whitworth University to a 24-15 win at the University of Puget Sound in a Northwest Conference football game on Saturday afternoon at Baker Stadium.
After dominating the first half and building a comfortable 24-3 lead, the Pirates turned to their defense to control play in the second half. The defense did until the final six minutes of the game when the Loggers scored a pair of late touchdowns. UPS forced Whitworth to punt on its first possession of the game, then went 62 yards in 13 plays to go ahead 3-0 on a field goal. Eglet, who passed for 99 of his 104 yards before halftime, then went to work. He completed a 25 yard touchdown pass to Dale Entel with halfway through the second quarter to put the Pirates on top 7-3. Then after a quick three and out, Nelson ran 54 yards deep into UPS territory. Andy Largent finished the drive with his third field goal of the season for a 10-7 Pirate advantage. Whitworth then forced a fumble on the Loggers' next play and Eglet quickly found Kyle Scroggins for a 28 yard touchdown pass, giving the Pirates a 17-3 lead with 2:47 to play in the period. Another quick three and out by the Loggers let Whitworth take over near midfield with less than a minute to play. Eglet engineered a final scoring drive, taking advantage of a pair of UPS penalties, culminated by a three-yard touchdown pass to Brian Brady with 10 seconds left before the break. Whitworth outgained the Loggers 255-75 in the first half. UPS only had 13 first half yards after its initial possession of the ball game. But Puget Sound ended the game with a 322-285 edge in total yards as Eglet threw only three passes after halftime and the Pirates went almost exlusively to their ground game. The Loggers were able to slow down the running game as Nelson missed most of the second half. Whitworth turned away two Logger scoring threats in the second half. First Jeff Erlenmeyer intercepted UPS QB Kavin Williams at the 10 yard line early in the fourth quarter. Then the Pirate defense held the Loggers on downs on the next possesion. UPS finally got in the endzone on twice in the final six minutes on a pair of touchdown passes by Williams. The first was 11 yards to Casey Larson, the second 33 yards to Chad Koening on fourth down with one minute left in the game. Nelson finished with 112 yards on 15 carries. He had 100 yards on ten tries in the first half. London Vessey added 37 yards rushing. Scroggins finished with three catches for 35 yards. Brady's touchdown catch was the first of his career. Williams completed 14 of 28 for 141 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Larson ran 28 times for 140 yards for Puget Sound. Brandon Martin led the Whitworth defense with ten tackles. He had three tackles for loss, including a key sack. Erlenmeyer also had 10 tackles to go with his interception and Brian O'Kelley added nine stops. Whitworth will return home to host Menlo College next Saturday. Kick off for the NWC contest will be at 1:00 p.m.
