SALEM, Ore. – Tailback Solo Hines ran for 241 yards and four touchdowns on a day visiting Whitworth was down to its fourth string quarterback, leading the Pirates to a 42-14 win at Willamette in a Northwest Conference football game on Saturday afternoon at McCulloch Stadium.
Whitworth (4-3 overall, 2-2 NWC) broke a two-game losing streak while the Bearcats (2-5, 0-4) dropped their 34th consecutive NWC game.
Hines started at the QB position in a wildcat formation and scored the Pirates' first touchdown on a 58-yard run to cap a three-play 72-yard drive.
Noah Stifle, Whitworth's only available quarterback, completed what appeared to be a 47-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Peloquin later in the first quarter, but Peloquin fumbled the ball before the goal line and the officials ruled a touchback for Willamette.
Hines scored his second touchdown of the game when he broke around the left end for a 51-yard carry on the first play of the second quarter, finishing off a 59-yard drive.
The Bucs led 14-0 at halftime.
Hines scored on a 28-yard run on Whitworth's second possession of the second half and he ran 45 yards for his fourth touchdown only three and a half minutes later, giving the Pirates a 28-0 lead. He averaged 16.2 yards per carry on the day.
Willamette made it a competitive game with two straight touchdowns, both long passes from Dante Cheney to Jared Paredes. The first went 71 yards and the second was 32 yards on third down.
Whitworth answered when Stifle completed a 43-yard pass to Peloquin for his first touchdown throw of his career and Peloquin's first touchdown catch of the season with 9:45 to play to answer the Bearcats' second touchdown.
The Pirates ended the scoring when Dylan Ashbeck threw a two-yard jump pass to Isaac Fields with 1:53 left.
Four different players took snaps in the game for Whitworth. In addition to Hines, Stifle and Ashbeck, Luis Salgado took snaps out of the wildcat formation.
The Pirates finished with 489 yards of offense, including a season-high 328 yards rushing. Stifle completed 12 of 19 passes for 160 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Ashbeck ran four times for 36 yards and threw his one pass for a score. Logan Kitselman ran five times for 18 yards.
Dante Chaney completed 11 of 21 passes for 171 yards and two scores to lead the Bearcat offense. He was sacked three times for 25 yards in losses. Paredes caught six passes for 133 yards, including the two scores. Joseph Castillo ran 17 times for 50 yards. Willamette finished with 282 yards of offense.
Dylan Ventress led the defense with 11 tackles, while Jacob Hogger had eight tackles and an interception. Patrick Serrano had his third interception of the season to go along with seven tackles. The Pirate defense held the Bearcats to one first down on 16 tries on third down.
Whitworth will host Puget Sound next Saturday.
