NEWBERG, Ore. -- After staying in the comfort of Newberg for the past three weeks, the George Fox football team is headed six hours northeast to Spokane, Wash., for a battle against the Whitworth Pirates.

Though Fox is still searching for their first win, the Bruins have shown immense improvement over the past two games. Fox had Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on the ropes in their home opener, and jumped out to a 14-0 lead against a Linfield team that is now ranked No. 24 in the D3football.com poll on Homecoming.

It'll be another tough task for the Bruins against the Pirates. Whitworth finished second in the NWC in 2024 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the second round. Though the Pirates began the year No. 24 in the national preseason polls, they enter the game 2-2 with a 16-10 loss to Eastern Oregon and a 34-17 defeat at the hands of Redlands — a team that George Fox lost to in their opening game by a closer margin, 10-7.

JJ Leman notched his first career start in the 10-7 game and will earn his fifth start for the Bruins against the Pirates. The freshman, who went to high school less than two miles from Whitworth's campus, threw for over 200 yards for the first time in his career against Linfield; Leman has also thrown a passing touchdown in each of his last three games.

Alongside Leman will be the same 10 starters for Fox that started against Linfield; in fact, the two-deep for the Bruins is the same for Whitworth as it was for the Wildcats. Taylor Saben will earn the start at tailback, fresh off a 53-yard TD the week prior. Backup William Moffitt saw more time as a receiving back as well for the Bruins; to go alongside his seven catches, the senior also blocked and returned a punt for a TD to take a 7-0 lead.

Other receivers for the Bruins will be Karsen Denault, Kaelan Frey, and Dreylen Tolentino, while Sheyden Iokia will start at TE. Denault pulled in his weekly 40-yard catch on the final drive of the day for the Bruins, and is sixth in the NWC in receiving yards with 309, while Tolentino had a career-high in receiving. 

The line for the Bruins will be the same five in the past three games: Miky Amare, Rylan McGraw, Kyle Martin, Lawa Ah Yat, and Sean Brewester. Following a game where the Bruins rushed for just 26 yards, the line looks to attack a Whitworth defense that just held Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist Brody Bantolina of Pacific to 87 yards rushing.

On the defensive end, the Bruins enter the game fresh off a game that featured two interceptions. Starters Ty Borde and Austin Harrison each picked off Linfield QB Luke McNabb, while the Fox defense combined for five sacks; 1.5 of those were from Jacob Erickson, who leads all of NCAA Division III in sacks per game. 

Erickson will be joined by Kuyper Assink (who recorded one sack against Linfield), Silas Kincaid, and Kaden Raever on the line, while Harrison will be at corner alongside Ben Nuss. Borde and senior Reyn Asato will start at the safety positions.

Rounding out the defense are linebackers Caleb McElfish and Kaikoa Iokia, with Zak Holsey the nickel. McElfish was second on the team in tackles against Linfield, finishing with 12; Freshman Duke Alderete-Labuguen has also seen the field — the linebacker had recorded at least a half sack in the past two games.

On the heels of a career-long 40-yard field goal, Ben Rembisz will keep his kicking duties for the Bruins, while Riley Rutledge will do the punting. Saben is not listed as the lead returner for kicks, but has returned them for most of the season, including a 50-yarder against Linfield.

On the Pirates' side, the Bucs enter the game after a 28-14 win over Pacific, where they trailed 7-6 entering the fourth. Running back Luis Salgado, a two-time first-team All-Northwest Conference honoree, led the offense with his best game of the season.  He ran for 116 yards on 21 carries and scored two of the three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, also converting a two-point PAT to give the Bucs a 14-7 lead.  Salgado was selected as the NWC's Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.  

QB Logan Lacio also had his best day of the season as a starting quarterback, completing 23 of 35 passes for 229 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.  That TD pass was a 27-yard toss to sophomore Drake Matthies, who caught the first three passes of his Pirate career in the game.  

The Bruins will have to attack a Whitworth defense that only allowed 70 total yards before halftime against Pacific. Sophomore Drew Cody leads the Northwest Conference in total tackles (41) and tackles per game (10.3) so far in 2025.  The Pirate inside linebacker also leads the NWC, and ranks 25th in NCAA Div. III, in solo tackles per game (6.0).

Whitworth kicker Iden Bone leads the NWC in field goals made (7) and in scoring by a kicker (28 points, 7.0 points per game).  He ranks 3rd in NCAA Div. III in field goals per game (1.75) and 38th in DIII in field goal percentage (0.778).  His 47-yard field goal is the longest in the conference this season. 

Fox had lost the previous two matchups to the Pirates, with their last win over Whitworth coming in 2022 with a 28-14 win in Spokane. They'll look to copy that success in the Pine Bowl and earn their first win of the season on Saturday.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm, with live video, live stats, and ticketing links available on the Bruins' website.

Whitworth Assistant AD of Sports Communication Steve Flegel contributed to this story