Football | 10/11/2008 3:09:01 PM
Box Score Western Oregon used five interceptions on defense and 28 second-half points on offense to roll to a 35-3 win over Southern Oregon in the annual Little Civil War contest at Raider Stadium.
The non-conference win moved WOU's record to 4-3 on the season, while the Raiders dropped to 1-5.
Western Oregon junior quarterback Josh Riddell ran for two scores and threw for two more, and Caleb Singleton led a thieving pass defense with a pair of interceptions as the Wolves won for the eighth consecutive time in the rivalry.
Riddell scored the game's first touchdown on a quarterback sneak in the first quarter, and then later sprinted down the left sideline untouched for a 38-yard six-pointer early in the fourth quarter. In between, he threw TD strikes to Shaun Kauleinamoku (seven yards) and Isaiah Smith (22 yards).
Singleton was joined in the pick department by Gavin Romanick, JT Gilmore and Bryan Huber. It was Romanick's fourth interception on the season. WOU's staunch defense also limited the Raiders to just eight first downs and only 169 yards of total offense. SOU's only score in the ball game came after Riddell was blindsided on blitz and fumbled late in the game, giving the hosts the ball at the 21-yard line. Four plays later, SOU settled for a 35-yard field goal by Corey O'Neill to get on the board.
Despite the lopsided final, the Wolves only led 7-0 at the break. Two WOU drives ended via interceptions in the first half, and they also reached the one yard line and failed to get on the board.
But Western's first three plays of the second half went for first downs as they marched down the field to score on the Riddell to Kauleinamoku connection, and the Wolves were off and running. A Singleton interception set up their next score (Riddell to Smith), followed by the Riddell run and the final tally, a three-yard plunge by Ben Kuenzi with just a little over two minutes left on the clock.
Kuenzi finished with 90 yards rushing on 20 carries. Patrick Fuller, filling in for the injured DJ Jackson, added 79 yards on 13 packs. Riddell added 63 yards total, and 41 yards net. Smith led the WOU receivers with five catches for 81 yards.
Marlon Rosales paced the Southern offense with 69 yards rushing, but SOU quarterback Bryan Lee-Lauduski had a rough outing, hitting six of 19 passes for just 69 yards with five interceptions.
Gilmore led the Wolves in the tackling department with nine, including a tackle for loss.
Western Oregon will return to Great Northwest Athletic Conference action next Saturday (Oct. 18), hosting Dixie State at 2 pm.
