Football | 9/29/2008 2:25:25 AM

This Week: Saturday, Oct. 4 vs. Western Washington, McArthur Field, 2 pm
 Last Week: WOU 44, Humboldt State 28; WWU 29, Dixie State 27
 Records: Western Oregon 3-2 (3-1), Western Washington 2-2 (2-1)

Home, sweet home: Western Oregon will play at home this Saturday for only the second time this season, hosting Western Washington at McArthur Field (2 pm). The Wolves played four of its first five games of the year on the road, and will play half of its final six regular season contests at home.

Series stats: The Wolves and Vikings have met 47 times, with Western Washington holding a 27-20 all-time series lead. But Western Oregon has won the last two games and three of the last four contests, including a 36-27 shootout in Bellingham earlier this month. The Wolves and Vikings have played three overtime games since the 2002 season, with WOU claiming two of the three.

Listen in: You have a number of options to listen to the game live on the Wolves Radio Network. On the internet, link to the game from the Wolves website at www.wouwolves.com, or go directly to MidValleySports.Net. Four radio stations will also broadcast the on the Wolves Radio Network: KPJC 1220 AM (Salem), KLOO 1340 AM (Albany), KOHI 1600 AM (St. Helens) and KMVS 1610 AM (Monmouth). Russ Blunck and "The Coach" Bear Blunck will provide the call for the 12th consecutive season. The Tailgate Show begins 45 minutes before kick-off and the pre-game shows starts 15 minutes prior to the first snap.

Coach speak: You can listen in or watch the WOU Coaches Show live on Wednesday nights at Rick's Place in Monmouth (Main Street) on MidValleySports.Net at 8 p.m. Catch Steve Swart and David Olson when they interview Arne Ferguson and other guests each week.

Big second half pushes Wolves to win: Western Oregon broke open a tight game with three consecutive touchdowns in the second half and went on to beat Humboldt State 44-28 on Saturday night at the Redwood Bowl. Defensive tackle Anthony Marin got the turnaround started with an interception and 67-yard gallop for six points. The Wolves never trailed in the game, but led only 16-14 at the half.

Wolves replay: You can watch the replay of the Wolves-Lumberjacks contest on CCTV channel 22 in Salem on Wednesday (Oct. 1) at 7 pm, Thursday at 1pm and Friday at noon. In Monmouth-Independence, the game will show on channel 17 on Tuesday at 9 pm, Wednesday at 6 pm, Thursday at 1 am, Friday at 9 pm and Saturday at 1 am. On channel 18, the game will be replayed at 3 pm on Thursday. Past games will show at 1 am each night. For DVD copies of the game, email Russ Blunck at blunckr@wou.edu.

GNAC scramble: Western Washington used a field goal on the final play of the game to defeat Dixie State in Bellingham (29-27), while FCS #4 ranked Montana did the same to avoid the home upset against Division II #7 Central Washington (38-35).

GNAC Standings
Central Washington 3-0 (4-1)
 Western Oregon 3-1 (3-2)
 Western Washington 2-1 (2-2)
 Dixie State 0-3 (1-4)
 Humboldt State 0-3 (1-4)

Opponent chart: Here is how WOU's opponents fared last weekend.
*Portland State (1-3) lost to Sacramento State, 41-31.
 *Western Washington (2-2) defeated Dixie State (1-4), 29-27.
 *Central Washington (4-1) lost to Montana, 38-3
 *Humboldt State (1-4) lost to Western Oregon (3-2), 44-28
 *Southern Oregon (1-4) lost to Linfield (1-1), 14-7 (ot)

Season high: Western Oregon scored a season-high 44 points on Saturday at Humboldt State, although WOU's defense can take credit for eight of those digits on the scoreboard. Senior Anthony Marin scored his first career TD with a 67-yard run with an interception, and the Wolves also got on the board first when Justin Cuellar tackled HSU quarterback Mike Proulx in the end zone for a safety on the Lumberjack's first play from scrimmage.

Pass thieves: The Wolves stop unit also had three interceptions in the ball game, including a drive-ending pick in the end zone early in the fourth quarter by Gavin Romanick. Later in the game, Caleb Singleton added his name to the pick list with a grab and a 22-yard return.

Nowhere to run: WOU's front allowed only 44 yards rushing and they had seven tackles for loss in the contest. Five of those were quarterback sacks, with seven different players contributing. Middle linebacker JT Gilmore led in the tackles department with 13 on the evening, including five solo stops.

When it counts: Western Oregon converted five of eight third down opportunities and was one of one when going for it on fourth down. The Wolves also scored three of four times in the red zone (inside the 20-yard line).

Ben's best: Junior running back Ben Kuenzi topped the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time this season with a 101-yard effort at Humboldt State. That marked the fifth time in the Salem native's career that he has rushed for 100 yards or more.

Ditto for Demario: Junior wideout Demario Ballard also had a season best, with six catches for 81 yards. One of those was for a touchdown, giving the Thomson, Georgia native five TD grabs on the season in five games.

Josh jargon: Junior quarterback Josh Riddell threw for 182 yards in his fourth start at WOU, connecting on 13 of 22 passes. The former McKay High School (Salem) standout threw two of those for touchdowns, giving him 11 TD passes on the season. He is now 69-for-118 for 1,081 yards, with an efficiency rate of 152.6. Riddell played in three games at Mississippi State last season, which included a start at South Carolina, before an injury ended his year. He was 18-for-37 for 240 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Bulldogs.

GNAC leaders: Running backs Ben Kuenzi and DJ Jackson rank second and third respectively the GNAC yards-per-game category. Kuenzi averages 75 yards a contest (375 total), with Jackson checking in at 60.4 (302 on the year). Junior kicker Juan Rodriguez is fourth in the league in scoring with six points a game (30 total). Jon Dowd leads the conference in kick-off returns with 25.5 per return and Patrick Fuller is third at 21.3. Cory Dickson is third in punting at 37.1. JT Gilmore ranks second in the GNAC in tackles with 10.2 per game (51 total), while Gavin Romanick is third (8.8) and Andrew Jackson is fourth (8.4). Matt Cox is tied for the league lead in quarterback sacks (1.1 a game), and the senior defensive tackles leads the loop in tackles for loss with 1.60 a game. Andrew Jackson and Miguel Gonzalez are tied for the GNAC lead in passes defended with 1.20 per game each. Bryan Huber is third with 0.80.

Ferguson facts: Head coach Arne Ferguson is in his fourth season at WOU as the program leader. He has also spent nearly a lifetime at the school as a player and as an assistant coach. The Vale, Oregon native was a three-time All-CFA defensive back for the Wolves from 1986-88, and began his coaching career at Western in 1989. He has been WOU's defensive coordinator since 1997. In Ferguson's first season at the helm in 2005, he took over a program that finished 1-9 the year previous and pushed them to a 5-6 mark, finishing the season on a three-game win streak. In 2006 they finished 6-4, with all four losses coming by a total of 21 points. His career head coaching mark is now 23-14.

Viking verbage: Western Washington opened the 2008 season with a 36-27 loss at home to the Wolves, but has since won two of three games, including GNAC victories over Humboldt State and Dixie State. WWU's only loss since then was to FCS member Eastern Washington, and the Vikings were tied with the Eagles heading into the fourth quarter. Last Saturday in Bellingham, the Vikings used a 27-yard field goal by Josh Lider as time expired to squeak past Dixie State, 29-27. Senior quarterback Adam Perry has been outstanding for WWU, averaging 309 yard per game while completing 63 percent of his passes. Last week, he found Pat McCann eight times for 232 yards, including three touchdowns. McCann now has 23 catches in four games, while 6-foot-5 target Travis McKee has 20 grabs. Randall Eldridge averages a league-best 87.3 yards rushing per game, and middle linebacker Caleb Jessup tops the GNAC with 12 tackles a game.

To the nines: WOU's nine wins in 2007 (9-2) was only the fourth nine-win season in 78 years of Western Oregon University football. The last one was a Bill McArthur club in 1976 (9-1). McArthur's 1975 squad also went 9-1, and his 1949 team holds WOU's top all-time mark at 9-0. Coach Arne Ferguson's Western Oregon football squad finished the 2007 season with a 26-12 Dixie Rotary Bowl victory over Colorado School of Mines on Dec. 1 in St. George, Utah.

GNAC in Super Regional Four: The NCAA has announced that the four regional names (for football) have been officially changed. The former Northeast Region is now known as Super Regional One, the Southeast is known as Super Regional Two, the Northwest is Super Regional Three and the Southwest is Super Regional Four. Last year the five current GNAC teams competed in the Northwest Region, but were moved to the Southwest (now Super Regional Four) this fall. The region will also include the Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Also making the move to the Southwest from the Northwest is Nebraska-Omaha, which is a now a member of the MIAA.

Oregon's team: Western Oregon has 98 players from the state of Oregon on its 2008 roster. 74 percent of the squad hails from the state, a percentage more than double of any other football roster in the Oregon University System. Here's the breakdown.
 *Western Oregon 74%
 *Portland State 32%
 *Eastern Oregon 31%
 *Southern Oregon 30%
 *Oregon State 29%
 *Oregon 16%