Football | 11/7/2009 3:45:10 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - The high winds and pouring rain did not deter No. 2 Central Washington from posting an undefeated regular season, as the Wildcats came into McArthur Field and handed Western Oregon a 20-6 loss, Saturday (Nov. 7).

CWU, who had already wrapped up its fourth-straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, finished the regular season with a 6-0 conference record and a 11-0 mark overall. The loss evened the Wolves' record at 5-5 on the season and 3-3 in the GNAC.

Central Washington was able to get very strong performances from its defense and the running game as it grinded out the victory. The Wildcats' defense held Western Oregon to a season-low 31 yards on the ground and just 167 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, CWU was pounding the ball on the ground with 151 yards rushing, including 78 by GNAC rushing leader Randall Eldridge.

"Central Washington ran the ball very well and were able to rattle off a couple big plays," explained WOU head coach Arne Ferguson. "Their offensive line is very big and they played very well today."

That same line also able to keep pass protection for quarterback Cole Morgan, who completed 11-of-18 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. He also get the scoring started as he ran the ball in from 14 yards out on a delayed quarterback keeper to put CWU up 6-0 midway through the first quarter.

That score would stand until through halftime, but the Wildcats then found paydirt on their first two possessions of the second half to take the commanding 20-0 lead. The first score came on a slant pass to Johnny Spevak, who caught the ball across the middle and broke two tackles on his way to the endzone. The second score came thanks to a short field for CWU. After a Western Oregon punt travelled only 11 yards, Central Washington took over at the WOU 15 and after three rushes by Eldridge they punched it in from seven yards out.

The Wolves would put together its only scoring drive of the day late in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 20-6 with 3:20 remaining but it was too late.

The weather conditions seemed to hurt the Western Oregon offense especially in the first half where it put up only 50 yards. Josh Riddell went 15-of-30 passing for 136 yards and a score, but 89 yards and nine of the completions came in the fourth quarter. However, with those 15 completions and 30 attempts he became the Wolves' single-season record-holder in both categories. Sean Fullerton and Shaun Kauleinamoku were the top targets for Riddell with four receptions apiece and DJ Jackson led the team on the ground with 17 carries for 26 yards.

Defensively, John Breza established a career-high with 12 tackles while Caleb Singleton and Andy Jackson chipped in with 10 apiece. Lineman Mike Petrovich had a big game as he recorded 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack to go along with a fumble recovery.

Another often overlooked aspect of football which showed up in today's contest in the importance of the punting game and the way it affects field position. Central Washington average starting field position was their own 40 yardline.

"Their punter punted betters than ours today," said Ferguson flatly. "We were working with bad field position for most of the game while they were able to take advantage of some very short fields."

This was also senior day for 16 Western Oregon seniors John Breza, Braden Bangay, Andy Douglas, Jon Dowd, Michael Dyer, Jose Escobedo, Sean Fullerton, Ty Gieser, Andy Jackson, Miguel Gonzalez, Shaun Kauleinamoku, Ben Kuenzi, Bryan Huber, Spencer Perry, Josh Riddell and Gavin Romanick.