Football | 11/13/2010 5:50:59 PM

Box Score [Box score]

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Demario Ballard had 107 receiving yards and Trevor Gates chipped in with 104 but it would not be enough as Central Washington defeated Western Oregon, 21-16, in front of 2,954 fans at on Saturday (Nov. 13) at Tomlinson Stadium.

The win secured sole possession of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship for the Wildcats (8-3, 7-1 GNAC), their sixth in the eight-year history of the conference. The Wolves (7-4, 5-3 GNAC) have now lost 14 straight games in the series dating back to 2001.

Ryan Robertson led the offense for the Wildcats, as he completed 26-of-42 passes for 299 yards passing and two touchdowns. He hooked up with Justin Helwege on seven of those completions for 132 yards and both scores through the air.

Western Oregon had to battle from behind the entire day as Central Washington opened up a 9-0 lead in the first quarter thanks to a touchdown strike to Helwege and a field goal by Sean Davis.

Kelly Morgan got the Wolves on the board for the first time this season against CWU with a field goal at the 12:06 mark in the second quarter. This ended a scoreless drought that lasted over five quarters for WOU against the Wildcats this season. Central Washington would tack on a field goal before the half and lead 12-2 at intermission.

The Wildcats then came out on their first possession of the season half and, thanks to two long pass plays, marched down the field in three plays to take their largest lead of the game at 19-3.

Western Oregon would make a valiant comeback effort in the fourth quarter to make the game close and give itself a chance at the win. Lucas Gonsalves proved the initial spark the Wolves were looking for all game with a 64-yard punt return to put them at the Wildcats' 10 yard line early in the fourth. After a run and two passes to Ballard got WOU to the one yard line, Cory Bean punched it in on a fourth-down run to bring the Wolves within 10 at 19-9. However, they still had a chance to cut it to eight points with a two-point conversion, but Bean's pass was picked off and returned the length of the field by linebacker Paul Wright to give two more points to the Wildcats.

After a defensive stand by the Wolves inside their own red zone and an interception by Isaiah Buchanan gave the ball back to WOU, Bean completed a 19 yard pass to Gates and had a 60-yard touchdown pass to Ballard to put the score at 21-16 in favor of CWU with 4:28 remaining in the game.

Despite the possible swing in momentum, Central Washington would not be deterred from its fifth straight conference crown. Robertson completed 4-of-5 passes and Bryson Kelly had 31 rushing yards, including a 26 yard carry, on the ensuing drive. The Wildcats also converted on all three of its third down attempts to take the clock down to 34 seconds.

Bean then tried to lead the Wolves down the field for the score but a sack by Taylor Tanasse sealed the game for Central Washington.

Turnovers plagued Western Oregon throughout the contest as it had two passes intercepted and lost three fumbles. Meanwhile, CWU turned the ball over just twice. WOU ended the season with a minus-nine in turnover margin.

With its back against the all in many situations the Western Oregon defense played very well. Caleb Singleton ended his fantastic career at Western Oregon with a 17-tackle performance to set a new career-high and tie two others for the GNAC's season-best performance. Bryce Peila and Scotland Foss also came through with 10 tackles apiece. Defensively, WOU shut down the Wildcats on the ground, holding them 50 yards below their season average. It also held Kelly, who came into the contest averaging 109.4 yards rushing, to just 73 yards on the ground.

On the flip side of that coin, Central Washington played even better defensively. It limited Western Oregon to a meager five yards rushing on 22 attempts and sacked the quarterback four times, to go along with forcing five turnovers. It also held WOU to just 2-of-12 on third down conversions.

Cory Bean received his first-ever start for Western Oregon and threw for 236 yards and a touchdown as he completed 14-of-31 passes. Bean was listed as the third quarterback on the depth chart just four weeks ago but injuries to two other quarterbacks lifted him into the starting role.

During the game, Central Washington ran 31 more offensive plays than Western Oregon (85-54) and outgained the Wolves 394-241 in total offense.