Football | 9/21/2013 5:07:00 PM

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Quarterback Ryan Bergman threw for 417 yards and tied a school record with six touchdowns as the Western Oregon football team cruised to a 51-32 victory over Dixie State in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest on Saturday. With the win, WOU improved to 1-2 on the season, 1-1 in league play, while Dixie State falls to 0-3 overall, 0-2 in conference action.

Bergman tossed the most touchdown passes for the Wolves since 1957, throwing six on the day, tying the school record set by Jim Bowlen in a win over Lower Columbia. The signal-caller connected on touchdown throws of 34, 1, 12, 76, 9 and 20 as the Wolves gained 509 yards of total offense on the day.

Bergman and the Wolves got off to a fast start, scoring the first 14 points of the contest for the early lead. Antoinne Wafer got the scoring started when Bergman connected with him on a 34-yard pass with 11:11 remaining to give WOU a 7-0 lead.

Following Bergman's one-yard pass to Nathan Penaranda to make the score 14-0 in the first, Dixie State responded with 12 unanswered points in the second quarter as the Wolves took a slim, two-point lead into halftime.

After the break, WOU exploded on a 34-6 run as the Wolves grabbed control of the contest. Joe Harris provided the big-play highlight as he took a short pass from Bergman and took it 76-yards to the house to give the Wolve a 28-12 lead.

Leighton Panui capped the scoring run as his one-yard plunge gave the Wolves a 48-18 lead and put any hopes of a Dixie State comeback to bed.

After DSC scored a pair of late touchdowns, Jesse Correa capped the scoring with a 36-yard field goal with 53 seconds left to give the Wolves a 51-32 lead.

Michael Reeve and Wafer capped a solid day by the WOU receivers as the duo caught six passes each to lead the Wolves. Reeve finished the day with 121 yards receiving to lead all players.

Defensively, Shane Kuenzi led WOU with 11 tackles while Jeremy Austin-Moore picked off a Dixie State pass and returned it 59 yards to set up a Wolves score.

Robles led Dixie State in the loss, completing 39-of-59 for 336 yards and four touchdowns.

WOU will return to action on Saturday, Sept, 28, as the Wolves travel to Burnaby, B.C., to take on Simon Fraser at 12:30 p.m.