PHOTO GALLERY | HIGHLIGHTS

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University football team held off Dixie State University to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference Saturday, 19-14.
 
The Wolves (3-3, 1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) scored the first 16 points of the game, but had to fight off a DSU rally for the victory. WOU netted 436 yards of total offense and held the Red Storm to 257. Western Oregon possessed the ball nearly double the amount of its counterpart (39:36-20:24), and had a 26 to 11 advantage in first downs. The Wolves had 86 offensive plays to DSU's 51.
 
Trey Shimabukuro completed 24 of his 37 pass attempts for 303 yards to lead WOU. Paul Revis caught nine passes for 121 yards. The redshirt freshman entered the game fourth in NCAA Div. II averaging 203 all-purpose yards per game. He finished with 206 Saturday. Nathaniel Penaranda became the first WOU player to run for 100 yards in a single game this season. He finished with 110 yards on 18 carries.
 
Jesse Correa opened the scoring with a 21-yard field goal on the Wolves' first possession. Shimabukuro connected with Revis near the end of the first quarter on a 28-yard touchdown pass. With 9:13 remaining in the second quarter, Shimabukuro threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Williams. It completed an 11-play 82-yard drive.
 
Dixie State's Nathan Perry then picked up a Shimabukuro fumble and ran in an 11-yard score with 6:38 left in the first half. Ben Longshore and Conor Sklarsky had a seven-yard pass-and-catch for the opening score of the second half. Correa's 24-yard field goal with 6:43 remaining in regulation proved to be the deciding margin.
 
Breeon Moreno made a key interception for the Wolves on Dixie State's final drive. The Red Storm marched to the WOU 24-yard line, when on a fourth-and-five, Moreno picked off a Longshore pass on the Western Oregon four-yard line. Penaranda and the Wolves then ran out the clock.
 
Along with his interception, Moreno recovered a fumble. Kraig Akins and Jonathan Breland both made five tackles to lead WOU. Zac Christian made a game-high 11 tackles to lead the Red Storm. He also intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards. Jake Miller and Pauli Latu both had 10 tackles.
 
Dixie State's (0-6, 0-2 GNAC) Longshore finished 15-for-27 for 216 yards. Hayden Gavett led the Red Storm with 27 yards rushing on six carries, while Nate Stephens caught four passes for 57 yards.
 
The Wolves have won all eight contests all-time over DSU in Monmouth. Western Oregon has won four straight over the Red Storm, and holds a 13-2 lead in the all-time series.
 
Western Oregon returns to the road next week as it travels to Ellensburg, Wash., to face Central Washington (3-3, 2-1). The Wildcats won at South Dakota Mikes Saturday, 61-34. The Wolves defeated CWU in Monmouth on Sept. 20, 36-34. Next Saturday's start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live video and stats will be available on WOUWolves.com.

 

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Dixie State.........  0  7  7  0  - 14       Record: (0-6,0-2)
Western Oregon......  9  7  0  3  - 19       Record: (3-3,1-0)

Scoring Summary:
1st 08:59 WOU - Correa,Jesse 21 yd field goal, 14-71 6:01, DIXIE 0 - WOU 3
    02:27 WOU - Revis,Paul 28 yd pass from Shimabukuro,Trey (Correa,Jesse kick failed), 7-62 3:26, DIXIE 0 - WOU 9
2nd 09:13 WOU - Williams,Tyrell 3 yd pass from Shimabukuro,Trey (Correa,Jesse kick), 11-82 4:32, DIXIE 0 - WOU 16
    06:38 DIXIE - Perry 11 yd fumble recovery (Giordani kick), , DIXIE 7 - WOU 16
3rd 10:50 DIXIE - Sklarsky 7 yd pass from Longshore (Giordani kick), 5-43 1:38, DIXIE 14 - WOU 16
4th 06:43 WOU - Correa,Jesse 24 yd field goal, 13-49 4:58, DIXIE 14 - WOU 19

                                  DIXIE      WOU
FIRST DOWNS...................       11       26
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    23-37   49-133
PASSING YDS (NET).............      220      303
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  28-16-1  37-24-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   51-257   86-436
Fumble Returns-Yards..........     1-11      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      0-0     3-12
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     4-58     2-61
Interception Returns-Yards....     1-29     1--1
Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-31.4   1-32.0
Fumbles-Lost..................      3-2      1-1
Penalties-Yards...............     2-20     7-41
Possession Time...............    20:24    39:36
Third-Down Conversions........  6 of 12  7 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   2 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      1-2      3-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-26     2-22
RUSHING: Dixie State-Gavett 6-27; Davis 5-18; Burton 9-11; Stephens 1-3;
Longshore 2-minus 22. Western Oregon-Penaranda,Nathaniel 18-110; Harris,Joe
3-26; Simkins,Dylan 15-18; Revis,Paul 1-12; Apelu,Kamakana 1-6; Panui,Leighton
2-5; Soh,Ambrose 1-0; TEAM 2-minus 3; Shimabukuro,Trey 6-minus 41.

PASSING: Dixie State-Longshore 15-27-1-216; Gavett 1-1-0-4. Western
Oregon-Shimabukuro,Trey 24-37-1-303.

RECEIVING: Dixie State-Stephens 4-57; Johnson,B. 3-61; Morton 3-43; Davis
2-4; Groskreutz 1-34; Smith,J. 1-14; Sklarsky 1-7; Burton 1-0. Western
Oregon-Revis,Paul 9-121; Williams,Tyrell 7-52; Apelu,Kamakana 6-98;
Thomas,Daniel 2-32.

INTERCEPTIONS: Dixie State-Christian 1-29. Western Oregon-Moreno,Breeon
1-minus 1.

FUMBLES: Dixie State-Burton 1-0; Smith,J. 1-1; Davis 1-1. Western
Oregon-Shimabukuro,Trey 1-1.

Stadium: McArthur Field        Attendance: 2547
Kickoff time: 1:05 pm   End of Game: 3:42 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:37
Officials: Referee: Brent Baumann; Umpire: Mike Murff; Linesman: Gavin Anderson;
Line judge: Daniel Stivers; Back judge: William Fuller; Field judge: Richard Ross;
Side judge: Eric Cheatley;
Temperature: 68 deg.   Wind:           Weather: sunny w/ clouds