MONMOUTH, Ore. – A 41-yard touchdown by Nathaniel Penaranda late in the fourth quarter helped Western Oregon University's football team complete its home schedule undefeated following a 33-31 victory over nationally-ranked Humboldt State Saturday in Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play at McArthur Field.

Leading by two points (26-24) late in the fourth quarter, Western Oregon (5-5, 3-2 GNAC) took over on offense and proceeded to drive 48 yards on two plays capped by Penaranda's longest run of the afternoon that resulted in his second touchdown of the season.

Despite Humboldt State (7-2, 3-2 GNAC) going 82 yards on five plays in 57 seconds resulting in a touchdown that brought the Lumberjacks back within two points (33-31), Western Oregon recovered the ensuing on-side kick and ran out the clock for its fifth victory of the season and a perfect 4-0 record at home this year.

"[It was] up and down," said Head Coach Arne Ferguson about today's win. "Humboldt is a very good team, so it took us a while for the offense to score a few points, and they did a really nice job on that. Our [defensive] line came out really strong. We let some passes get by us, and we're still growing in that area. It was a very close game, but at the end, we really felt that our offense came through, our defense came through in very critical situations, and our special teams did a nice job. Overall, it was a very good team win against a very good opponent."

Ryan Bergman closed out his career in front of the Wolf Pack with a 335-yard performance on 28-of-54 with three touchdowns, as the 6-foot-2 senior gunslinger is now only four touchdowns shy of tying the all-time career mark in program history held by former WOU quarterback Mark Thorson (2004-07).

Along with Bergman, Penaranda finished with 36 yards rushing to go along with a 94-yard receiving performance on four catches by Tyrell Williams that included a 72-yard touchdown in the third quarter. James DePew also caught five passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, while Daniel Thomas concluded the game with 56 yards on five catches with a touchdown.

Defensively for the Wolves, Trebriel Larry and Jonathan Breland led WOU with 11 tackles. Larry had four tackles for loss, while Breland had three tackles for loss, one forced fumble, and one sack. In his final game in front of the home crowd, Kraig Akins tallied 10 tackled and registered a game-high tying two sacks for the Wolves resulting in 23 yards lost offensively for HSU.

Robert Webber led HSU's offense with 371 yard passing on 29-for-42 with three touchdowns, as Cass White and Chase Krivashei combined for 214 yard receiving with one touchdown. Kelechi Nwadibia also registered 73 yards on a pair of catches that included a 39-yard touchdown for the game's final points.

Nick Ricciardulli led all players with 80 yards rushing to go along with one touchdown, while Taylor MItchell and Silas Sarvinski led the Lumberjacks' defense with seven tackles each to go along with a pair of sacks by Sarvinski.

In a defensive-minded opening quarter, Western Oregon would get on the board first when Michael Kluge picked up a HSU fumble at the seven yard line and ran it in for the first touchdown of his career resulting in a 6-0 lead for the Wolves after WOU's extra point was blocked.

Humboldt State would fight back in the second quarter when Webber found Krivashei on a 25-yard touchdown at 5:45 to cap a four-play, 54-yard drive that took just over one minute off the clock. The Lumberjacks would take their only lead of the afternoon following the extra points, as HSU grabbed a 7-6 lead late in the first half.

With five seconds left in the opening half, Bergman connected with Thomas on a 21-yard touchdown that capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive in two minutes and 16 seconds. Bergman's pass down the middle of the field found Thomas in stride, as the Wolves took a 13-6 lead into halftime.

The third quarter would see 24 combined points scored, as Matt Bruder connected on a 34-yard field goal with 12:55 left on the clock that pulled HSU within three points (13-10).

Just over six minutes later, Bergman found DePew on a 15-yard touchdown to increase Western Oregon's lead to 19-10.

Less than three minutes later, Bergman completed his longest pass of the afternoon when he found Williams down the sideline with a 72-yard touchdown that pushed the Wolves' lead to 26-10 with 3:41 left in the third quarter. On the long touchdown, Bergman founded Williams in stride with a perfectly placed pass that allowed the senior wide receiver to outrun HSU's defense for the 21st touchdown of his career.

Humboldt State would quickly answered Western Oregon's back-to-back touchdowns with a 19-yard scoring pass between Webber and Jamarie Sanders that capped a three-play, 60-yard drive in 45 seconds. Webber would connect with Nwadibia on a two-point conversion that brought the Lumberjacks within eight points (26-18).

Nearly eight minutes into the fourth quarter, Ricciardulli converted a one-yard touchdown run after Webber found Krivashei with a 10-yard pass down to the Western Oregon one-yard line. Riccardulli's score followed by Bruder's extra point pulled HSU within two points (26-24) with 7:16 left on the clock to set up a wild final seven-plus minutes that included Penaranda and Nwadibia's touchdowns.

As a team, Western Oregon combined for 366 yards of total offense compared to Humboldt State's 396 yards of total offense. The difference in the game was Humboldt State's three lost fumbles, as both teams combined for almost 220 penalty yards.

When asked his last game in front of the home crowd, Williams said, "It's bittersweet since we won, but it feels good. It's sad, but we got one more, so hopefully we can win that one and finish on a good note."

Western Oregon will close out the regular season on Saturday, November 15, against South Dakota Mines beginning at 1:00 p.m. MT in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Looking forward to next week's match up against South Dakota Mines, Ferguson stated, "Obviously we go into every game expecting to win. We expect our [defensive] line to continue doing a great job and the development of them. Our [defensive backs] are going to have to continue to get better. We started some new guys for the first time this game. They did a nice job, but they need to gain more experience and be able to attack the ball with deeper passes."