PHOTO GALLERY 1PHOTO GALLERY 2HIGHLIGHTS (Courtesy of WOU DPS)
ARNE FERGUSON POSTGAME
KAMAKANA APELU POSTGAMEHILLSBORO, Ore. – There were plenty of plays that the Western Oregon University football team could look back at from Saturday's 45-38 season-opening loss at FCS-opponent Portland State University, and think what could have been. But, the Wolves can also consider they had an FCS-opponent on the ropes for 48 minutes.
Western Oregon entered the game 1-17 all-time against FCS opponents, with the last victory coming 13 years ago. In front of a large contingent of Wolves' fans, WOU was tied with Portland State in the fourth quarter, and came up inches away on several occasions Saturday.
The Vikings (1-1) were able to produce through the air and on the ground, racking up 507 yards of total offense. Western Oregon countered mainly through the air, totaling 413 of its 430 yards by way of passing.
Ryan Bergman's 61 pass attempts were third most all-time in a single game at WOU, just four attempts shy of breaking the record. His 413 passing yards were fifth all-time, two away from equaling his own record. It was his fourth 400-yard passing game for Western Oregon. He completed 32 of his passes, which moved him into seventh all-time in career completions with 305. The senior threw three touchdowns, ran for a score, and did not throw an interception in his 61 attempts.
But, Bergman was sacked seven times, and the Wolves' ground game was halted in Hillsboro. While Portland State amassed 285 rushing yards, WOU was stymied to 17 on 26 attempts.
Two big offensive plays sandwiched the halftime break and seemed like the breakaway point of the game for the Vikings. Despite a pair of 17-point deficits in the game, Western Oregon rallied twice to even the score.
The Wolves (0-1) opened the game with a promising drive that stalled at the Portland State eight yard line. The Vikings then went 79 yards on eight plays to open the scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kieran McDonagh to Thomas Carter. PSU tacked on a 21-yard field goal on its following possession to lead 10-0 after the first quarter. The Vikings opened the margin to 17 points just into the second quarter after a four-yard rush from McDonagh.
Bergman got WOU on the scoreboard with a
crafty nine-yard scramble, which featured the Issaquah, Wash. native, rotating the ball around his waist to escape traffic. After forcing a PSU three-and-out, Western Oregon struck again on a 26-yard connection between Bergman and
Paul Revis.
On the first of two pivotal plays around the halftime break, McDonagh found Kasey Closs on a 48-yard hail mary as time expired in the first half. The second play came on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. Shaq Thompson took a handoff 70 yards to the WOU 10-yard line, before punching in a 10-yard run on the ensuing play.
The first of two fumbles ended the next WOU possession at the Wolves' 18 yard line. The Vikings failed to score any points from the turnover however. A 26-yard field goal miss by PSU fueled an eight-play 80-yard drive for Western Oregon. Bergman found
Kamakana Apelu on a 21-yard strike to trim the lead to 31-21 with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
On the first play of PSU's ensuing possession,
Breeon Moreno then forced a Viking fumble with a big hit that was recovered by
Jacob Marlatt on the Portland State 24-yard line. The Wolves marched all the way to the one-yard line, but only came away with a 23-yard field goal from
Jesse Correa. Another PSU three-and-out followed, and the Wolves evened the score just into the fourth quarter.
Joe Harris rushed up the middle for a three-yard score 30 seconds into the final period. The Wolves got another stop from its defense, but a fumble at midfield, resulted in a quick score for PSU. Paris Penn faked a handoff then raced 48 yards to the WOU endzone to give the Vikings the lead back with 11:05 remaining.
After a Western Oregon three-and-out, a 36-yard Penn to Closs touchdown connection completed a six-play 54-yard drive. Following another missed field goal, the Wolves had another chance trailing by two possessions. But, WOU couldn't find the endzone until a 48-yard touchdown connection between Bergman and Revis with 46 seconds left in regulation. The Wolves failed to grab the ensuing onside kick and PSU was able to run the final seconds off the clock.
Apelu had a big debut for the Wolves. The redshirt freshman caught nine passes for 131 yards. Revis had 109 yards on eight catches. He finished with 265 all-purpose yards.
Shane Kuenzi made a game-high 10 tackles, with six being solo. The Salem, Ore. native added a sack that resulted in a six-yard loss.
Richard ran for 151 yards on 14 carries. McDonagh was 13-of-25 for 166 yards passing. Closs caught six passes for 109 yards.
The Vikings committed 18 penalties that resulted in 146 yards. Western Oregon was penalized 10 times for 91 yards. The Wolves had 27 first downs to PSU's 20. WOU also had an advantage in time of possession at 33:04 to 26:56.
Western Oregon travels to Burnaby, B.C., for a matchup with Simon Fraser on Sept. 13. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live coverage will be available on WOUWolves.com.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Western Oregon...... 0 14 10 14 - 38 Record: (0-1)
Portland State...... 10 14 7 14 - 45 Record: (1-1)
Scoring Summary:
1st 10:04 PSU - Thomas Carter 10 yd pass from Kieran McDonagh (J. Gonzales kick), 8-79 2:09, WOU 0 - PSU 7
02:52 PSU - J. Gonzales 21 yd field goal, 12-60 4:10, WOU 0 - PSU 10
2nd 13:22 PSU - Kieran McDonagh 4 yd run (J. Gonzales kick), 11-46 3:01, WOU 0 - PSU 17
05:37 WOU - Bergman,Ryan 9 yd run (Correa,Jesse kick), 8-57 3:02, WOU 7 - PSU 17
00:29 WOU - Revis,Paul 26 yd pass from Bergman,Ryan (Correa,Jesse kick), 8-67 2:57, WOU 14 - PSU 17
00:00 PSU - Kasey Closs 48 yd pass from Kieran McDonagh (J. Gonzales kick), 3-63 0:21, WOU 14 - PSU 24
3rd 14:15 PSU - Shaq Richard 10 yd run (J. Gonzales kick), 2-80 0:39, WOU 14 - PSU 31
08:03 WOU - Apelu,Kamakana 21 yd pass from Bergman,Ryan (Correa,Jesse kick), 8-80 3:07, WOU 21 - PSU 31
05:29 WOU - Correa,Jesse 23 yd field goal, 5-18 2:20, WOU 24 - PSU 31
4th 14:30 WOU - Harris,Joe 3 yd run (Correa,Jesse kick), 10-84 3:49, WOU 31 - PSU 31
11:05 PSU - Paris Penn 48 yd run (J. Gonzales kick), 1-48 0:11, WOU 31 - PSU 38
07:29 PSU - Kasey Closs 36 yd pass from Paris Penn (J. Gonzales kick), 6-54 2:33, WOU 31 - PSU 45
00:46 WOU - Revis,Paul 48 yd pass from Bergman,Ryan (Correa,Jesse kick), 9-71 3:15, WOU 38 - PSU 45
WOU PSU
FIRST DOWNS................... 27 20
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 26-17 38-285
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 413 222
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 61-32-0 33-17-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 87-430 71-507
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 3-27 2-10
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 7-157 5-96
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 5-36.2 4-46.2
Fumbles-Lost.................. 4-2 2-1
Penalties-Yards............... 10-91 18-146
Possession Time............... 33:04 26:56
Third-Down Conversions........ 7 of 18 6 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 2 1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-4 4-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-6 7-46
RUSHING: Western Oregon-Penaranda,Nathaniel 7-17; Harris,Joe 6-12;
Bergman,Ryan 13-minus 12. Portland State-Shaq Richard 14-151; Paris Penn 5-58;
Kieran McDonagh 8-41; Nate Tago 6-31; Steven Long 2-8; Joshua Smith 1-0; TEAM
2-minus 4.
PASSING: Western Oregon-Bergman,Ryan 32-61-0-413. Portland State-Kieran
McDonagh 13-25-1-166; Paris Penn 4-8-0-56.
RECEIVING: Western Oregon-Apelu,Kamakana 9-131; Revis,Paul 8-109;
Thomas,Daniel 6-74; Williams,Tyrell 6-63; Fenumiai,Phillip 1-21;
Penaranda,Nathaniel 1-8; Harris,Joe 1-7. Portland State-Kasey Closs 6-109; Cam
Sommer 4-59; Alex Toureen 2-26; Thomas Carter 2-18; Shaq Richard 1-6; Nate Tago
1-4; Darnell Adams 1-0.
INTERCEPTIONS: Western Oregon-Hankins,Danny 1-0. Portland State-None.
FUMBLES: Western Oregon-Bergman,Ryan 4-2. Portland State-Darnell Adams
1-1; Nate Tago 1-0.
Stadium: Hillsboro Stadium Attendance: 4241
Kickoff time: 7:15 pm End of Game: 10:52 pm Total elapsed time: 3:37
Officials: Referee: Bruce Palmer; Umpire: Vic Winnek; Linesman: Bob Guerin;
Line judge: Kirk Mattson; Back judge: Chris Hawkes; Field judge: Bill Robers;
Side judge: Michael Hall;
Temperature: 90 Wind: NE 10-15 Weather: hot, dry, breezy
Western Oregon vs Portland State (Sep 06, 2014 at Hillsboro, OR) SACKS (UA-A): Western Oregon-Kuenzi,Shane 1-0. Portland State-Brandon Tobias 2-1; Sadat Sulleyman 1-1; Michael Doman 0-1; Corey Crowder 1-0; Dennis Taylor 0-1; Junior Alexis 1-0. TACKLES (UA-A): Western Oregon-Kuenzi,Shane 6-4; Johnson,Tyler 5-3; Akins,Kraig 4-4; Moreno,Breeon 3-2; Hankins,Danny 4-0; Marlatt,Jacob 2-1; Akina,Dominic 2-1; Garrett,Roger 1-2; Spencer,Austin 2-0; Swartzlender,George 1-1; Jackson,Max 1-1; Moore,Jeremy 1-1; Nelson,Kaleb 1-1; Naea,Tolu 0-2; Kluge,Michael 1-0; Westover,Trevor 1-0; Simkins,Dylan 1-0; Revis,Paul 1-0; Jones,Nathan 1-0; Nelson,Mitch 0-1. Portland State-Corey Crowder 5-3; P. Onwuasor 4-2; Jeremy Lutali 3-3; Brandon Tobias 4-1; Xavier Coleman 3-1; Sadat Sulleyman 3-1; Aaron Sibley 3-1; B. Brody-Heim 2-2; D. Jackson 3-0; D. Washington 3-0; Beau Duronslet 2-1; Chevy Walker 2-1; Junior Alexis 2-0; Daniel Fusi 2-0; Max Lyons 1-1; Michael Doman 1-1; Dennis Taylor 0-2; John Norcross 1-0; Joe Lopez 1-0; Dame Ndiaye 1-0; Zack Berg 1-0; Nick Rothstein 0-1; Rochon Taylor 0-1.
