ELLENSBURG, Wash. – There is something about Tomlinson Stadium.
 
The Western Oregon football team has not won there since 1998 and the streak continued as Central Washington came out aggressive and capitalized on WOU miscues en route to a 35-0 GNAC victory on Saturday (Oct. 15).
 
The Wolves (3-4, 2-3 GNAC) were held to 35 total yards in wet conditions in the first half and did not move the sticks on their first six possessions. A pass interference call on the Wildcats (5-2, 4-1 GNAC) with seven minutes left in the second quarter extended the longest drive of the half – a 12-play effort spanning 60 yards before a rush from quarterback Phillip Fenumiai came up yards short on the marker on fourth down.
 
Central Washington scored twice in the first quarter to seize momentum on touchdown grabs by tight end Kyle Self (17 yards) and receiver Christian Gasca (35 yards) to lead 14-0. A third passing touchdown, this time to Brian O'Donnell for nine yards pushed the halftime lead to 21-0.
 
The Wolves forced a pair of takeaways early in the third quarter with an Austin Spencer forced fumble – recovered by Logan Krupp – and an interception by Derek Parnell in the red zone, but WOU could not capitalize with points.  
 
Both teams had ball control issues in a scoreless third quarter with snaps in the shotgun formations squirting and sailing away.
 
The score would remain the same until the fourth quarter when the Wildcats took a short field and pulled out a screen pass to an offensive tackle before a three-yard rushing score from Christian Cummings extended their lead to 28-0.
 
A final statement came from the CWU defense as a 98-yard interception return for Tyren Sams stymied Western Oregon's best offensive drive of the second half. Fenumiai hit Paul Revis twice for 11 and 39 yards respectively to set up a first-and-goal look at the four. After a pair of rushes, Fenumiai's pass on third down was tipped and, ultimately, picked by Sams.
 
The Western Oregon offense accounted for 107 yards for the game. Fenumiai threw 71 yards on 9-of-27 passing with one interception and was sacked five times. Torreahno Sweet had 14 rushes for 37 yards while Revis led the WOU receivers with four grabs for 59 yards.
 
Bo Highburger had 11 tackles, including one for loss, to lead the Wolves' defense. Tafatolu Tafai and Jeremy Moore each had six stops, with Moore pacing the club with three stops behind the line of scrimmage.
 
Western Oregon returns home for Homecoming and Senior Day. The matchup with Humboldt State on Oct. 22 will have a special 12:30 p.m. kickoff with national television coverage on American Sports Network.