WESTERN OREGON FOOTBALL
Game 8 –Western Oregon (2-5, 1-4 GNAC) at #23 Humboldt State (5-1, 4-1 GNAC)
6 p.m. - Saturday, Oct. 21
Redwood Bowl | Arcata, Calif.
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MONMOUTH, Ore.—Back on the road, the Western Oregon University football team will face its second straight top-25 test by traveling to play No. 23-ranked Humboldt State University on Oct. 21. Kick off against the Lumberjacks sis set for 6 p.m. at the Redwood Bowl.  

RECENT SERIES HISTORY: CWU holds a 5-4 edge in the series since 2013… The Wildcats defeated the Wolves in overtime, 49-48, in Monmouth earlier this season… WOU left Arcata with a win in the last road battle between the two teams, taking a 48-42 victory on Sept. 24, 2016.

WOU vs. HSU Date Winner Score Location *09/23/17 Humboldt State 49-48 Monmouth *10/22/16 Humboldt State 42-37 Monmouth *09/24/16 Western Oregon 48-42 Arcata *11/14/15 Humboldt State 29-13 Monmouth *09/05/15 Humboldt State 29-20 Arcata *11/08/14 Western Oregon 33-31 Monmouth *09/27/14 Humboldt State 34-16 Arcata *11/16/13 Western Oregon 32-26 Arcata *10/12/13 Western Oregon 38-21 Monmouth *GNAC

ABOUT HUMBOLDT STATE (6-0, 4-0 GNAC): The Lumberjacks jumped three spot sin the national DII poll this week to move to No. 22 in the country following a 52-49 win over Azusa Pacific… The Jacks' lone loss of the season was a 55-27 setback against No. 13-ranked CWU on Oct. 7… HSU has outscored its opponents 47-7 to 33.0 this season… Ja'Quan Gardner has a record-breaking day against APU last week with 446 all-purpose yards six total touchdowns… Gardner rushed for 293 yards on 31 carries and returned five kicks for 150 yards and a score… Gardner holds GNAC career records in touchdowns (64), all-purpose yards (6,366) and rushing yards (5,214)… Quarterback Robert Webber leads the GNAC with 293.3 yards passing per game and holds a league-leading 192.0 efficiency rating.

DUCKWORTH CLIMBING THE RANKS: Senior quarterback Nick Duckworth has landed in the elite groups of NCAA DII signal callers: Through seven games, Duckworth is ranked in the top 25 in several NCAA DII categories: No. 18 in passing touchdowns (16), No. 22 in passing yards (1,799) and No. 25 in passing yards per game (257).

REVIS LEADS DII: In six games this season, senior Paul Revis has hauled in 72 catches for 821 yards…  His 10.3 receptions per game average leads NCAA DII with the next best rate 9.3 receptions per game by Shepards's Ryan Feiss... Revis' 821 receiving yards is good for No. 6 and his 118.0 yards per game mark is good for No. 7 in the nation.

JOHNSON GNAC POW (Sept. 25): Tyler Johnson came up with 17 tackles, two tackles for loss and forced a fumble, which later resulted in a touchdown, against Humboldt State on Sept. 23. Johnson also had an interception in the fourth quarter. His 17 tackles was tied for the sixth most in a single game in WOU history.

SALDANA, ANDERSON GNAC POWS (Sept. 18): After a 58-21 win at Western New Mexico State, WOU junior Adrian Saldana and redshirt freshman Curtis Anderson were named the GNAC Players of the Week… Anderson earned the defensive honor after recording seven tackles (3 solo, 4 assists) and picking off two passes… Anderson's second interception was returned 72 yards for a touchdown… Saldana scored 14 points to earn the Special Team Player of the Week honor… Saldana made 3-of-4 on field goal attempts, including a 38-yarder, and was 5-of-5 on extra points.  

HIGHBURGER GNAC POW (Sept. 11): Senior linebacker Bo Highburger was tabbed as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11 after his performance against Central Washington University… Highburger totaled 10 tackles, including one sack and a fumble recovery in the 30-23 loss in Ellensburg… Highburger returned the fumble recovery 79 yards for a touchdown to help the Wolves recover from a 24-3 deficit and finish within a single score of the Wildcats.

OFFENSIVE RETURNERS: WOU returns a pair of quarterbacks with starting experience with Nick Duckworth and Phillip Fenumiai returning for their senior seasons… Duckworth led the team with 1,387 passing yards and 10 touchdowns while Fenumiai paced the team with 480 rushing yards… The team's top two receivers return in Paul Revis and Keoni Piceno… Revis led the GNAC with 70 receptions and 1,057 yards… Piceno caught 34 passes for 333 yards… Several familiar faces are also back along the offensive line with Brad Christensen (7 starts), Bryson Dizon (8 starts) and Ron Rose (8 starts) back in the mix.

DEFENSIVE RETURNERS: Linebackers Tyler Johnson and Bo Highburger headline the defensive side of the ball with both players starting all 10 games… Highburger finished the year with a team-high 111 tackles (63 solo) while Johnson tallied 65 tackles (37 solo) and five sacks… Nathan Jones, Trebriel Larry and Derek Parnell return as the most experienced defensive backs with all three receiving multiple starting assignments a year ago.

GNAC PRESEASON POLL: Western Oregon was picked to finish fourth according to the GNAC Coaches' Preseason Poll… Defending champion Azusa Pacific received all five first-place votes to lead the pack… Central Washington and Humboldt State went second and third in the poll while Simon Fraser was picked to place fifth.

2016 RECAP: WOU finished 2016 with a 4-6 overall record and a 3-5 mark in GNAC contests… The Wolves opened the season with a 38-30 win at NCAA DI Sacramento State with WOU outgaining the Hornets 180 to 133 on the ground… WOU also played at NCAA DI Montana State to complete its non-conference schedule… The Wolves went 2-2 in the first half of GNAC play with a 48-42 win at then No. 24-ranked Humboldt State.

Game #7 Recap: #10 Central Washington def. Western Oregon, 42-0
Nursing a 7-0 lead midway through the second quarter, No. 10-ranked Central Washington scored 21 points before the break en route to 1 42-0 win at McArthur Field on Oct. 14… The Wildcats outgains the home team 474 to 261 with quarterback Reilly Hennessey accounting for 364 yards in the air and 33 yards on the ground… Hennessey completed 24-of-32 attempts and tossed five touchdown passes…WOU was led by Taylor Poyadue with 75 yards on 18 carries on the ground and Paul Revis with 96 yards on eight catches. 

Game #6 Recap: Western Oregon def. Simon Fraser, 82-21
WOU tied a GNAC record with 11 touchdowns while quarterback Nick Duckworth tied a WOU and GNAC all-time single-game mark with six touchdown passes in an 82-21 win over Simon Fraser on Oct. 7… Keoni Piceno scored on a pair of 56-yard catches to lead the receiving group with 112 yards… Taylor Poyadue carried the ball 13 times for 130 yards while kicker Adrian Saldana scored 16 points on the dafter going 10-for-11 on extra points and 2-for-2 in field goal attempts (23 & 35 yards)… The Wolves scored on a blocked punt in the first quarter and on a 55-yard interception return by Trebriel Larry in the fourth quarter.

Game #5 Recap: Azusa Pacific def. Western Oregon, 48-17
Tied 17-17 in the third quarter, Azusa Pacific scored 31 unanswered point to defeat Western Oregon on Sept. 30... The Cougars did not commit a turnover and forced three WOU interceptions... AZU scored on five of its seven possessions in the second half... Nick Duckworth completed 17-of-38 passing attempts for 174 yards... Paul Revis caught nine passes for 101 yards.

Game #4 Recap: #16 Humboldt State def. Western Oregon, 49-48
In the first GNAC overtime game since 2014, Humboldt State survived an Oregon road trip after a missed extra point in the first session of overtime on Sept. 23… Paul Revis caught 15 passes for 176 yards, both No. 2 single-season bests for the senior… Nick Duckworth completed 33-of-50 passes for 382 yards and four touchdowns… WOU scored 28 straight points to take a 35-14 lead just after the halftime break, only to see HSU score touchdowns on four of five possessions late in the second half to take the lead… HSU ran the ball five straight times in overtime and scored on a 3-yard Garder TD run… On 3rd-and 15 in WOU's overtime possession, Duckworth tossed a 30-yard touchdown to Paul Revis to match the Lumberjacks before the failed extra point attempt.

Game #3 Recap: Western Oregon def. Western New Mexico, 58-21
With a pair of interceptions returned for a touchdown, WOU picked up its first win of the year on the road in Silver City, N.M. on Sept. 16… The Wolves put up 33 points in the second quarter alone to generate a first-half lead… Nick Duckworth completed 17-of-24 passing attempts for 293 yards and four touchdowns… Two of his touchdown tosses went to Zack, Suarez, including a 61-yard strike in the second quarter to go up 30-7.

Game #2 Recap: Central Washington def. Western Oregon, 30-23
Central Washington jumped out to a 24-3 lead with 10 minutes to play in the second half but a 79-yard fumble return by Bo Highburger sparked a late rally for the Wolves… Nick Duckworthfound Torreahno Sweet for a 57-yard strike with five minutes remaining to pull within a single score, but a CWU recovery on the ensuing on-side kick prevented the continued comeback attempt… The game was moved from Ellensburg due to reduced air quality from wild fires in the region… The game was played north of Seattle in Bothell, Washington.

Game #1 Recap: Idaho State de. Western Oregon, 37-6
Looking to topple an NCAA DI program for the second straight season, the Wolves held a 6-3 lead at the half at Idaho State in the season opener… The Bengals scored touchdowns on five straight possessions in the second half to pull away… WOU quarterback Nick Duckworth ended the day with 288 yards passing on 27 of 55 attempts… On the receiving end, Paul Revis caught 13 passes for 137 yards