MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon Wolves lost their second straight home game to open the season, falling 50-17 on Saturday to the No. 16-ranked Central Washington University Wildcats at McArthur Field.
Central Washington (1-1, 1-0 GNAC) managed to outscore the Wolves in each quarter and posted a 12-3 lead after the first.

On their first possession of the game, Western Oregon (0-2, 0-1 GNAC) was forced to punt, but could not get it away cleanly. The snap from their own 26 flew past punter Nate Osborn into the end zone where Osborn was forced to kick it out the back for a safety.

On the ensuing possession, the Wildcats got themselves deep into WOU territory with a series of big passes from quarterback Reilly Hennessey. The senior from Camas, Washington hit Ryan Ramones for 37 yards for his first catch of the day to get across the 50. After creeping all the way to the Wolves' five-yard line for a first down, the Wildcats were pushed back by an illegal motion penalty and a sack that forced them to settle for a 36-yard field goal, stretching their lead to 5-0.

Hennessey went 17-for-28 through the air for 275 yards and one touchdown for CWU.

Western Oregon pulled back within two points on their next possession. Ty Currie connected with Tyjuan Prince for a 31-yard reception, advancing to the CWU 22. Adrian Saldana punched through his 33-yard field goal attempt four plays later to get the Wolves on the board.

The Wolves generated another field goal attempt to try and take their first lead of the game, but the attempt was blocked and returned 31 yards for a touchdown by CWU's Chaz McKenzie. That touchdown began a run of 21 consecutive points scored by the Wildcats.

The next two touchdowns were run in on short-yardage plays; one from Zach Floyd and the other from Michael Roots. For Floyd, his five-yard touchdown run was his only rushing attempt of the day.

WOU's first touchdown came on their longest throw of the day. With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Currie found Anthony Bradley for a 44-yard touchdown pass.

Ty Currie passed for 125 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions on Saturday. He was 11-of-25 on pass attempts.

Central Washington took a 33-10 lead into the locker room after scoring late in the second quarter.

Western Oregon lost two fumbles in the first half, giving up 14 points off turnovers. Omari Land had nine rushes for 61 yards in the opening half. This comes a week after the Wolves' rushing attack was held to just 37 yards Sept. 1 against Angelo State.

The second half saw CWU outscore WOU 17-7 with the Wolves' lone second-half touchdown coming on an impressive series on the ground. Four rushes of 10 or more yards culminated in the 27-yard sprint of Bradley for his second touchdown of the day.

Jaylin Parnell forced the only fumble of the day for the defense, recovered by Isaiah Molden on Western's 29. The resulting series ended in a turnover on downs.

The Wolves outgained the Wildcats by 58 on the ground with 218 total rushing yards. Omari Land led all rushers with 110 yards on 20 carries. Nico Jackson added on another 49 yards on his 11 runs.

The offensive attack from WOU found several avenues to work through. Four separate receivers made catches of at least 10 yards in the game and four rushers had a single gain of at least 16 yards.
Dominic Akina led the defense with 11 total tackles, six of which were solo and added one tackle for a loss.

Western Oregon will play their third consecutive home game on Sept. 15 when it hosts Azusa Pacific University. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. at McArthur Field in Monmouth.