Joey Sinclair
Amanda Loman
42
Winner Central Wash. CWU 3-4 , 2-1
41
Western Ore. WOU 4-3 , 3-1
Winner
Central Wash. CWU
3-4 , 2-1
42
Final
41
Western Ore. WOU
4-3 , 3-1
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT F
CWU Central Wash. 7 14 0 14 7 42
WOU Western Ore. 14 14 7 0 6 41

Game Recap: Football | | Brian Kortz

Football Plays Wild Overtime Game With Wildcats Featuring 83 Combined Points

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The game featured just about everything. If 60 minutes and four quarters weren't enough, the teams then went into overtime. After Central Washington scored to open the extra session, Western Oregon responded with a nine-play drive to pull to within one. The Wolves elected to go for two and the pass was knocked down at the goal line to give the Wildcats a 42-41 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory Saturday as McArthur Field.

"Obviously very important game against a good opponent and we had the ball to win it for the second time this year. I thought their QB (Christian Moore) played well and I think our guys wanted to be too successful on their own instead of for the team," Head Coach Arne Ferguson said.  "At the end of the day, nice to have the chance for us to win. We were able to make some plays when we needed it on defense and the offense made some big plays to keep us ahead early. Moore extended several plays where we had a good rush on him and turned nothing into something on several occasions."  

The teams combined for right at 1,000 yards with CWU (3-4, 2-1 GNAC) going for 503 yards to 497 for WOU (4-3, 3-1 GNAC). The Wolves led the rushing attack out gaining the Wildcats 255-171 and WOU held the 332-242 edge through the air. Penalties played a big factor as well with WOU being flagged 12 times for 127 yards and CWU flagged just four times for 40 yards.

WOU couldn't have asked for a better start as following an 11-yard kickoff return by Marquis Sampson, Ty Currie found Jarren Ford for the 75-yard slant pass that went for the score and a 7-0 lead just 18 seconds into the contest.

The defense forced a quick three-and-out and the offense wasted little time putting more points back up on the board. Currie kept the option read on the first snap and broke free for 39 yards down to the CWU 23. On third-and-five Currie found Evander Willingham open over the middle for another score and a 14-0 lead just over three minutes into the game.

Joey Sinclair tallied a key interception later in the quarter when he helped stop a drive just outside the red zone as he snagged the INT in the end zone.

Before the quarter ended, Central Washington got on the board with an eight play, 90-yard drive to trim the WOU lead to 14-7.

WOU took advantage of a failed fake punt early in the second quarter to regain a 14-point spread. With the Wildcats at their 31 and faced with a fourth-and-five, CWU went with a fake punt as the punter Patrick Hegarty kept the ball and was only able to pick-up three yards before Machiah Lee stopped her short of the line to gain and turned the ball over on downs.

Just two plays later after Currie found Thomas Wright for 12 yards, Currie hooked up with Sampson for a 22-yard strike in the back of the end zone to push the lead to 21-7 with 13:06 to play in the half.

Central Washington answered right back putting together a lengthy 12 play, 78-yard drive to tally a touchdown right back to pull back to within seven at 21-14 when Christian Moore found Tony Archie for the seven-yard score and a 21-14 lead for WOU with still 7:39 to play before halftime.

The Wildcats were able to pull even when an interception helped set them up out near midfield. Four plays later, Moore found Samuel Sanchez for a 14-yard touchdown to even the score at 21.

WOU had one more score left in them before the break with Currie pulling off a big 44-yard run to cap off a seven play and 66-yard drive to push back in front 28-21.

With 49 combined points at the break, the teams would slow down for a little bit in the second half before picking the offense up again.

WOU stuffed CWU on a quick three-and-out to begin the second half and the offense would then stay on the field for almost eight minutes. During the drive, WOU picked up several key third downs starting with a third-and-one at the WOU 13 when Omari Land rushed for four yards. On a third-and-10 at the WOU 36, Currie found Ford for a big 34-yard completion down to the CWU 30. Then the third, third down of the drive arrived on third-and-nine at the CWU 13 and Currie was able to find Justice Murphy across the middle for 10 yards and a first-and-goal at the three. On the next snap, Sampson took the handoff and went in untouched for the 35-21 lead.

CWU embarked on a lengthy drive that lasted the remainder of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, but the WOU defense came up big forcing four straight incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs at the WOU 18.

After the teams traded drives, an interception for the Wildcats stopped a WOU drive in CWU territory. The Wildcats answered with a nine play, 79-yard drive that ended with Moore finding Kaiden Hammond for the five-yard TD pass to trim the lead to 35-28 with still 5:55 to play in the game.

After the teams traded defensive stops, WOU had the ball back with 3:15 to play, but CWU was able to just stop the Wolves on third-and-two to force a punt. After a penalty moved the ball out to the CWU 41, the Wildcats caught fire completing passes of 15, 19 and then the final of 12 yards from Moore to JoJo Hillel to tie the game at 35 with 58 seconds to play.

WOU still had some time to try to score in regulation and Currie found Ford for 12 yards and then Wright for 13 more yards to put the ball at midfield with 30 seconds to play. After an incompletion, an interception at the CWU 27 was returned near midfield.

The Wildcats still had 16 seconds, but a couple of incompletions before Sinclair posted his second interception ended regulation and sent the game into overtime.

CWU wasted little time scoring in four plays to start overtime when Michael Roots finished the drive with a one-yard TD to move the Wildcats out to a 42-35 lead.

WOU was able to answer back as a key interference penalty on fourth-and-three kept the drive alive and moved the ball to the CWU three. After Land rushed for a yard, Currie found Willingham for the second time to put the Wolves within a point at 42-41. WOU then decided to go for two, but Currie's pass across the middle was knocked down to end the game with the Wildcats hanging on.

Currie completed 12-27 for 242 yards and four touchdowns. Ford caught three passes for 121 yards with a touchdown, while Wright added four catches for 53 yards. On the ground, Land rushed 16 times for 104 yards and Currie added 93 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown. Nico Jackson carried the ball 12 times for 57 yards.

On defense, Nate Proctor, Jr., came away with a game-high 10 tackles with nine solo. He also had a sack and a forced fumble. Jaylin Parnell added seven tackles, with six solo and a tackle for loss. Sinclair had a pair of interceptions.

Moore completed 32-52 for 332 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Wildcats. Archie caught 11 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.
Tyson Rainwater added six catches for 84 yards. On the ground, Roots rushed 13 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Moore added 60 yards on 10 attempts. On defense, Daeon Hudson, Marcus Schimmelfennig and Tevin Gray all had seven tackles.

This was the first overtime game in the GNAC since 11/3/2018 and was the first OT game for WOU since 9/23/17 vs. Humboldt State. WOU is now 3-4 overall in overtime games in the NCAA era and 2-4 in Monmouth. CWU's last OT game was 9/15/12.

WOU will remain at home this coming Saturday when they will host MSU Texas with kickoff set for 1:05 p.m. at McArthur Field.
 
 
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