Jarren Ford
Amanda Loman
14
Simon Fraser SFU 0-5 , 0-2
51
Winner Western Ore. WOU 3-2 , 3-0
Simon Fraser SFU
0-5 , 0-2
14
Final
51
Western Ore. WOU
3-2 , 3-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
SFU Simon Fraser 0 0 0 14 14
WOU Western Ore. 6 14 14 17 51

Game Recap: Football | | Brian Kortz

Football Rolls to Third Straight Win With 51-14 Victory Over Simon Fraser

MONMOUTH, Ore. -- Several players got into the act to keep the streak alive for the Western Oregon University football team on Saturday. The Wolves piled up 51 points on their way to defeating Simon Fraser 51-14 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at McArthur Field. The game was also Coach to Cure MD and the Wolves hosted Joey Bates and his family for the game.

"It was our first home win which is nice to get things going. We played well on both sides of the football today," head coach Arne Ferguson said. "The offense really established things and the defense forced a lot of three-and-outs. It's nice to see us continuing to get better this time of the year."

The win gives the Wolves three straight, all coming in conference to improve to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in GNAC play. Ty Currie put together another strong day completing 13-20 for 226 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed seven times for 53 yards. He wasn't the only one throwing out touchdown passes, as Tyler Reid took an end-around and then passed for a 50-yard touchdown. 

Andrew Valladares made an impact in the ground game carrying the ball seven times for 105 yards and a touchdown. Nico Jackson found the end zone twice to go along with 12 carries for 59 yards. Omari Land had 11 rushes for 40 yards.

Land caught one pass, but he made it count breaking free for a 90-yard score. Shaw Jerome had two catches for 52 yards and a touchdown, Reid had three receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown, while Justice Murphy had four catches for 37 yards. Jarren Ford added another touchdown reception to go along with a pair of catches for 21 yards.

Jaylin Parnell paced the defense with seven tackles, five solo, along with a half-sack and an interception. Nate Proctor, Jr., added six tackles, four solo, while Isaiah Abraham and Tyler Wharf recorded five tackles apiece. LJ Lovelace tallied 1.5 sacks, while Abraham and James Toliver, Jr., each had a sack. The WOU defense brought the heat with 10 quarterback hurries led by three from Blayne Burnett.

"It's a good win for the team. I think everyone stepped up, even our second and third units," Proctor, Jr., said. "It has given us some great momentum going into next week as every day we are getting better."

For the game, WOU racked up 532 total yards of offense, going for 281 through the air and 251 on the ground. The Wolves averaged 12.2 yards per pass and 6.6 yards per carry. Known for picking up fourth downs this season, WOU went 3-3 on the day in fourth-down situations.

Midway through the first quarter, Jackson was able to get WOU on the board helping to cap a seven play drive. After getting down to the Simon Fraser (0-5, 0-2 GNAC) three, Jackson carried the ball four straight times, finding the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the one to give WOU the early 6-0 lead just over six minutes to play in the opening quarter after the extra point was missed.

The defense and special teams came up big on the next drive for the Clan stopping Simon Fraser out near the WOU 30 to force a field goal attempt. On the try, Curtis Anderson was able to come through off the right side of the Clan line to block the kick and give WOU the ball back.

After the teams again traded possessions, WOU began a drive at the Simon Fraser 32 following a short 18 yard punt. A few plays later after Currie found Marquis Sampson for a 12-yard reception, Jackson finished the drive off with a six-yard rush for the 13-0 lead at the 9:06 mark of the second quarter.

The offense still had one more score left in them before halftime when the Wolves went on a 10 play, 73-yard drive that was capped off by a Currie 15-yard TD strike to Ford for the 20-0 lead at the break.

A big defensive stop helped ignite the Wolves in the second half. With Simon Fraser embarking on a lengthy drive that gained nearly 60 yards and had SFU at the WOU 25, a big tipped pass by Wharf led to an interception by Jaylin Parnell that he returned out near midfield.

"I thought as a team we come out with the focus we needed," Jaylin Parnell said. "I thought the first couple drives really set the tone that we wanted. Simon Fraser is the type of team that can beat you if you don't come ready to play."

Four plays later, the end-around reverse play worked to perfection for WOU as Reid to the end around and instead of running, threw a pass out to a wide open Jerome he carried it 47 yards for the touchdown and a 27-0 lead midway through the third quarter.

"One of our main focuses this week was not relaxing," Reid said. "We didn't want to give them any extra space and coming out and putting our foot to the floor early was a goal all week."

Late in the third quarter backed up near the end zone, the Wolves went with a screen pass on third-and-10 and Land was able to avoid a couple of tacklers and never looked back going 90 yards for the score to boost the lead to 34-0.

Starting another drive out near midfield early in the fourth quarter, the Wolves converted another fourth down, this one a fourth-and-four at the SFU 31 when Currie hit Reid streaking down the middle for the touchdown and a 41-0 lead.

Andrew Gross would add a 37-yard field goal later in the quarter before Andrew Valladares got into the act when he broke free for a 69-yard touchdown to give WOU a 51-7 lead and eventual 51-14 victory.

"It was a really fun game. I thought we all played pretty good, but there's always room for improvement," Valladares said. "I just knew once I got my shot I was going to take it and I'm happy the coaches and my brothers believed in me."

Niksich threw for 210 yards to lead Simon Fraser, while Lapuste came on in relief in the fourth quarter and added a touchdown pass. Barrett led the defense with nine tackles and Crocker added eight.

This is the best start through five games since WOU was 3-2 during the 2011 season in which they started out 3-1.

WOU will now travel back to Texas this coming week when they will face Texas A&M-Kingsville starting at 5 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday evening. WOU claimed the 13-7 win in Kingsville last year.
 
 
 
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