MONMOUTH, Ore. – Following two straight games against Central Washington, the Western Oregon University football team returns home to host Simon Fraser this Saturday afternoon with a 1:05 p.m. kickoff at McArthur Field in Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
The Wolves will play two of their final three regular season games at McArthur Field. Following the home game this week, WOU will travel to Nebraska next week to face Chadron State before closing the season at home on Nov. 13 against Lincoln (CA).
WOU played a tight first half against the Wildcats this past week in Ellensburg before Central Washington was able to pull away for the 53-21 victory. Omari Land rushed for 150 yards and a touchdown, while Ryan Worthley threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jarren Ford and London Smalley. On defense, Curtis Anderson took home GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after tallying 10 tackles, five solo, along with three tackles for loss, a forced fumble, two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup. Jaylin Parnell also added 10 tackles, three solo, to tie for the game-high in tackles with Anderson. WOU enters the week 2-5 overall and 1-2 in GNAC play, this will be the final conference game of the season for the Wolves.
This will be the third home game of the season and first since Oct. 9 when WOU hosted Central Washington. The game prior to that was a wild one when the Wolves put together a late game-winning drive to defeat West Texas A&M, 41-38, back on Oct. 2.
Worthley has completed 139-222 for 1,399 yards and five touchdowns. Land has rushed for 673 yards and eight touchdowns, while Andrew Valladares adds 262 yards and two scores. Thomas Wright has caught 28 passes for 338 yards and a touchdown. Valladares adds 20 catches for 234 yards. Ford is also over 200 receiving yards sitting at 203 on 25 catches and a touchdown. Marquis Sampson has caught 20 passes for 163 yards and Damon Hickok with 13 catches for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Parnell leads the team with 55 tackles, 31 solo, along with 11 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two quarterback hurries, a blocked kick and two pass breakups. Ryan Minniti has 43 tackles, 26 solo, along with two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and quarterback hurry. Anderson and Joey Sinclair are tied for third on the team in tackles with both at 35. Anderson has 15 solo stops, 4.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and five quarterback hurries. Sinclair has 23 solo stops, along with a tackle for loss, fumble recovery and two pass breakups. Billy Nelson leads the team with three interceptions, while Sinclair has two and Luis Vicino Jr., with one.
On special teams, Andrew Gross has 29 punts for an average of 39.3 yards, with a long of 65, three traveling over 50 yards and six landing inside the 20. On kickoffs, Tanner Shattuck has 13 attempts for an average of 52.1 yards. Danny Cossette has connected on three field goals this season and all 15 extra point tries. On returns, Sampson has 10 punt returns for 73 yards and a long return of 39 yards. On kickoff returns, Anderson has 18 returns for 343 yards, with a long of 38 yards. Sampson has nine returns for 200 yards, with a long of 52 yards. Sinclair adds two returns for 46 yards, with a long of 26 yards.
As a team, WOU has tallied 120 points, picked up 136 first downs, rushed for 993 yards and passed for 1,442 yards for a total of 2,430 yards this year. The Wolves have 16 total touchdowns with 11 coming on the ground. Opponents have scored 230 points, picked up 135 first downs, rushed for 1,191 yards and passed for 1,445 yards for a total of 2,593 yards and 31 touchdowns.
WOU ranks high nationally in several categories including 60th in fourth down conversion percentage (52.2), 34th in completion percentage (61.7), 47th in first downs allowed on defense (135), 78th in kickoff return yardage per game (19.58), 50th in total passes that have been intercepted (6), 71st in passing yards allowed (206.4), 65th in red zone defense (75.8), and 61st in time of possession (30:37).
Individually, Land ranks 78th nationally in all-purpose yards per game (106.8), 19th in rushing touchdowns (8), 36th in rushing yards (673), 26th in rushing yards per game (96.1), 83rd in total points scored (48) and 46th in total touchdowns (8). Anderson is 53rd nationally in combined kick return yards (343), and 87th in kickoff return yards per game (19.1). Sampson is 87th nationally in combined kick return yards (273), and 49th in kickoff return yards per game (22.2). Worthley is 29th nationally in completion percentage (62.6), 30th in completions per game (19.8), 76th in passing yards (1,399), 64th in passing yards per game (199.9), and 85th in total offense per game (199.1). Parnell is 30th nationally in forced fumbles per game (0.29). 73rd in sacks per game (0.64), 20th in tackles for loss per game (1.6) and 77th in total tackles per game (7.9). Nelson is 22nd in interceptions per game (0.5) and Sinclair is 90th (0.3). Gross is tied for 38th in punting average (39.3).
During the earlier meeting in Canada back on Sep. 25, WOU used a 17-7 second half surge to defeat Simon Fraser, 24-7. Land had a pair of touchdowns, while Hickok added a rushing score as well. Cossette connected on a 24-yard field goal. WOU tallied 412 yards of total offense and held SFU to 184. The rushing attack chewed up 330 yards, with Land rushing for 209 and Valladares for 74. Anderson, Parnell and Minniti led the team in tackles with six apiece, as Parnell has 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and a blocked field goal.
Simon Fraser is 1-5 on the season and are coming off of a 51-10 loss at Angelo State last week. SFU was only able to play two home games this year against Central Washington and WOU and will finish the season playing at both of those teams to complete the year. Simon Fraser is 0-2 in GNAC play and also played at the University of Idaho and Linfield to start the season and picked up a 30-3 win at Montana-Northern.
SFU has tallied 81 points, 79 first downs, and have a total of 1,384 yards, passing for 1,261 and have 11 total touchdowns. Opponents have scored 238 points, picked up 136 first downs and 2,753 total yards, with 1,618 on the ground and 31 total touchdowns. Justin Seiber has completed 95-180 for 1,110 yards and eight touchdowns. Somto Anyadike has rushed for 127 yards on 41 carries, Mason Glover has 39 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown, while Paul Thomas has 32 carries for 61 yards. Riley Morrison has caught 41 passes for 378 yards and a touchdown. Caelin Johnson has 14 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns, while Dallas Dixon adds 11 receptions for 188 yards and a score.
On defense, Griffin Barrett leads the way with 74 tackles, 38 solo, along with a tackle for loss, fumble recovery and quarterback hurry. Kolby Buljevic adds 47 tackles, 25 solo, along with 2.5 tackles for loss and an interception. Drew Nicholson and Brendan Lowry each have two interceptions to lead the team.
Fans are allowed to attend and remember to wear a mask.
Live video and stats will be available for the game.
Live video can be found here
Live stats can be found here
Tickets for the game can be purchased here
