MONMOUTH, Ore. – Both offense and defense put together big games as the Western Oregon University football team cruised to a 42-3 win over Simon Fraser in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon at McArthur Field.
"Really proud of the group for the way we competed, as we continue to work and improve. Several players made a big impact today and this was a team win. The rushing attack did a great job going for almost 300 yards, as the offensive line was able to create some holes. Several of our backs had big games. Defensively, to be able to hold a team to two total yards rushing is great. All three levels of the defense had big games and forced a lot of three-and-outs. All three of our quarterbacks saw time and made plays to help lead us to the win," head coach Arne Ferguson said.
While the offense tallied 409 total yards of offense, 286 came on the ground. On the other side of the ball, the Wolves defense limited Simon Fraser to just 97 total yards and two total net yards on the ground. WOU also forced seven punts, tallied four sacks and an interception.
Ryan Worthley threw for three touchdowns, completing 7-10 for 71 yards. Wyatt Harsh went 3-3 for 32 yards and Gannon Winker went 2-2 for 20 yards and a touchdown. On the ground, Omari Land rushed for 133 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Dominique Loggins added 83 yards on 14 carries and Winker rushed for 44 yards and a score. Thomas Wright caught three passes for 40 yards and two touchdowns. Damon Hickok added three catches for 25 yards and a score, while Jarren Ford caught two passes for 25 yards.
Machiah Lee led the defense with six tackles, five solo, along with two tackles for loss and a sack. Jaylin Parnell, Joey Sinclair and Ryan Minniti all had five tackles. Sinclair added an interception and all five of Parnell's tackles were solo. In addition to the sack for Lee, Twister McComas, James Duane and Anthony Mack Jr., all had a sack on the afternoon. Lee, L.J. Lovelace and Mack Jr., all had two tackles for loss.
Right away, the WOU (3-5, 2-2 GNAC) defense went to work forcing a three-and-out where Simon Fraser (1-6, 0-3 GNAC) tallied negative four yards on the drive. On the ensuing drive, WOU went 69 yards on just five plays with Winker going 31 yards for the rushing touchdown and a 7-0 lead five minutes into the game.
After forcing a punt on the next drive, WOU went right back down the field on 13 plays and 72 yards this time with Worthley finding Hickok for the three-yard touchdown and 13-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The defense got the ball right back when Sinclair intercepted a pass on the second play of the next drive and had WOU in Simon Fraser territory with the ball resting at the SFU 31. Just four plays later, Land rushed in from 10 yards out to push the lead to 19-0 nearly four minutes into the second quarter.
The teams would trade possessions before Simon Fraser tallied a field goal late in the second quarter on a 28-yard field goal by Kristie Elliott to leave WOU with a 19-3 lead.
Right before the half, WOU was able to add another touchdown. Worthley found Hickok for a 15-yard gain down to the SFU 15, before Winker came in and hit Wright near the corner of the end zone for a 15-yard TD pass to push the Wolves out to a 27-3 lead as the two-point try was converted on a pass by Worthley to Hickok.
WOU got the ball first to start the second half and went 71 yards to push the lead to 35-3. Wright picked up his second straight receiving touchdown when Worthley found him from 18 yards out for the score at the 9:18 mark of the third quarter. The Wolves tried for two again and Winker was able to rush in to convert the try.
Before the third quarter ended, WOU finished the scoring. The Wolves would move 68 yards on eight plays with Worthley finding Austin Goldstein from a yard out for the touchdown and after the extra point was good, pushed the lead to 42-3. The drive was setup by several big runs from Loggins and then Land added a 31-yard carry to place the ball near the goal line.
The teams traded possessions in the fourth quarter, but neither team scored to provide the final margin of WOU taking the 42-3 win.
On special teams, Sinclair picked up a big 42-yard kickoff return. Tanner Shattuck connected on an extra point and also averaged 53.6 yards on seven kickoffs. Sinclair also returned three punts for 17 yards and Curtis Anderson had a kickoff return for 17 yards.
Justin Seiber went 8-19 for 68 yards for Simon Fraser. Somto Anyadike rushed for 24 yards and Robert Meadors caught three passes for 36 yards. On defense, Griffin Barrett tallied a game-high 13 tackles.
In the two games against Simon Fraser this season, WOU held SFU to just 27 total rushing yards. The Wolves rushed for 616 yards in their two games on the ground against Simon Fraser.
Today's game was also a GNAC Unity Game, The GNAC is committed to actively taking steps to provide meaningful & purposeful learning experiences to prepare student-athletes for citizenship in a diverse, inclusive, global interconnected world. One way the GNAC would like to show commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is by having each GNAC institution host a "GNAC Unity Game" each year.
WOU will travel to Nebraska this coming week to face Chadron State on Saturday, Nov. 6 with kickoff set for 11 a.m. (Pacific).
