MONMOUTH, Ore. – Both teams come into this week's matchup riding high. The Western Oregon University football team put together an impressive late drive to defeat West Texas A&M, while Central Washington did the same to Midwestern State using a big second half to pick up the win. WOU will host CWU this Saturday afternoon with kickoff set for 1:05 p.m. at McArthur Field in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
WOU (2-3, 1-0 GNAC) went for 553 yards and 41 points in the win over West Texas A&M. It was a fourth quarter drive to certainly remember as the Wolves went 89 yards, including a fourth-and-nine at their 12, to eventually score the go-ahead touchdown with 17 seconds to play.
Ryan Worthley, on his way to being named GNAC Player of the Week, threw for 379 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas Wright caught six passes for 98 yards and had a 56-yard touchdown. Andrew Valladares did damage both on the ground and in the receiving game catching six passes for 95 yards and rushed for 68 yards on just eight carries, scoring the go-ahead touchdown. Justice Murphy added four catches for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Marquis Sumpter added five catches for 45 yards and Damon Hickok tallied three catches for 42 yards. Omari Land powered the rushing attack with 98 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries.
On defense, Jaylin Parnell led the way with a game-high 10 tackles, with four being solo. He also had a tackle for loss. Machiah Lee posted eight tackles and two pass breakups. Cooger Smith added six tackles, while both Curtis Anderson and Ryan Minniti collected five tackles apiece.
Over the first five games of the season, WOU has tallied 85 points, 104 first down, 634 rushing yards, 1,181 passing yards for 1,810 total yards and 11 touchdowns. Opponents have 132 points, 90 first downs, 819 rushing yards, 987 passing yards for 1,763 total yards and 18 touchdowns.
Worthley has completed 116-176 for 1,140 yards and three touchdowns. Five players have over 100 receiving yards led by Wright's 24 catches for 284 yards and a touchdown. Valladares has 16 catches for 204 yards, Jarren Ford has 20 catches for 151 yards, Murphy has nine catches for 147 yards, along with a touchdown, Hickok with 11 catches for 128 yards, along with a touchdown and Sampson with 18 catches for 125 yards.
Land leads the rushing attack going for 457 yards on 93carries and six touchdowns. Valladares has 165 yards on 31 carries and a touchdown.
On defense, Minniti and Parnell are tied for the team lead in tackles with 32 apiece. Minniti has 19 solo tackles and two tackles for loss. Parnell has 20 solo tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two pass breakups, a blocked field goal, forced fumble and two QB hurries. Joey Sinclair adds 23 tackles, with 15 solo, a tackle for loss, an interception, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Anderson and Lee each have 20 tackles this season, with Lee adding six pass breakups and Anderson with 1.5 tackles for loss. Billy Nelson leads the team in interceptions with two.
On special teams, Andrew Gross has punted 21 times for a 40.3 average, with a long of 65 yards. Six have landed inside the 20 and three have traveled over 50 yards. On field goals, Danny Cossette is 3-5 and on kickoffs, Tanner Shattuck has 11 kickoffs for an average of 50.5 yards. Gross has six kickoffs for a 59.7 average. On returns, Sampson has 10 punt returns for 73 yards, with a long of 39 yards. Anderson has 11 kick returns for 200 yards, with a long of 38 yards. Sampson has six kick returns for 133 yards, with a long of 52 yards.
Nationally, WOU ranks high in several categories as a team including 20th in completion percentage (64.9), 42nd in first downs (104), 23rd in passes had intercepted (2), 57th in passing yards allowed (197.4), 51st in third down conversions percentage on defense (34.4), 39th in red zone defense (69.6), and 40th in time of possession (31:34).
Individually, Land ranks 13th nationally in rushing touchdowns (6), 31st in rushing yards (457), 36th in rushing yards per game (91.8), 28th nationally in total touchdowns (6) and 47th in total points scored (36). Sampson is 66th in combined kick return yards (206), 61st in kickoff return yards per game (22.2), and 50th in punt return yards per game (7.3). Anderson is 71st in combined kick return yards (200). Worthley is 18th in completion percentage (65.9), 15th in completions per game (23.2), 45th in passing yards (1,140), 58th in passing yards per game (228), and 69th in total offense per game (229.8). Cossette is 51st in field goal percentage (60) and 68th in field goals per game (0.60). Derek Moreland is tied for 67th in forced fumbles per game (0.25). Sinclair is tied for 36th in fumbles recovered (1). Nelson is tied for 26th in interceptions per game (0.5). Lee is 63rd in passes defended per game (1.2). Gross is 56th in punting average per game (38.5). Wright is 83rd in receptions per game (4.8). Parnell is 26th in tackles for loss per game (1.7).
During the 2019 season, WOU and CWU matched up in a pair of wild contests. The Wolves won the first meeting that year in Ellensburg (36-26) and then the Wildcats came back to win in Monmouth in overtime (42-41). WOU is 2-8 against CWU over the past 10 meetings and are 5-11 at home against the Wildcats since 2000.
Central Washington (3-2, 1-0 GNAC) is coming off of a big 30-20 home win over then #11 Midwestern State in Ellensburg. CWU also has wins over Simon Fraser (36-14) and started the season with a 66-24 win at Eastern New Mexico.
CWU forced six turnovers against Midwestern State as linebacker Donte Hamilton came away with three interceptions. Quincy Glasper started for the first time this year at quarterback and promptly went 11-22 for 245 with two touchdowns. He also rushed for 46 yards and another score.
The Wildcats have scored 155 points, picked up 93 first downs, 868 rushing yards, 1,016 passing yards for 1,867 total yards and 19 total touchdowns. Opponents have 135 points, 95 first downs, 823 rushing yards, 1,132 passing yards for 1,921 total yards and 17 touchdowns.
Overall on the season, Glasper has completed 14-27 for 298 yards and three touchdowns. JJ Lemming started the first few games of the season and completed 41-102 for 611 yards and five touchdowns. Five receivers have at least 100 yards led by Tony Archie's 10 catches for 199 yards and a touchdown. Darius Morrison adds seven catches for 184 yards and three touchdowns. JoJo Hillel has 11 catches for 161 yards and a score, Daniel Johnson has six catches for 144 yards and a score, Tai-John Mizutani has 10 catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns, while Samuel Sanchez has six catches for 106 yards and a score. On the ground, Rashaad Boddie has 78 carries for 461 yards and four touchdowns. Tyler Flanagan adds 28 carries for 144 yards and a score. Cameron Daniels (93 yards) and Glasper (84 yards) are closing in on 100 yards on the season.
On defense, Jahleel Breland leads the team in tackles with 44 (29 solo), along with three pass breakups. Hamilton has 40 tackles (28 solo), 9.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, four interceptions and three pass breakups. Fred Feleti adds 4.5 tackles for loss and Daeon Hudson has 29 tackles, with three tackles for loss.
On special teams, Van Soderberg has punted 16 times for a 35.69 average and four landing inside the 20. Patrick Hegarty has 10 punts for 36.90 average and one inside the 20. Hegarty is 7-10 on field goals, including a 50-yarder against Midwestern State this past week. On kickoffs, Soderberg averaged 56.5 yards on 11 kicks and Hegarty averages 52.4 yards on 20 kicks. On returns, Hunter Eckstrom returned one punt for 21 yards. Michael Chisley has taken seven kickoffs back for 181 yards.
It will be the first of two straight meetings between the teams as they will turn back around and face each other on Oct. 23 in Ellensburg. Next week is a bye week for both teams.
Fans are allowed to attend and remember to wear a mask. Purchase your tickets by clicking here for the game this week.
Live video and stats will also be available. Live video can be found here and live stats can be found here.
