MONMOUTH, Ore. – It certainly has been a long wait for the Western Oregon University football team, but the Wolves will get set to play nine games this fall with the 2021 schedule being released.
WOU will play six games on the road and with just three teams total now playing football in the GNAC, the Wolves will play five non-conference games. All three home games will kickoff at 1:05 p.m. inside McArthur Field.
The season will open on Sep. 2 when WOU will travel to Golden, Colo., to face Colorado School of Mines for a Thursday night game. The Orediggers, usually ranked nationally, will open their season with the Wolves to begin the 2021 year. Mines went 12-1 during the 2019 season, going undefeated in the regular season and winning the first round of the NCAA Playoffs against Sioux Falls. Then fell in the second round to a familiar opponent for 2019 also for the Wolves in Texas A&M-Commerce as the Lions claimed the 23-3 win in Golden.
John Matocha powered the offense throwing for 2,825 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also rushed for 598 yards and 11 scores. Michael Zeman led the rushing attack going for 1,421 yards and 12 touchdowns. Three receivers had over 450 yards receiving led by 984 yards from Josh Johnston.
On defense, Kobe Brewster tallied 76 tackles, with 33 solo and added four interceptions and three tackles for loss. Averie Mansfield had 10.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Nolan Reeve led the way in sacks with 8.5. The defense collected 40 sacks and 11 interceptions.
This will be the first meeting between the teams since 2007 when WOU claimed the 26-12 win over Mines in the Dixie Rotary Bowl that took place in St. George, Utah.
Week two will have WOU traveling to the Lone Star State to play at Texas A&M-Kingsville for the third straight time. The two teams played in 2018 and 2019, both wins for the Wolves. WOU won the 2018 meeting by a 13-7 score and then won in 2019 by a score of 26-14. WOU is 4-0 in the series since 2006, picking up a win in 2007 in Kingsville (22-14) and a win in Monmouth in 2006 (36-10).
The Javelinas will play Saginaw Valley State to open the season before facing the Wolves in their home opener. Texas A&M-Kingsville played two games in the shortened 2020 season, falling to both Midwestern State (45-34) and UT Permian Basin (17-2). Zadock Dinklemann played a majority of the two games at QB throwing for 390 yards and two touchdowns. Amonte Bowen rushed for 82 yards and Kevin Reynolds caught six passes for 93 yards and a score.
On defense, Isaiah Jacobs tallied 14 tackles and added an interception and forced fumble. Three other players had at least 10 tackles. Brian Miller collected a pair of sacks.
A third straight road game will arrive in week three when the Wolves travel up the road to face Division I Portland State on Sep. 18. This will be the fourth time the teams have faced each other since 2008, with the Vikings going 3-0. The last meeting took place in 2015 with Portland State taking the 31-0 victory. The meeting in 2014 went right down to the end with the Vikings holding on for the 45-38 win. All three previous meetings also were played on the road.
Portland State played one game this spring facing Montana on the road falling to the Grizzlies, 48-7. They will play at Hawaii and Washington State before their home opener against the Wolves. In that one game against Montana, Davis Alexander threw for 193 yards and a touchdown. He also led the rushing attack going for 33 yards. Mataio Talalemotu caught four passes for 92 yards and a score. On defense, Parker McKenna had 10 tackles and David Joseph tallied an interception.
The first GNAC game of the year arrives in week four as WOU travels to Canada to face Simon Fraser on Sep. 25. Simon Fraser wasn't able to play in any competitions across all sports during the 2020 season. They will play at Idaho and Linfield, before arriving at home to open the GNAC season against Central Washington before facing the Wolves a week later.
During the 2019 season, Simon Fraser went 1-9 overall and 1-5 in GNAC play picking up a road win at Azusa Pacific. Brandon Niksich threw for 1,926 yards and 10 touchdowns, while Solomon Hines rushed for 464 yards and two touchdowns. Rysen John, who is in the NFL playing for the New York Giants, led the team with 53 receptions for 861 yards and 10 touchdowns. On defense, Griffin Barrett had 105 tackles, eight tackles for loss and a sack.
WOU has gone 21-1 in the meetings with Simon Fraser since 2000, sweeping both meetings in 2019. WOU took the first meeting in Monmouth (51-14) and then won on the road (45-14). Simon Fraser will play the second game against the Wolves in Monmouth in week nine.
Finally, the home opener will arrive for the Wolves as the calendar turns to October when West Texas A&M arrives in week five on October 2. WOU will end up playing all three of their home games in October. This will be the first meeting between the teams.
When WT travels to Oregon, it will be their second road game of the season as they will play at UT Permian Basin in week two. The Buffs played six games in the fall of 2020, going 3-3 picking up wins against Oklahoma Panhandle State, Angelo State and North American.
Nick Gerber threw for 1,094 yards and nine touchdowns in those six games. Khalil Harris rushed for 404 yards and a score. Chase Sojka caught 13 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns. On defense, Chris Thomas had 50 tackles, while Tre'Von Mosley had 2.5 sacks.
A second straight home game arrives in week six and will be homecoming when Central Washington travels to Monmouth on October 9. It will be the first of two straight meetings against the teams, as WOU will have a bye week on October 16 before facing the Wildcats again up in Ellensburg on October 23.
The two teams played a pair of memorable games in 2019 and eventually ended up sharing the GNAC title. WOU picked up their first win in Ellensburg since 1998 with a 36-26 road win. Then during the meeting in Monmouth, the game went to overtime before Central Washington claimed the 42-41 victory. The Wildcats have gone 27-7 in the series since 2000, going 8-2 in the last 10 meetings.
CWU will play at Eastern New Mexico and Eastern Washington to start the year. After playing at Simon Fraser, they will face two more Lone Star Conference teams at home in Angelo State and Midwestern State before playing at WOU.
The Wildcats played one game during the 2020 season at Montana with the Grizzlies taking the 59-3 victory. In that game, Jack Smith was at QB for the Wildcats throwing for 113 yards. He also led the rushing attack going for 24 yards. Tyson Rainwater caught four passes for 38 yards. On defense, Donte Hamilton had 18 tackles and two tackles for loss.
In the 2019 season, CWU went 7-4 overall and 5-1 in GNAC play, Christian Moore emerged as the QB during the season throwing for 2,224 yards and 28 touchdowns. Michael Roots rushed for 1,515 yards and 14 scores. Rainwater caught 48 passes for 795 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, Donte Hamilton and Hamilton Hunt led the way with 107 tackles.
Following the two-game series with Central Washington, WOU will play their second game against Simon Fraser on October 30 in Monmouth that will be Senior Day.
The final game of the regular season arrives on week 10 as the Wolves will travel to Nebraska to play Chadron State on November 6. This will be the first meeting between the teams.
The Eagles played four games in the fall of 2020 going 2-2 with wins over South Dakota Mines (twice). Dalton Holst was at QB for those four games, throwing for 1,060 yards and seven touchdowns. Jalen Starks rushed for 330 yards and seven touchdowns, while Chad Mikelson caught 20 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Jeremiah Makahununiu collected 37 tackles. Bobby Peele had three interceptions.
WOU is coming off of a historic 2019 season going 7-4 overall and 5-1 in GNAC play to secure their first share of the GNAC title in program history. The Wolves won four straight games during the year and at one point won seven of eight contests.
It was a big year at QB for Ty Currie as he capped his career throwing for 2,397 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also rushed for 825 yards and 11 touchdowns. He will now transition to being a coach serving on the staff this year as the running backs coach.
Omari Land will be back after leading the team in rushing at 1,014 yards on 171 carries and nine touchdowns. He also caught 10 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. A good portion of the receivers are back this year with Thomas Wright returning after leading the team with 26 receptions for 524 yards and five touchdowns. Marquis Sampson is back after tallying 21 receptions for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Jarren Ford returns following 16 catches for 302 yards and two touchdowns, so does Justice Murphy who caught 17 passes for 253 yards and a score.
On defense, Nate Proctor Jr., capped his career leading the team in tackles with 70. Adding 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. He also had one of the biggest blocks in program history helping to seal the win against Azusa Pacific when he blocked the potential game-winning field goal that helped the Wolves secure a share of the GNAC crown. Jaylin Parnell returns after finishing second on the team in tackles with 68, while leading the team in tackles for loss at 10.5. He also tied Proctor Jr., in sacks with 6.5 to tie for the team lead and also led the team in forced fumbles with three. Tyler Wharf finished his career with 60 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss during the 2019 season. Joey Sinclair returns after posting 50 tackles, five tackles for loss and three interceptions. Blayne Burnett returns after posting 41 tackles, four tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a team-high eight quarterback hurries. Curtis Anderson returns after leading the team in interceptions with five, along with 40 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Anderson was versatile, returning 29 kickoffs for 636 yards.
On special teams, Andrew Gross is back after handling the kicking and punting duties. He averaged 38.55 yards on 33 punts, with four traveling over 50 yards and six landing inside the 20. He made three field goals and averaged 58.4 yards on 64 kickoffs with five going for touchbacks. Gross tallied 42 extra points on the season.
2021 Fall Schedule
Sep. 2 @ Colorado School of Mines
Sep. 11 @ Texas A&M-Kingsville
Sep. 18 @ Portland State
Sep. 25 @ Simon Fraser
Oct. 2 West Texas A&M
Oct. 9 Central Washington
Oct. 16 Bye Week
Oct. 23 @ Central Washington
Oct. 30 Simon Fraser
Nov. 6 @ Chadron State
