MONMOUTH, Ore. --- The No. 24 Western Oregon football team controlled No. 6 Central Washington for three quarters in a game that decided who got the automatic bid from the Lone Star Conference into the NCAA postseason - but unfortunately for the Wolves the Wildcats battled back and threw a touchdown on the final play of the game to win 19-17 Saturday at sold-out crowd at McArthur Field.

The loss for WOU (8-3 overall, 7-2 LSC) means it must wait until 3 p.m. (PT) Sunday to see if it's one of the eight teams selected out of Super Region 4 to make the NCAA DII Football Championships - which would be the first time since joining the NCAA in 2001 the Wolves made the tournament. WOU entered the week No. 7 in the regional rankings and are hoping a slim loss to a CWU team (10-1, 9-0) ranked No. 2 in the region will keep them in the top 8.

As for Saturday's matchup - the game was scoreless until the second quater before a 4-yard touchdown run by Jermaine Land and a Tyler Konold 1-yard touchdown run (a drive set up by a Dylan Camp interception) for the Wolves made it 14-0 WOU at the half.

The Wolves led 17-3 heading into the fourth quarter before the Wildcats scored 16 unanswered points in the final quarter - capped by a 13-yard touchdown pass as time expired.

It was a defensive battle throughout with CWU outgaining WOU 302-257 in total offense - though the Wildcats controlled the clock as they held the ball for 36:02. WOU struggled on third down, going 0-for-10.

Malcolm Liufau led the defense with a forced fumble and a career-high 15 tackles - the most by Wolf since Bo Highburger had 18 at Eastern New Mexico on Nov. 11, 2018. 
Aden Murphy had nine tackles as well for WOU while Camp added four tackles and four pass breakups to go along with his interception.

On offense, Jordan McCarty finished with 132 yards passing and 64 running to lead the Wolves. Cody Hall had two catches for a team-high 51 yards.