GNAC Football Players-of-the-Week
Week of Aug. 24-31: Offense, Jared Bronson, Central Washington (TE, 6-4, 255, Sr., Kent, WA – Thomas Jefferson & UW) caught four passes for a career-high 146 yards, scored twice and set up a third touchdown in leading the Wildcats to a 44-38 overtime road win at Dixie State. In the first quarter his 17-yard reception to the eight set up a one-yard TD run by J.R. Hasty. He then scored on a 63-yard pass from Mike Reilly in the second quarter and his 24-yard TD in the fourth quarter briefly gave CWU a 35-31 lead with 2:07 left. Defense, Teddy Owens, Dixie State (LB, 6-0, 225, Jr., Pleasant Grove, UT) had a game-high 13 tackles, including eight solos as Dixie came within three seconds of knocking off the nationally 11 th -ranked Wildcats before 2,891 fans at St. George, Utah. Owens also forced and recovered a fumble and combined with Kevin Wilks for a eight-yard sack. Special Teams, Garrett Rolsma, Central Washington (6-0, 197, Jr., University Place, WA – Curtis) connected on a 44-yard field goal as time expired to force overtime. He was also perfect on five extra points, averaged 49.7 yards on six kickoffs and surrendered just 13 return yards on punts of 38 and 34 yards.
Week of Sept. 1-7: Offense - D.J. Jackson, Western Oregon (RB, 6-1, 215, So., Portland, OR – Jesuit) and Mike Reilly, Central Washington (QB, 6-3, 212, Sr., Kalispell, MT – Flathead). . .Jackson averaged 10.2 yards, netting 132 yards on 13 carries, in a 36-27 conference road win at Western Washington. On WOU's third quarter touchdown that gave it a 23-20 lead, he had runs of 45 and seven yards to set up a two-yard TD pass from Josh Riddell to Demario Ballard. Then in the fourth quarter, Jackson had runs of 21 and 13 yards on the first two plays of a 99-yard, 11-play drive as the Wolves got the clinching touchdown on a 16-yard run by Ben Kuenzi. . .Reilly had 357 yards in total offense, increasing his career total to 10,334, in CWU's 48-14 win over Mesa State. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns and also netted 64 yards on eight rushes and was not sacked. Defens e - Chad Frank, Dixie State (DE, 6-0, 245, Jr., Albuquerque, NM – Sandia) had seven tackles, including two quarterback sacks for losses of 22 yards and another tackle for a one-yard loss as Dixie set GNAC records for fewest rushing yards allowed (minus 51) and lowest yards allowed per play (1.2). Frank was also credited with a forced fumble, a pass breakup and three quarterback hurries in a 35-3 victory against Western New Mexico. Special Teams – Courtney Smith, Central Washington (CB, 5-11, 200, Sr., Stockton, CA – East Union) set up the Wildcats' first touchdown blocking a punt and scored its fourth touchdown returning a kickoff 95 yards for a score. In all Smith had 129 all-purpose yards. He was also credited with three tackles, including two solos.
Week of Sept. 8-14: Offense - Johnny Spevak, Central Washington (WR, 6-3, 200, Jr., Edgewood, WA – Puyallup) caught 11 passes for 197 yards, including touchdown receptions of four and 71 yards as the Wildcats rallied from a 24-10 second-half deficit to beat Western Oregon at McArthur Field. His second TD reception snapped a 24-24 tie with 5:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. Defense - Caleb Jessup, Western Washington (LB, 6-0, 220, Jr., Kenmore, WA – Inglemoor) had a GNAC season-best 15 tackles and participated in two key quarterback sacks as the Viking defense limited Humboldt State to 53 second-half yards in a 30-14 win. Officially, Jessup was credited with 2 ½ tackles for losses (of 11 yards) and 1 ½ sacks (10 yards). Special Teams – David Johnson, Western Washington (LB, 6-2, 215, Fr. Odessa, WA) had a momentum-changing blocked punt in the final minute of the first half in the Vikings' 30-14 road win at Arcata. One play later Pat McCann scored on an 11-yard pass from Adam Perry to tie the game at 14-14. WWU then added 16 unanswered points in the second half as it snapped a six-game losing streak dating back to its final five games of the 2007 season.
Week of Sept. 15-21: Offense - Adam Perry, Western Washington (QB, 6-0, 190, Sr., Longview, WA – R.A. Long) engineered an offense that gained a total of 515 yards and scored 31 points against Eastern Washington, the nation's No. 14th ranked NCAA Division I Championship Subdivision team. Perry completed 24 of 37 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for two touchdowns. The Viking senior QB finished with 361 yards in total offense, 10 more yards than the Eagles surrendered to the entire University of Colorado offense in a 31-24 loss earlier this season in Boulder. Defense - Matt Cox, Western Oregon (DT, 6-0, 260, Sr., Salem, OR – North Salem) and Ryan Dyer, Central Washington (DE, 6-0, 235, Jr., University Place, WA – Life Christian). . .Cox had extraordinary numbers for a defensive tackle earning nine tackles, including 3 ½ for losses totaling 22 yards as the Wolves earned a 34-27 road win at Dixie State. He also had 1 ½ QB sacks including a key nine-yard sack to snuff out Dixie's final scoring opportunity. On the season, Cox is tied for the GNAC lead in tackles for losses with seven. . .Dyer, who is the conference leader in sacks with 5 ½, had four of them for losses of 31 yards as Central Washington beat Humboldt State 48-10 to improve to 4-0. Dyer had a team-best seven tackles and also forced a fumble. Special Teams – Jon Dowd, Western Oregon (DB, 5-11, 205, Jr., Corvallis, WA – Crescent Valley) had kickoff returns of 32, 27 and 29 yards. The 32-yarder came off a lateral and helped set up a field goal in WOU's victory. Dowd, who leads the GNAC in kick returns averaging 28.5, also made contributions on defense, earning four tackles and forcing a fumble.
Week of Sept. 22-28: Offense - Pat McCann, Western Washington (WR, 6-2, 205, Jr., Olympia, WA – College of the Canyons) caught eight passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns, including a GNAC-record 96 yarder, to lead the Vikings to a 29-27 home win against Dixie State. McCann also scored on catches of 11 and 40 yards. His yardage total was the second most in GNAC history, and was the most ever for a conference contest. Defense - Buddy Wood, Central Washington (LB, 6-3, 200, Jr. Chattaroy, WA - Riverside) had 13 tackles, including a 15-yard quarterback sack, and also contributed to three of CWU's five takeaways in a 38-35 loss to Montana. He recovered a fumbled punt to set up CWU's first touchdown, then forced and recovered a fumble returning it 20 yards for the Wildcats' second touchdown. He also forced a fumble in the third quarter to halt a Montana drive at CWU's 23. The Wildcats, however, gave that one back on a fumble four plays later leading to a Grizzly score. Special Teams – Josh Lider, Western Washington (K, 6-2, 195, Jr., Bellevue, WA – Sammamish) and Garrett Rolsma, Central Washington (K, 6-0, 197, Jr., University Place, WA – Curtis). . .Both Lider and Rolsma had clutch field goals in the closing minutes of their respective games. Lider kicked two field goals in the final six minutes, including a 34-yarder to pull WWU within one point at 5:15 and then a 27-yarder game-winner with four seconds left. He also had a 28-yarder in the second quarter. . .Rolsma nailed a 44-yarder to pull CWU into a 35-35 tie with Montana with 2:47 left. He also connected from 23 yards on the final play of the first half. His two field goals were the 25th and 26th of his career, breaking the CWU school-record of 25 set by CWU Hall-of-Famer Craig Warmenhoven between 1983 and 1986. Rolsma also averaged a season-best 45.2 yards on four punts and 60.4 yards on five kickoffs.
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Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5: Offense - Randall Eldridge, Western Washington (RB, 5-10, 200, Jr., Lynnwood, WA – Chabot JC) gained 131 yards, including 53 on 22 rushes and 78 on four receptions to lead the Vikings to a 24-13 win at Monmouth. Eldridge scored two touchdowns, catching a 56-yard pass from Adam Perry on WWU's first play from scrimmage and on a six-yard run in the third quarter to stake his team to a 24-7 lead. Defense - Guy Ricciardulli, Humboldt State (DB, 5-11, 200, So., San Diego, CA – San Diego Mesa) had two big takeaways in a seven-point Lumberjack victory. In the second quarter he intercepted a pass at the HSU 11 allowing the ‘Jacks to go on an 88-yard drive and open up a 21-7 halftime lead. Late in the fourth quarter, he recovered a fumble at the HSU 30 to end a possible game-tying TD drive by the Cougars. He also had four unassisted tackles, including one for a one-yard loss and broke up a pass. Ricciardulli leads the GNAC in interceptions with five.
GNAC Player-of-the-Week (2001-05)
