Week of Aug. 24-30: Offense - Judd Thompson, Dixie State (QB, 6-3, 220, Sr., Crystal Lake, Ill. - Prairie Ridge) set a school record (since transitioning from the JC ranks) for passing yards completing 27 of 40 for 374 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-28 win over Adams State. Thompson, who had 382 yards in total offense, tossed TD passes of 55 and six yards to Kyser Christensen, 22 yards to Skyler Ence and 10 yards to Nash Fowler. Defense - Buddy Wood, Central Washington (LB, 6-3, 214, Sr., Chattaroy, WA - Riverside) was credited with 10 tackles and also had takeaways on Mesa State's only two journeys inside the CWU 40-yard line as the Wildcats posted their first shutout in nearly two years. Wood ended one Mesa drive with a fumble recovery at CWU's 16 and another with an interception at the Wildcat 24. Special Teams - Garrett Rolsma, Central Washington (K/P, 6-1, 200, Sr., University Place, WA - Curtis) averaged 40.6 yards on five punts and 67.7 yards on three kickoffs and did not allow a return on either. He also had a 30-yard field goal to extend a 7-0 lead to 10-0 in the fourth quarter after earlier extending his own streak of consecutive PATs to 67.
Week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6: Offense - Mike Proulx, Humboldt State (QB, 5-11, 200, So., Castro Valley, CA) completed 20 of 29 passes for 336 yards and four touchdowns leading the 'Jacks to a 36-24 win over Adams State in their season opener. Proulx threw for 904 yards during the entire 2008 season. Defense - Prince Hall, Central Washington (LB, 6-0, 264, Sr., Moreno Valley, CA) had seven tackles, including two for losses to help key a Wildcat defense that held defending national champion Minnesota Duluth to a single field goal after the opening quarter in a 13-10 victory. Hall made two key defensive stops on perhaps the biggest defensive series of the game, holding UMD to a two-yard gain and then a two-yard loss on second and third down plays inside the CWU 10. That forced a 23-yard field goal try late in the third quarter which was blocked by Eugene Germany, keeping the game tied at that point 10-10. Special Teams - Jon Dowd, Western Oregon (WR, 5-11, 205, Sr., Corvallis, WA - Crescent Valley) had 203 all-purpose yards including 163 on five kickoff returns and 40 on five receptions. His 58-yard return on the opening kickoff led to good field position as the Wolves battled Eastern Washington on even terms during the first half.
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| Robertson |
Bankhead |
Schierholt |
Week of Sept. 7-13: Offense - Ryan Robertson, Central Washington (QB, 6-3, 195, Fr., Sammamish, WA - Eastlake) had an extraordinary first half in leading the Wildcats to a 34-10 win over West Texas A&M in their 2009 home opener. Robertson completed 18 of 24 passes for 227 yards and four touchdowns in the first two quarters as CWU jumped to a 31-3 lead on the way to a 34-10 victory. The redshirt freshman finished the afternoon with 256 yards, completing 21 of 36. Ten months ago, West Texas knocked CWU out of the NCAA Division II playoffs with a 49-42 win at Canyon, Tex. Defense - Keauntea Bankhead, Dixie State (LB, 6-1, 255, Jr., Seattle, WA - Arizona Western) led a Red Storm defense that limited Big Sky member Montana State to just two touchdowns, MSU's Jason Cunningham kicked three field goals enabling the Bobcats to escape with a 23-20 home victory. Bankhead had 13 tackles, including six solos, recovered a fumble and also broke two passes. Special Teams - Kyle Schierholt, Humboldt State (K, 5-10, 200 Sr., Chugiak, AK - Northern State) kicked three field goals, including one from 46 yards early in the fourth quarter in a 17-16 loss to Western Oregon. Schierholt also converted from 36 and 34 yards. The game was the conference opener for both schools.
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Cragin |
Week of Sept. 14-20: Offense - Sean Fullerton, Western Oregon (WR, 6-2, 210, Sr., West Linn, OR) caught 14 passes for 164 yards, including receptions of 20, nine, 16 and 12 yards to set up a game-winning 46-yard field goal by Kelly Morgan with 3:39 left as the Wolves rallied for a 17-16 home win against Dixie State. Fullerton fell one reception short of the GNAC single-game record of 15 held jointly by Dustin Creager of Humboldt State and Central Washington's Brian Potucek. Creager had 15 receptions against Western Oregon in 2004 and Potucek equaled the record a year later against Nebraska Omaha. Defense - Nick Cragin, Dixie State (LB, 5-10, 205, Sr., Issaquah, WA - Skyline) put the Red Storm in position to earn a road win before Western Oregon's game-winning drive. Cragin, a transfer from Western Washington, had a game-high 11 tackles and also had a 53-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter as Dixie opened up a 16-7 lead. Cragin is tied with Central Washington linebacker Buddy Wood for the GNAC lead in tackles with 40 and ranks third in tackles for losses with four. Special Teams - Sitani Tupou, Western Oregon (DT, 6-3, 295, Jr., Sacramento, CA - Cordova & Sierra JC) had two game-changing plays, one on special teams and one on defense. He blocked an extra point try by Dixie in the second quarter that ultimately led to the one-point victory. Then on the final play of the game, he had a 10-yard quarterback sack to secure the victory. He had two other tackles and also broke up a pass.
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| Wells |
Beavers |
Wood |
Schierholt |
Week of Sept. 21-27: Offense - Adam Wells, Dixie State (RB, 5-9, 203, Jr., Kenmore, WA - Inglemoor) had 124 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Red Storm to a fourth-quarter comeback win over Humboldt State. Wells rushed for 38 yards on seven carries and also caught five passes for 86 yards, including touchdown receptions of 13 yards in the opening quarter and five yards in the fourth quarter. He also had a 42-yard reception to set up a 39-yard field goal by Mike Langston late in the third quarter as Dixie overcame a 17-7 deficit to win 24-20. Defense - Buddy Wood, Central Washington (LB, 6-3, 214, Sr., Chattaroy, WA - Riverside) and Wesley Beavers, Dixie State (S, 6-1, 210, Sr., Las Vegas, NV). . .Wood led a Central defense which limited Idaho State to minus 33 yards rushing and 215 in total offense in a 33-22 win. He had five tackles, including 2 ½ for losses totaling 30 yards. Wood also forced and recovered fumbles and earned his third career fumble recovery touchdown, two of them in the past two weeks. The Bengals had just 10 first downs against the CWU defense and had only 148 yards in total offense prior to a 67-yard touchdown pass on their final offensive snap of the contest. . .Beavers had a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions as Dixie State rallied for a four-point win over Humboldt State. He returned the first interception 34 yards to the seven-yard line to set up a game-winning one-yard touchdown run by Tauni Vakapuna with 7:24 left in the fourth quarter. Later he sealed the victory with an interception at the seven, enabling Dixie to run the final 1:26 off the clock. Special Teams - Kyle Schierholt, Humboldt State (K, 5-10, 200, Sr., Chugiak, AK - Northern State) kicked field goals of 23 and 46 yards to stake the 'Jacks to a 20-10 fourth-quarter lead. He also averaged 67.6 yards on five kickoffs without allowing a kick return yard and 40.0 yards on three punts, including a net 34.7. Schierholt is six of seven on field goals this fall, including a GNAC-best two of three from beyond 40 yards. His only field goal miss came from 50 and it was blocked.
Week of Sept. 28-Oct. 4: Offense - Johnny Spevak, Central Washington (WR, 6-3, 200, Sr., Edgewood, WA - Puyallup) caught eight passes for 71 yards and a pair of touchdowns leading the Wildcats to 37-6 conference home win over Dixie State. Spevak recorded his 50 th and 51 st career touchdown receptions with catches of five and 14 yards in the second and third quarters, respectively, increasing his career point total to 308. In the process he tied a CWU school record for career pass receptions and set the school record for career pass receiving yards increasing his totals to 283 and 3,907, respectively. Brian Potucek had 283 receptions for 3,889 yards for CWU between 2001 and 2004. Both receivers wore uniform number 84 in their careers and coincidentally have now combined for 84 career TD receptions. Defense - Adam Bighill, Central Washington (LB, 5-10, 218, Jr., Montesano, WA) led the Wildcats in tackles for the second week in a row making 11 stops, including 2 ½ for losses totaling 17 yards. He also had an interception. A year ago, Bighill was CWU's No. 2 tackler with 78 and tied for the team lead in interceptions with five. He missed Central's first four games this season, but in the last two contests has had 20 tackles (4 ½ for losses) and has helped lead a defense that has allowed just 389 yards, including minus 62 rushing. Special Teams - Jon Dowd, Western Oregon (WR, 5-11, 205, Sr., Corvallis, OR - Crescent Valley) had 139 all-purpose yards, including 102 on five punt returns, 14 on one kick return and 23 on two receptions. He scored WOU's first touchdown in a 23-0 win over Southern Oregon on a 49-yard punt return in the first quarter, then set up the first of three Wolf field goals recovering a fumble at the seven-yard line on a Southern Oregon punt return in the second quarter. Dowd leads the GNAC this fall in both punt returns (15.8) and kickoff returns (27.2). His punt return average is on pace to break the GNAC single-season record of 15.0 set by Greg Dykstra of Western Washington in 2002.
