Saturday, October 22, 2011

Kenny Haynes rushed for 110 yards and Evan Mozzochi threw three touchdown passes to lead Western Oregon  to 40-24 victory over 15th ranked Humboldt State Saturday at McArthur Field.

The win moved the Wolves (5-3, 5-1) one-half game ahead of the Lumberjacks in the GNAC standings and likely set up a showdown Nov. 12 at Arcata between the two teams for the conference title.

Central Washington  (3-4, 3-3) won the only other conference game played Saturday defeating Dixie State 31-24. In a non-conference game, Southern Oregon scored with 1:05 left to defeat Simon Fraser 31-28.

Western Oregon built an early 17-3 lead against the previously unbeaten Lumberjacks (6-1, 4-1) and led by 13 or more points throughout the second half.

Tyrell Williams scored on a tipped 51-yard pass from Mozzochi in the final minute of the first quarter and defensive lineman Erik Hochhalter scored on a 24-yard fumble return early in the second quarter to give WOU the early lead.

The Wolves then took advantage of a short punt to score with eight seconds left in the first half and go ahead 24-10 at the break. Lucas Gonsalves caught a two-yard pass from Mozzochi to finish off the 35-yard, 7-play drive.

WOU stretched its lead to 30-10 after three quarters on field goals of 30 and 27 yards from Kelly Morgan.

The Wolves added 10 more points in the fourth quarter on a 32-yard pass from Mozzochi to Trevor Gates and on a 35-yard Morgan field goal, his fourth of the contest which equaled a GNAC single-game record. He also kicked a 37-yarder in the first period.

Western Oregon finished the contest with a 387-341 edge in total offense. Defensively, they created four turnovers and had five sacks including one by defensive end Levi Smith to set up Hochhalter's touchdown.

Humboldt State, which rushed for just a net 72 yards, had allowed just two sacks in its six previous games combined. HSU also came in averaging nearly 174 rushing yards per contest.

The Wolves, who rushed for 187 yards, held Lyndon Rowells to 94 yards on 19 rushes. Rowells did score on a two-yard run in the second quarter.

Mozzochi completed 18 of 35 passes for 192 yards. Gates caught five for 59 yards and Williams had four catches for 71 yards.

Humboldt quarterback Mike Proulx completed 26 of 45 passes for 269 yards but was picked of three times including one by Bryce Peila. That was his league-leading seventh interception of the season.

Victor Spencer (56 yards) and Kevin Miles (43 yards) each had six receptions including a touchdown for the Lumberjacks.

Defensively, linebacker King Manu led Western Oregon with 10 tackles. DBs Jeremiah Maluia and Tanner Webb had nine tackles each for Humboldt.

Central Washington 31, Dixie State 24

Armahd Lewis accumulated 230 all-purpose yards, including scoring touchdown catches of 63 and 75 yards in a 31-24 victory over Dixie State at Hansen Stadium.

Lewis scored on a 63-yard pass from Jose Mohler in the first quarter to give CWU a quick 14-0 lead after it had scored in the game's opening minute on a 31-yard interception return by linebacker Stetson Shearer.

Lewis then raced 75 yards with a Mohler pass in the second quarter to provide CWU a 21-10 lead at the break.

Those were Lewis' only catches of the game as he set a GNAC record for most yards in a game (138) on only two receptions. He also returned three kickoffs for 92 yards.

Dixie (1-7, 1-4) never got closer than eight points in the second half until quarterback Stefan Cantwell tossed an eight-yard TD pass to Joe Don Duncan and a two-point conversion pass to Zack Fox to pull his team within seven points with 1:12 remaining.

CWU's Leon LaDeaux, however, then recovered an onside try by the Red Storm and the Wildcats ran out the clock.

Dixie outgained Central 442-322 in total offense as Cantwell had 410 yards in total offense - his second 400-yard game this fall. He completed 29 of 44 passes for 308 yards and also rushed for 102 yards on 17 carries.

Duncan caught eight passes - two for touchdowns - for 103 yards. Fox (75 yards), Jesse Ence (71 yards) and Shayne Day (37 yards) - all had six catches.

Mohler, making his first start, completed 16 of 24 passes for 259 yards. He started in place of Ryan Robertson who dislocated a hip last week against Humboldt.

Robert Akeo-Orr had six catches for 42 yards for the Wildcats. Ishmael Stinson led CWU on the ground with 54 yards on eight carries, including a two-yard run in the fourth quarter.

DB Deionte Gordon led the Wildcats with 13 tackles and also had an interception. Shearer had nine tackles.

LB Jake Duncan had seven tackles, including three for losses of 16 yards, to lead Dixie. Duncan, who also forced a fumble, had the Red Storm's only two sacks.

Southern Oregon 31, Simon Fraser 24

Southern Oregon rallied from a 21-3 second-quarter deficit to defeat Simon Fraser scoring on a 22-yard pass from quarterback Austin Dodge to Patrick Donahue with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter.

The winning touchdown came on a third-and-three play as the Raiders drove 56 yards in six plays, using just 70 seconds. Dodge completed three of four passes for 42 yards on the drive.

Simon Fraser (2-6), after surrendering 20 consecutive points, had gone ahead 28-23 on a 36-yard pass from QB Trey Wheeler to BJ Bryant in the third quarter. Bryant also caught a 30-yard pass from Wheeler in the drive.

DB Tuomas Nurmi, Sean Snead and linebacker Andrew Marshall helped Simon Fraser build its early lead.

Nurmi had an interception at SFU's 32. The Clan then drove 68 yards on 10 plays, scoring on a four-yard run by Bo Palmer to go ahead 7-3 midway through the first period.

A minute later, Snead blocked a Southern Oregon punt and Nigel Palma picked up the ball and ran 15 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-3.

Marshall then sacked Dodge forcing and recovering a fumble at the SOU 30. After a penalty, Palmer gained 31 yards to the six. Greg Boycott scored from there for a 21-3 SFU lead.

Southern Oregon finished the contest with a 588-347 lead in total offense. Many Barragan rushed for 198 yards on 28 carries and Dodge completed 33 of 56 passes for 314 yards.

Palmer had 136 yards on 25 carries for the Clan, while Wheeler completed 13 of 28 passes for 155 yards.

Linebacker Casey Chinn and DB Adam Berger each had 14 tackles for SFU. Kyle Miller, Matt Isherwood and Nurmi had interceptions.