Monday, November 13, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – Winning the conference title while achieving just the third undefeated regular season in GNAC history, No. 7 Central Washington football is the Red Lion/GNAC Team of the Week.

Thanks to its convincing 42-28 win at Humboldt State on Saturday to win the GNAC championship, CWU received the No. 1 seed in Super Region 4 and a first-round bye in the 28-team NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Wildcats will host the winner of this Saturday’s game between No. 4 seed Winona State (10-1) and No. 5 seed Texas A&M-Commerce (9-1) in a second-round game on Sat., Nov. 25 in Ellensburg, Wash.

Ending the regular season 11-0, Central Washington has been the only GNAC program to accomplish this feat, going undefeated during it's 2002 and 2009 campaigns. Central Washington enters the postseason after rolling through the regular season with an 8-0 conference record and has won 13 straight games dating back to 2016. The win on Saturday gave the Wildcats their eighth regular-season title and their first since 2012.

“It feels great, I’m so proud of these kids. To have the opportunity for these guys to come together and make this happen is really exciting. These guys have played their tails off and gone through a tough preseason. To come away with an 11-0 record and be GNAC champions is a pretty special deal,” said Wildcats’ head coach Ian Shoemaker.

Central Washington is averaging 40.2 points per game and has outscored opponents by an average of 21 points per game. The closest they came to defeat was in a 17-16 win at Azusa Pacific on Sept. 16 and in a 17-10 come-from-behind win over North Alabama at home on Oct. 21.

The Wildcats lead the GNAC and is 14th in Division II in rushing, averaging 242 yards per game while averaging 464.5 yards of total offense per game. Where CWU has won games, though, is on defense. Central Washington is third in Division II in total defense, allowing opponents 244.5 yards per game, and are second in rushing defense with 45.5 rushing yards allowed per game. The Wildcats lead Division II with 4.70 sacks per game.

Central Washington is 3-3 all-time in the Division II playoffs. In 2009, the Wildcats opened the playoffs with a 27-6 home win over Tarleton State before falling to Northwest Missouri State in the second round, 21-20.