Tuesday, October 30, 2012
PORTLAND, Ore. - GNAC leader Humboldt State, which ranks sixth nationally in pass defense effiency with a 94.8 ranking, will try to slow down Simon Fraser's passing game Saturday when the Lumberjacks travel to Burnaby, BC, for a 2 p.m. game at Terry Fox Field.
Humboldt (7-2, 6-2) brings a one-game lead in the conference race over Central Washington (5-4, 5-3) and Western Oregon (5-4, 5-3) into its contest against the Clan (4-5, 3-5).
The Wildcats and Wolves will break that tie for second Saturday when they play at Ellensburg. Meanwhile, Azusa Pacific (2-7, 2-6) travels to Saint George, Utah looking for its third straight win against Dixie State (3-6, 3-5). Both of those games kick off at 1 p.m.
Simon Fraser is led by quarterback Trey Wheeler and wide receiver Lemar Durant. Wheeler set a GNAC single-game record with six touchdown passes last Saturday in a 58-47 win at Dixie State. He also threw for 482 yards, six shy of the GNAC single-game record.
Durant caught 12 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns, tying the GNAC single-game record for most receiving TDs. His yardage total was just eight shy of the GNAC single-game mark. That performance earned Durant, a UNLV transfer, GNAC Red Lion Offensive Player of the Week honors.
On the season, Durant ranks fifth nationally among NCAA Division II players in receiving yards, averaging 121.8 yards per game. He is one of six GNAC players ranked in the Top 10.
Central Washington running back Demetrius Sumler ranks third in scoring (11.3) and Humboldt running back Nick Ricciardulli ranks fourth in rushing (146.8).
SFU receiver Bobby Pospischil ranks fifth in receptions (8.4) just ahead of Durant who ranks sixth (8.3). Punter Alexander Bradt of Western Oregon ranks ninth in punting (43.0). Simon Fraser defensive end Andrew Marshall ranks sixth in sacks (1.14).
NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Oct. 28): Team (Top 30): Scoring Defense – 30. Central Washington 19.3. Total Defense – 30. Humboldt State 332.2. Rushing Defense – 23. Western Oregon 111.4. Passing Offense – 12. Simon Fraser 315.2. Passing Defense – 14. Humboldt State 168.2. Pass Efficiency Defense – 6. Humboldt State 94.8; 24. Western Oregon 107.3. Punting – 17. Central Washington 36.9. Kickoff Returns – 16. Dixie State 24.3; 30. Central Washington 22.7. Punt Returns – 10. Simon Fraser 17.4. Turnover Margin – 28. Simon Fraser 0.78. Individuals (Top 30): Total Offense – 21. Trey Wheeler, SFU, 298.2. All-Purpose – 12. Nick Ricciardulli, HSU, 167.6. Rushing – 4. Nick Ricciardulli, HSU, 146.8; 21. Demetrius Sumler, CWU, 114.6. Scoring – 3. Demetrius Sumler, CWU, 11.3; 18. Lemar Durant, SFU, 9.6; 29. Nick Ricciardulli, HSU, and Bo Palmer, SFU, 8.7. Receptions – 5. Bobby Pospischil, SFU, 8.4; 6. Lemar Durant, SFU, 8.3. Receiving Yards – 5. Lemar Durant, SFU, 121,8. Punting – 9. Alexander Bradt, WOU, 43.0; 21. Matt Burke, CWU, 41.2. Field Goals – 30. Kelly Morgan, WOU, 1.0. Kick Returns – 14. Cache Morgan, DSC, 26.0. Punt Returns – 25, Tavoy Moore, CWU, 12.3; 29. Victor Spencer, HSU, 11.5. Interceptions – 16. Bryce Peila, WOU, 0.56. Sacks – 6. Andrew Marshall, SFU, 1.14.
GAME RECAPS AND NOTES
Humboldt State 14, Central Washington 10 (at Arcata, CA): Humboldt State drove 54 yards in four plays in the fourth quarter for its only offensive touchdown of the night in a 14-10 win over Central Washington before 4,996 fans at the Redwood Bowl ... A 47-yard catch by Victor Spencer, one of seven receptions for 116 yards for the wide receiver, set up a first-and-goal at the seven-yard line. Three players later Nick Ricciardulli scored from the one-yard line for the go-ahead score ... Humboldt’s defense helped set up the score, forcing CWU to punt from its own nine-yard line giving HSU the ball near mid-field ... CWU later drove 71 yards in 13 plays, but had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Sean Davis with 5:31 remaining when freshman linebacker Ryan Moreno broke up a third-and-nine CWU pass from the HSU 12-yard line ... Humboldt’s first touchdown came on a 20-yard interception return by Moreno in the second quarter to tie the game 7-7 at halftime. Central’s first-half touchdown came on a four-yard run by running back Demetrius Sumler, his league-leading 17th touchdown of the season. That is just three shy of the GNAC single-season record of 20 set by wide receiver Johnny Spevak in 2008 ... CWU controlled the football for 38:02 compared to just 21:58 by HSU, but had just 14 more yards (309-295) in the game which was dominated by the respective defenses ... HSU defensive back Tanner Webb had a team-high 10 tackles, including six solos. Humboldt also had nine tackles for losses of 28 yards – two each by defensive end Silas Sarvinski and DB Marcus Graves. Both of Sarvinski’s were among four sacks by the ‘Jacks. Moreno and DB Jeremiah Maluia had interceptions ... CWU linebacker Louie Bruketta also had 10 tackles, matching Webb’s total, while linebacker Stan Langlow had nine. The Wildcats had just three tackles for losses, none of the sacks ... CWU punter Matt Burke averaged 46.6 yards on five punts and Tavoy Moore had 132 return yards, 59 on four punts and 73 on three kickoffs. Wildcat kicker Sean Davis, however, missed 37 and 30 yard field goals in the first half before converting in the fourth period ... Offensively, CWU had 112 rushing yards, 66 on 23 carries by Sumler and 59 by nine totes by Jordan Todd. QB Ryan Robertson completed 20 of 34 passes for 184 yards as Moore had 94 yards on nine catches and Anthony Spain had 47 on seven carries ... Ricciardulli had 52 yards on 22 carries for Humboldt, which had 84 yards rushing. QB Casey Mintz completed 11 of 20 passes for 211 yards.
Azusa Pacific 19, Western Oregon 3: Kicker Jamie Cacciatore connected on field goals from 25, 18, 33 and 25 yards to tie a GNAC single-game record for most field goals as Azusa Pacific won its second consecutive game after opening the season with seven losses ... The game’s only touchdown came on a four-yard run by Terrell Watson with 11 seconds remaining in the contest after the Wolves turned the ball over on downs deep in their territory in the game’s final minute ... Neither team generated much offense. Azusa had 248 yards, including 110 rushing and 138 passing, while the Wolves had 211 yards, 106 rushing and 105 passing ... Watson had 49 yards on 24 rushes and quarterback Nick Owens completed seven of 26 passes for all his team’s passing yardage. Mike Martens had three receptions for 71 yards ... Kenneth Haynes led the Wolves with 60 yards on 14 rushes. Two Wolf quarterbacks combined to complete 12 passes in 35 attempts. Antoinne Wafer had four receptions for 37 yards ... Linebacker Sean Barber led Azusa’s defense with 11 tackles. He also had a tackle for a loss and one of APU’s three interceptions. Defensive backs Spencer Danielson and Darrell Wilson also had interceptions ...Defensive end Gustave Benthin led the Wolf defense with four tackles for losses, totaling 25 yards. Benthin, defensive back Patrick Tepea and linebacker Devin Wells all had seven tackles.
Simon Fraser 58, Dixie State 47 (at Saint George, Utah): Simon Fraser scored on a 37-yard pass from quarterback Trey Wheeler to tight end Jamal Kett early in the fourth quarter to snap a 35-35 tie and went on to defeat Dixie State 58-47 before a Homecoming crowd of 3,127 at Hansen Stadium ... The two teams combined for 1,094 yards of total offense, 575 by the Clan and 519 by the Red Storm with most of it coming through the air ... SFU quarterback Trey Wheeler completed 36 of 54 passes for 482 yards and a GNAC-record six touchdowns. Wheeler’s 482 yards were just six shy of the GNAC single-game record of 488 yards set by Josh Riddell of Western Oregon against Humboldt State in 2008. His six touchdown passes broke the GNAC record of five previously held by nine different players, including current BC Lion quarterback Mike Reilly who did it three different times while playing for Central Washington ... Dixie’s Griff Robles, who tied the old record tossing five touchdown passes, had 392 yards of total offense, rushing for 53 yards and a touchdown and completing 32 of 45 passes for 339 yards ... SFU wide receiver Lemar Durant had 12 catches for 228 yards, falling eight yards shy of the GNAC single-game record of 236 yards set by Central Washington’s Nate Brookreson against Carroll in 2008 ... Durant had four TD catches, tying the conference record set by Dustin Creager of Humboldt State against Montana Tech in 2001 and equaled by CWU’s Johnny Spevak against West Texas A&M in 2008 ... Simon Fraser, which outscored Dixie 28-20 in the second quarter and 23-20 in the fourth quarter, also got 96 rushing yards from Bo Palmer. In addition to Durant, two receivers had six catches each – Kyle Kawamoto (70 yards) and Bobby Pospischil (62 yards) ... Zack Fox (7-73) and Mitch Frei (6-62) each had two receiving touchdowns for Dixie State. Cache Morgan had 169 kickoff return yards, including 97 on his third career touchdown return. That is a GNAC record. Morgan also had 10 tackles and a pass interception ... The top tacklers were SFU defensive back Casey Chin and Dixie DB Cameron Greene with 11 each.