Tuesday, October 15, 2019

The first matchup was entertaining. The second time around will have quite a bit on the line.

The GNAC’s two hottest football teams, Western Oregon and Central Washington, will square off on Saturday in Monmouth, Oregon, in a game that will have conference title implications.

After losing two games to start the season, Western Oregon has now won four straight. The Wolves are coming off a 26-14 road win at Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Wolves were dominant by the numbers, finishing with 456 yards of total offense to just 233 for the Javelinas, but it took a while to get the scoring going. The Wolves trailed 14-7 at halftime before scoring 19 unanswered points to close the game.

Western Oregon finished with 273 rushing yards while senior quarterback Ty Currie had 283 yards of total offense, passing for 183 yards and rushing for 100 more and three touchdowns. The game also produced the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week in junior defensive back Curtis Anderson and the Special Teams Player of the Week in sophomore wide receiver Marquis Sampson.

Central Washington, meanwhile, is experiencing a renaissance with sophomore Christian Moore at quarterback. Starting his first college game, Moore proceeded to complete 26 of 37 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 70 more yards to lead the Wildcats to a 44-6 rout of Azusa Pacific. The performance earned Moore selection as the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.

The Wildcats seemingly stopped the Cougars in their tracks, limiting APU to 287 yards of total offense.

Western Oregon enters the game with a 4-2 overall record and a 3-0 conference mark. While the Wolves are beginning the second half of their conference schedule, the game will mark the end of the first half of conference play for the Wildcats. Four of Central’s five remaining games will be GNAC contests.

In the other conference matchup of the week, Azusa Pacific will host Simon Fraser. The Clan is coming off a 55-21 loss at Dixie State on Saturday.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Christian Moore, Central Washington
QB • 6-5 • Sophomore • Puyallup, Wash.

Making his first collegiate start, Moore finished with 493 yards of total offense in Central Washington’s 44-6 win over Azusa Pacific. He completed 26 of 37 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns and also carried the ball 11 times for 70 yards. Moore has finished with more than 300 yards of passing offense in each of the last two games.

Also Nominated: Rysen John (Simon Fraser), Ty Currie (Western Oregon).

DEFENSIVE
Curtis Anderson, Western Oregon
DB • 6-2 • Junior • Klamath Falls, Ore.

Anderson posted his second two-interception game of the season in the Wolves 26-14 road win at Texas A&M-Kingsville. The second of those interceptions was converted into a critical third-quarter touchdown. Anderson also finished with four tackles in the win.

Also Nominated: Jeremiah Vasquez (Central Washington), Griffin Barrett (Simon Fraser).

SPECIAL TEAMS
Marquis Sampson, Western Oregon
WR • 5-7 • Sophomore • Portland, Ore.

Sampson had just one kickoff return in Saturday’s game at Texas A&M-Kingsville, but it was huge. Sampson returned the Javelinas’ first kickoff 67 yards. That set up the Wolves’ first touchdown three plays later and set the momentum for the 26-14 road win.

Also Nominated: Michael Roots (Central Washington).

AROUND THE GNAC
AZUSA PACIFIC
LAST WEEK: Oct. 12: Lost at Central Washington, 44-6
THIS WEEK: Oct. 19: vs. Simon Fraser, 6:30 p.m.

• Azusa Pacific was limited to just 287 yards of total offense and one second-quarter touchdown in taking a 44-6 loss at Central Washington on Saturday.

• The Cougars accounted for 241 of their 287 yards in the passing game. Sophomore quarterback Anthony Catalano completed 10 of 18 passes for 154 yards and the game’s only touchdown. Junior Tyrone Williams, Jr., entered later in the game and completed 5 of 11 passes for 87 yards. Williams ranks second in the GNAC with 191.5 passing yards per game and fourth with 187 total offense yards per game. Catalano is fifth in the GNAC with 107 passing yards per game and fifth with 37.8 rushing yards per game.

• The APU receiving yards were spread between eight different receivers. Junior wide receiver Jordan Bogardus caught two passes for 43 yards. Senior wide receiver Darrell Adams, Jr., caught three passes for 41 yards and freshman wide receiver Noah Bogardus caught two passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. Of the eight who caught passes, five finished with 30 or more yards.

• Senior defensive back Siaki Alualu led the Azusa Pacific defense with 11 tackles, including two solo tackles, and a half-tackle for loss. Junior linebacker Ben Sukut finished with 10 tackles, including five solo, and a half-tackle for loss. Sukut is fifth in the GNAC with 6.6 tackles per game while Alualu is 11th with 5.8 tackles per game.

• Azusa Pacific enters the week averaging 364.8 total offense yards per game and 22.6 points per game. The Cougars are third in the GNAC with both 260.2 passing yards per game and 104.6 rushing yards per game. Azusa Pacific leads the GNAC and is 25th in Division II in net punting, averaging 37.2 yards per punt. Individually, freshman kicker Ramzee Jaridly is 27th in Division II with 1.20 field goals per game.

• The Cougars return home for the first time in three weeks on Saturday, hosting Simon Fraser for the teams’ second meeting of the season.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
LAST WEEK: Oct. 12: Beat Azusa Pacific, 44-6
THIS WEEK: Oct. 19: at Western Oregon, 1:05 p.m.

• Behind another impressive passing performance by sophomore quarterback Christian Moore, Central Washington collected 667 yards of total offense in a 44-6 rout of Azusa Pacific in Ellensburg.

• Making the first start of his college career, Moore proceeded to finish with a whopping 493 yards of total offense. He completed 26 of 37 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 11 times for 70 yards. Two of his touchdown passes were 30 yards or longer, topped by a 44-yard pass to Tony Archie in the second quarter. For his efforts, Moore was named the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. Moore enters the week averaging 222.8 passing yards per game in four games this season.

• Sophomore wide receiver Tyson Rainwater had a banner day as well, catching 10 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns. He had a long reception of 57 yards and scored two of the Wildcats’ four second-half touchdowns. Rainwater is third in the GNAC with 72.8 receiving yards per game and sixth with 72.8 all-purpose yards per game.

• Senior running back Michael Roots was solid all around. He carried the ball 17 times for 102 yards and returned two kicks for 70 yards for 172 yards of total offense. Moore leads the GNAC and is sixth in Division II with 176.8 all-purpose yards per game. He also leads the GNAC and is sixth in Division II with 134 rushing yards per game. In addition, Roots is tied for 21st in Division II with his seven rushing touchdowns and eight total touchdowns.  

• Senior defensive back Jeremiah Vasquez led the Central Washington defense with eight tackles, including three solo tackles, and one tackle for loss. As a team, the Wildcats finished with eight tackles for loss for 41 yards and six sacks for 33 yards. Vasquez is fourth in the GNAC with 7.8 tackles per game.

• Senior defensive back Tyren Sams had his fourth interception of the season on the first drive of the game, which led three plays later to the Wildcats’ first touchdown of the game. Sams is tied for first in the GNAC with four interceptions and tied for fourth in Division II with 0.7 interceptions per game.

• Central Washington leads the GNAC and is seventh in Division II with 500.3 yards of total offense per game. The Wildcats lead the GNAC and rank ninth in Division II with 310 passing yards per game. Central also leads the GNAC in scoring offense (34.3 points per game), first downs (143) and kickoff returns (23.3 yards per return) while ranking 15th in Division II in first downs, 16th in passing yards per completion (16.03) and 30th in kickoff return defense (17.30).

• Central Washington faces a critical rematch with Western Oregon in Monmouth on Saturday.

SIMON FRASER
LAST WEEK: Oct. 12: Lost at Dixie State, 55-21
THIS WEEK: Oct. 19: at Azusa Pacific, 6:30 p.m.

• Simon Fraser had its best scoring game of the season, but it still wasn’t enough to overcome a huge scoring effort by Dixie State in a 55-21 loss to the Trailblazers in St. George, Utah.

• The Clan finished with 380 yards of total offense with all but 53 of those yards in the passing game. Freshman quarterback Brandon Niksich continues to pace the offense, completing 25 of 41 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns. Niksich leads the GNAC and is 15th in Division II with 271.6 passing yards per game. He also leads the conference with 258.8 yards of total offense per game.

• Senior wide receiver Rysen John had a big game as well, catching seven passes for 149 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 21.3 yards per catch. John leads the GNAC and is 30th in Division II with 86.2 receiving yards per game. He also is tied for 30th in Division II with five receiving touchdowns and is 26th with 517 total receiving yards.

• Five different players handled the Clan’s nine kickoff returns. Sophomore wide receiver Aidan Pearce had three of those returns for 49 yards while junior wide receiver Gavin Cobb had two returns for 46 yards.

• Junior linebacker Griffin Barrett led the Simon Fraser defense with 10 tackles, including six solo tackles and a tackle for loss. Barrett currently leads the GNAC and is 10th in Division II with 11.3 tackles per game. Freshman linebacker Ian Crocker had nine tackles in the game while junior linebacker Anthony Crescenzo had eight tackles.

• Simon Fraser enters the week averaging 307.2 yards of total offense per game and is second in the GNAC with 265.8 passing yards per game. The Clan ranks 29th in Division II in passing yardage.

• Simon Fraser stays on the road and returns to conference play on Saturday, playing at Azusa Pacific.

WESTERN OREGON
LAST WEEK: Oct. 12: Won at Texas A&M-Kingsville, 26-14
THIS WEEK: Oct. 19: vs. Central Washington, 1:05 p.m.
 
• Western Oregon outscored Texas A&M-Kingsville 19-0 in the second half to score a solid road win over the Javelinas, 26-14, in Kingsville, Texas.

• The second-half scoring allowed the Wolves to come back from a 14-7 halftime deficit to win the game. The Western Oregon offense went off for 456 yards while limiting the Javelinas to 233 yards of total offense and 1 of 3 on opportunities in the red zone.

• The game produced two of the three GNAC weekly award winners. Junior defensive back Curtis Anderson was named the Defensive Player of the Week after he posted his second two-interception game of the season. One of those picks eventually resulted in a third-quarter touchdown. Anderson also finished with four tackles and returned one kick for 30 yards. Anderson is tied for first in the GNAC with four interceptions and is tied for fourth in Division II with 0.7 interceptions per game.

• Sophomore wide receiver Marquis Sampson was named the GNAC Special Teams Player of the Week for his 67-yard kickoff return on Texas A&M-Commerce’s first kickoff of the game, which resulted three plays later in the Wolves’ first touchdown. It was Sampson’s second return of the season.

• Senior quarterback Ty Currie completed 12 of 23 passes for 183 yards and also rushed 16 times for 100 yards and three of the Wolves’ four touchdowns. He finished the game with 283 yards of total offense. Currie is second in the GNAC and 29th in Division II with 255.7 total offense yards per game. He is 18th in Division II with 15.22 passing yards per completion, 22nd with 100 points responsible for and 24th with 16.7 points responsible for per game.

• Sophomore running back Omari Land led the WOU rushing game with 101 yards on 14 carries. Land is second in the GNAC with 89.3 rushing yards per game. He is tied for 21st in Division II with both seven rushing touchdowns and eight total touchdowns and 30th with 536 total rushing yards.

• Sophomore defensive back Ryan Minniti led the WOU defense with six tackles. Senior defensive lineman Blayne Burnett finished with five tackles and sophomore linebacker Jaylin Parnell had five tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack.

• Western Oregon leads the GNAC and is 18th in Division II with 242.3 rushing yards per game. The Wolves rank second in the GNAC with 33.7 points scored per game and 439.2 total offense yards per game. Defensively, WOU leads the GNAC in scoring defense (28.2 points allowed per game), rushing defense (123.8 yards allowed per game), passing defense (221.3 yards allowed per game) and total defense (345.2 yards allowed per game). The Wolves rank 29th in Division II in total offense.

• Western Oregon returns to conference play with a tough test as they host Central Washington on Saturday.