Monday, October 4, 2021

Down three points entering the fourth quarter to No. 11 Midwestern State, Central Washington was a few minutes away from dipping below .500 and suffering a second straight loss.

Instead, thanks to GNAC Players of the Week Donte Hamilton and Patrick Hegarty, the Wildcats outscored the Mustangs 13-0 in the final period for a 30-20 upset on Saturday that earned them conference Team of the Week honors. It is the Wildcats’ first win over a top-25 opponent since 2018 and Midwestern State’s first loss of the season.

“It’s a quality win against a quality opponent,” head coach Chris Fisk said. “We really won the game in all three phases and feel pretty good about our performance. It gives us a lot to build on as we move back into GNAC play this week.”

Hamilton, the senior linebacker who won his second straight GNAC Defensive Player of the Week award and third overall this season, single-handedly turned the tide of the game with three interceptions which all came in the fourth quarter. The three picks tied the CWU and GNAC single-game records. In addition, Hamilton recorded 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

The Wildcats relied heavily on Hegarty to cash in off Hamilton’s turnovers. The junior made six kicks during Saturday’s contest, including field goals of 45, 38 and 50 yards. The 50-yarder was a particularly gutsy call, as Fisk allowed Hegarty to attempt a career-long kick with Central Washington holding a seven-point lead with 2:21 left to play. Hegarty’s kick sailed through, giving the Wildcats a two-score advantage and allowing them to control the rest of the game.

Offensively, redshirt sophomore quarterback Quincy Glasper received his first career start against the Mustangs and performed well. Glasper passed for 245 yards and two touchdowns, including a 26-yarder to Jojo Hillel that gave the Wildcats the lead with 10 minutes to go. Glasper also rushed for 46 yards and a touchdown.

Hillel led Wildcats receivers with three receptions and his 55 receiving yards were second on the team to Darius Morrison, who hauled in a 65-yard bomb from Glasper for a score on his only catch of the day.

As a team, CWU stepped up defensively to halt Midwestern State’s attack, forcing six turnovers. Freshman safety Tanner Volk also had an interception for the Wildcats before Hamilton had his three. Central Washington also forced two fumbles. Hamilton led the team with 10 tackles, but defensive backs Jahleel Breeland and Patrick Rogers were close behind with nine and eight tackles, respectively.

Central Washington sits at 3-2 (1-0 GNAC) after the win. The Wildcats have the best overall record of any GNAC team and their 1-0 conference record is level with Western Oregon. The Wildcats will travel to Monmouth to take on the Wolves on Saturday.