Wolves Travel North Saturday to Face Western Washington

WOU is coming off a 53-7 win over Southern Oregon, while the Vikings lost to arch rival Central Washington, 42-28.

Salem-News.com

MONMOUTH - Western Oregon raced to a 53-7 homecoming victory over Southern Oregon on Saturday at McArthur Field, snapping a two-game losing skid. The 5-2 Wolves held the Raiders to just 36 yards rushing, intercepted three passes and ran up 476 yards of total offense in topping SOU for the second time this season.

Viking Venture:

Up next for WOU is a trip to Bellingham to take on Western Washington. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM. The Vikings, playing in the tough North Central Conference this season, are 2-6 overall and 1-4 in league play. They fell to arch rival Central Washington last Saturday at Qwest Field in Seattle, 42-28.

Tickets, Please:

Reserved tickets at Civic Stadium in Bellingham are $12. General Admission is $8 and non-WWU students get in for $6.

Listen Up: The game will be broadcast live on KCCS 1220 AM, with WOU sports information director Russ Blunck making the call, the Coach Bear Blunck on analysis.

Rankings:

WOU is 30th in this week’s Collegesportsreport.com national poll, and is No. 32 in the National Football Gazette poll.

Regional Rankings: The latest Northwest region rankings for NCAA Division II were released Monday. In the final poll (Nov. 13th), the top six teams in the region (basically) qualify for the post-season. Here is this week’s top 12. (1) Grand Valley State 8-0, (2) Nebraska-Omaha 6-1, (3) North Dakota 6-1, (4) South Dakota 7-1, (5) Northwood 6-1, (6) Winona State 6-2, (7) Ferris State 6-2, (8) Augustana 5-3, (9) Minnesota-Duluth 5-3, (10) Bemidji State 6-2, (11) Central Washington 5-3, (12) Indianapolis 5-3.

Series Snapshot:

This will be the 45th meeting between Western Oregon and Western Washington, and the Vikings lead the all-time series, 26-18. But the two clubs have split the last six meetings, over the last three seasons, when they played a round-robin schedule in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

WWU has since moved to the North Central Conference for football only (as did Central Washington), one of the toughest Division II leagues in the nation. Last year, the Vikings clubbed the Wolves at McArthur Field 38-16, but the Wolves got revenge in November in Bellingham, winning 28-7. Three of the last seven games in the series have gone to overtime.

Western Words:

The Vikings are just 2-6 this season, but four of those losses have been to nationally ranked teams. The fifth was rival CWU, who topped WWU 42-28 on Saturday night in front of 11,153 at Qwest Field in Seattle. Injuries to two key players have played a factor, as WWU has lost the services of its leading running back Calvin McCarty and top tackler, linebacker Shane Simmons. Against the Wildcats, a freshman running back stepped up to pick up the slack.

Craig Garner rushed for 180 yards, the most by a Viking player in 10 years. Veteran senior quarterback James Monrean has thrown for 1,371 yards in eight games, with six TD passes and seven interceptions. With Simmons out, linebacker Taylor Wade (37 tackles) and DL Ryan Conwell (11.5 tackles for loss) key the defense against the run. Kicker Robby Smith has been a bright spot, connecting on 10 of 16 field goal attempts, and is a perfect 15-15 on extra points.

Wolves Dominate Raiders:

WOU junior quarterback Mark Thorson threw four touchdown passes and the Wolves defense allowed only 180 yards of total offense as Western Oregon clubbed Southern Oregon in the Little Civil War on Saturday, 53-7. Thorson found Tyler Knudsen and Sean Fullerton twice each for scores and the WOU defense had three interceptions in a complete-game effort for the hosts.

Coach Ferguson on Win:

“We had a very good, physical week of practice. We applied good pressure on the defensive side and made life difficult for their quarterback. With the exception of one play, our defense played excellent football. On offense, they (SOU) were bringing an extra guy up to the line of scrimmage to stop Eliot, but that really opened things up for our passing game. Southern is a good team, we just wore them down afterwhile.”

Scoring Barrage:

WOU’s 53 points on Saturday was the most that they have scored since a 56-14 win over Simon Fraser in 1998. The 46-point win was the Wolves largest margin of victory since a 63-6 win over Whitworth in 1986.

Crowd Control:

The announced McArthur Field crowd of 3,500 is the largest in Monmouth since 1997, and tied for the third largest all-time at the stadium. WOU’s capacity is listed at 2,500, but its largest crowd ever was an overflow throng of 4,100 in 1994 against Linfield.

Game Notes:

Redshirt freshman running back Ben Kuenzi rushed for 93 yards on 11 carries, all in the second half. Mark Thorson completed 14 of 24 passes for 273 yards. Sean Fullerton had the first two TD catches of his career, and totaled three catches for 96 yards. Punter Josh Vanlue had a 47-yard punt that was downed inside the Raider 1-yard line by Greg Coleman in one of two special teams play of the day.

The other came when Tyler Wilson blocked a SOU punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Bruce Voges went 3-5 on field goal attempts, and one of those was blocked. That included makes from 36, 43 and 44 yards. Tyler Knudsen had seven catches for 92 yards and two scores, and also brought back a kick-off return 45 yards.

The Wolves had 10 different defensive players get credit for tackles for losses. Tyler York had five solo tackles and three tackles for loss. He also had a forced fumble, an interception, a quarterback hurry and 1.5 quarterback sacks.

Zach Christopherson and Nick Smith also had interceptions for WOU, marking the third time this season that WOU has had three picks in a game. When WOU allowed a 62-yard pass-run score for a touchdown right before the end of the first half, it marked the first time this season than an opponent has scored a touchdown against the Wolves in the second quarter.

1,000 X 2:

Senior running back Eliot Vinzant (Scappoose) his streak of consecutive games rushing for over 100 yards come to a close on Saturday, when he was held to 46 on 22 carries against SOU and did not play much of the second half. He finished with a school-record 13 consecutive games at 100 yards or more. The 6-0, 220-pounder has also rushed for 1,046 yards on the season, making him the first WOU back in school history to rushing for 1,000 yards in back-to-back campaigns.

Exceptional Eliot: More on The Exploits of Eliot Vinzant.

• The 13-game string of 100 yards or more a game is a school record and a Northwest small college mark.

• His 2,119 career yards in less than two seasons, already ranks seventh all-time at WOU.

• He rambled for 204 yards against Southern Oregon and 195 yards against Linfield, the ninth and 11th highest single-game totals in WOU history.

• His 1,046 yards is fifth for a single season. He ran for 1,073 last year (4th all-time). The school record is 1,210, set by Bill Volk in 1994.

• His 149.4 yards a game this year ranks seventh in the nation (NCAA Div. II)

• Vinzant’s 170.4 all-purpose yards a game is eighth nationally.

• The 2005 GNAC Newcomer of the Year has 72 points, eighth highest in the country.

By The Numbers:

WOU’s offense is averaging 432 yards a game, seventh best in Division II statistics...With 204 yards a game rushing, the Wolves are 13th nationally...WOU is outscoring its opponents by a 34-12 margin...WOU is only averaging 59 yards in penalties per game...The Wolves third down conversion rate is 45 percent...Quarterback Mark Thorson is connecting on 57 percent of his passes (116-204) for 1,588 yards and 14 scores. He has thrown just two interceptions.

The Big Secret:

The key to WOU’s big offensive production thus far is due in large part to its largest members -- the offensive line. Senior Ryan Belcher (6-4, 330) is a four-year starter at guard, while juniors Paul Wright (6-4, 290) and Brett Rhodes (6-2, 255) are starting for the third season in a row.

Allan Mikolas (6-4, 315) has seen starting time in each of the last three seasons, while Cory Perkins (So., 6-0, 265) and Brandon O’Neil (Jr., 6-2, 310) have also started in 2006. Redshirt freshman Brian Buckmier (6-4, 250) has also seen action in WOU’s big front.

Knudsen News:

WOU’s smallest offensive starter is one of its biggest threats. Senior receiver Tyler Knudsen (5-10, 180) led the Wolves with 62 catches last season for 600 yards, and he had eight grabs for 128 yards on Oct. 7th against Humboldt State.

His 132 career receptions ranks fifth all-time at WOU, and those numbers were tallied in just three seasons (he spent his freshman year at Chabot JC). He has 36 catches this year for 449 yards and three scores. Knudsen, out of Centennial High School in Portland, is also a kick-off and punt return threat, averaging 8.1 per punt and 27.5 per kick-off return.

Boss Man:

WOU senior tight end Kevin Boss (6-7, 255) had eight catches for 81 yards at Central Washington on Oct. 14th, all of them in the second half. He had one more TD grab of 45 yards called back in the third quarter on a controversial pass interference call.

He currently has 33 catches for 403 yards and five touchdowns, but did not play against Southern Oregon and is questionable this week against Western Washington (shoulder). He had his best game of the young season against Texas A&M-Kingsville, catching seven passes for a career-best 139 yards.

Two of those grabs went for touchdowns, including a 69-yard scamper on a tight end screen, where Boss outran the Javelina secondary for the score. Boss was a Lindy’s first team pre-season All-American and was a second team choice by the Football Gazette.

The Philomath native caught 53 passes last year for 621 yards and eight touchdowns last fall, and has also caught the attention of NFL scouts, who made arrangements all summer to watch him in practice or in games this fall. Boss, who has been clocked under 4.6 in the 40, also line-up at wide receiver from time to time.

Shutouts:

Western Oregon’s defense has essentially given up just six touchdowns in six games, and has pitched a shutout twice -- vs. Willamette (42-0) and Southern Oregon (38-0). The last time a Wolves defense had two blankings in the same season was in 1986 (Duke Iverson was the coach).

No Rush:

WOU is allowing just 66.1 yards rushing per game. That total ranks 8th among 141 NCAA Division II teams.

Tops in The Nation:

Western Oregon’s turnover margin ranks best in the country, at +17. The Wolves have only given the ball away via fumble three times in seven games, and quarterback Mark Thorson has thrown just two interceptions.

Sack Hounds:

The Wolves defense has 27 quarterback sacks in seven games and 59 tackles for 212 yards in losses. Anthony Marin leads the sack group with 6.5, while Matt Jirges adds five...Jirges and Marin also lead in tackles for loss with nine each....An amazing 20 different players have credit this year for a tackle for loss, and 11 different players have quarterback sacks. Defensive end Casey O’Donnell has eight quarterback hurries this fall...Senior linebacker Jeff Cloud leads the Wolves with 42 tackles.

More on Marin:

Sophomore tackle Anthony Marin (Salem/McKay HS) had two fumble recoveries against CentralWashington, giving him three on the season. Fellow Salem native (North Salem HS) and linemate Matt Cox has three forced fumbles on the year.

Air Defenders:

Junior cornerback Jay Darden (Portland/Lincoln HS) has three interceptions and seven pass break-ups. Nick Smith (Jr., Warrenton) has six deflections and a pair of picks. Zach Christopherson (Jr., Portland/Wilson HS) has three interceptions and leads the Wolves with 24 solo tackles. Fellow safety Jason Buckmier (Sr., Beaverton/Westview HS) has two interceptions and is third on the squad in total tackles with 36. The Wolves have 15 interceptions in six games, with eight different players responsible.

Air Time:

Redshirt freshman punter Josh Vanlue (Salem/South Salem HS) continues to hammer the pigskin, averaging 43.2 yards a punt. That mark listed him third on the national NCAA Division II rankings last week, but he doesn’t have enough attempts this week to qualify. Bruce Voges (Jr., Grants Pass), who has hit eight of his last 10 field goal attempts, ranks fifth in NCAA number in field goals per game with 1.3. He is nine of 16 on the season.

Buy Local:

The Wolves have 19 Salem-area athletes on their roster, including nine listed on the first or second team depth chart. All but one of WOU’s starters on offense, defense or special teams are from the state of Oregon.

Ferguson Factor:

Head coach Arne Ferguson begins just his second season as the Wolves leader, but he bleeds WOU blood after half a lifetime on the campus. The Vale, Oregon native was a three-time All-CFA defensive back for the Wolves from 1986-88, and began his coaching career for the Wolves in 1989. He has been WOU’s defensive coordinator since 1997. In Ferguson’s first season at the helm in 2005, the Wolves went 5-6 and finished the season on a three-game win streak. He now has a career mark of 10-8.

WOU Players of the Week vs. Southern Oregon

Offensive MVP: Mark Sean Fullerton (Fr., WR, West Linn)

Offensive Captain: Ryan Belcher (Sr., OL, Salem/McNary HS)

Defensive MVP: Tyler York (Jr., LB, Redmond)

Defensive Captain: Nick Smith (Jr., DB, Warrenton)

Special Teams MVP:

Special Teams Captain:

Scout Team Offense: Tim Comstock (Fr., OL, Pendleton)

Scout Team Defense: Jim Winkler (Jr.-RS., DL, Sherwood)

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