Vikings Steal Win From Wolves, 17-14

Western Oregon owned a statistical edge in every category of Saturday’s football game against the host Western Washington Vikings -- except the final score.

Salem-News.com Sports

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Oregon owned a statistical edge in every category of Saturday’s football game against the host Western Washington Vikings -- except the final score.

Western Washington claimed a 17-14 win in front of 1,305 fans at Civic Stadium, sending the Wolves to its third loss of the season (5-3), while the Vikings improved to 3-6 on the year.

The Wolves had 415 yards of total offense to Western Washington’s 225. But WOU also had bigger numbers in two areas that hurt them severely. The visitors were flagged for 11 penalties (112 yards), and they also turned the ball over three times on interceptions, each time killing effective drives.

The Vikings scored first on a 28-yard run by freshman running back Craig Garner, with 8:37 to go in the first quarter. That drive went 69 yards in eight plays, one of only two effective drives that WWU had all day.

The Wolves had two decent drives themselves early, but both came to a halt after Viking interceptions. Todd McClellan picked off one Mark Thorson pass, and Mike Schmidt ended another Wolves march with a pick deep in Viking territory, returning it out of danger on a 42-yard scamper.

Meanwhile, the hosts added to the lead with a 45-yard field goal after the Schmidt interception by Robby Smith. That gave the Vikings a 10-0 margin, with just a little over two minutes left before the half.

But the Wolves then went on a 11-play, 80-yard drive, scoring on an eight-yard pass from Thorson to Isaiah Smith, making the count 10-7 at the break.

The third quarter was a mirror of the entire game of the Wolves. WOU begin the second half by moving the ball into the red zone, only to have two penalties move the ball back to the 46-yard line. Thorson then came back with a 41-yard strike to Smith to take the ball to the Viking five-yard line, but McClellan stepped up big again with an interception on the next play in the end zone to stop the drive.

The Wolves had another effective drive in the quarter and an apparent first down in the red zone, but a pass from Thorson to Smith was ruled incomplete.

WOU’s fortunes changed a bit early in the fourth quarter when Thorson found a streaking Sean Fullerton over the middle for a 46-yard scoring strike, and the Wolves had their first lead of the day at 14-10. On WWU’s next possession, the Wolves’ Jay Darden pulled down an interception in front of 6-5 receiver Travis McKee, and the Wolves looked to be in control.

But Western Washington then cranked off their second effective offensive push of the day, turning to the option for a 10-play, 63-yard drive and score. Garner ran it in from 17 yards out, on a drive where nine of the ten plays were on the ground, giving WWU a 17-14 lead.

Kyle Beck then returned the kick-off 39 yards to the Western Oregon 48-yard line, with just a little over four minutes to play. The Wolves moved the ball to the Viking 16-yard line, thanks mostly to a 23-yard Thorson to Tyler Knudsen strike. But the drive stalled there, and Bruce Voges came on to try a game-tying 33-yard field goal—but missed.

The Vikings then ran out the clock to secure the win.

Thorson finished with a career-high 359 yards passing, hitting 30 of 43 attempts. But the three interceptions more than doubled his season total, as he had only two picks in the team’s previous seven games.

Knudsen had 10 catches for 94 yards, and Smith had a collegiate best eight grabs for 119 yards.

The Wolves, who played without two of their biggest offensive threats in Kevin Boss and Eliot Vinzant, gave the ball to Ben Kuenzi on the ground and the redshirt freshman had 57 yards on 22 carries in his first college start.

Garner had an impressive 133 yards rushing on 27 carries for WWU, accounting for over half of the Viking offense.

In fact, Western Washington tallied 172 yards on its two scoring drives, but only had 53 yards total offense the rest of the day against a stout WOU defense.

Western Oregon will now return home for its final McArthur Field contest of the 2006 season, hosting Dixie State next Saturday at 1:00 PM.

The Wolves then close the year on Nov. 11th at Humboldt State.

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