Western Oregon Faces Former JC Powerhouse Dixie State on Saturday

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

Salem-News.com

MONMOUTH - For the third time this season, Western Oregon dropped a game that was within their grasp, falling to Western Washington 17-14 in Bellingham.

The Wolves had nearly twice the offensive yardage of their opponents, but also had a season-high three turnovers and missed a 33-yard field goal with less than a minute to play that could have sent the game to overtime.

Dixie Debut:

Western Oregon will next play its final home contest of the 2006 season, hosting Dixie State for the first time ever. Start time is 1:00 PM at McArthur Field. The Rebels, a former junior college powerhouse located in St. George, Utah, is in its first season in transition to the NCAA Division II level. They are 1-7 on the year, while the Wolves are now 5-3.

Senior Moment:

Eleven Western Oregon seniors will be honored before the contest. They are Jason Buckmier, Eliot Vinzant, Jacob Piho, Tyler Knudsen, Kevin Boss, Matt Jirges, Ryan Thorson, Jeff Cloud, Ryan Belcher, Brandon Jasmin, and Justin Cameron.

Tickets, Please:

Reserved tickets at McArthur Field are $10 and General Admission is $8. WOU students are free, and other students are $4.

Video Streaming:

Saturday’s game will be available on wouwolves.com via video streaming. It’s free. Just follow the links, and watch the game live.

Series Snapshot:

This is the first meeting between Western Oregon and Dixie State.

Rebel Yell:

Dixie State, long a national power at the junior college level, is having growing pains in its first year of NCAA Division II football. The Rebels are 1-7 and are coming off a 38-20 loss to NAIA Azusa Pacific. Dixie has lost twice this season to Humboldt State (48-28 and 45-7), and to Adams State (37-7), San Diego (41-7), Northern Arizona (66-14) and Mesa State (42-14), but they also gained their only victory in a rematch two weeks ago with the Mavericks, winning 21-6. Junior running back Amos Allen (5-9, 190, Miami, Fla.) leads the ground attack with an average of 50 yards rushing per game, while the Rebel offense has been led lately by two quarterbacks—Lance Pantonai (6-4, 215, Jr., Henderson, Nev.) and Danny Southwick (Jr., 6-2, 210, Jr., Provo, Utah).

Southwick started last week at Azusa Pacific and completed 10 of 17 passes for 132 yards with no interceptions. On the season, Southwick is 30-56 for 436 yards, while Pantonai is 69-146 for 865 yards. On defense, Leighton Kanahoi (6-3, 245, Jr., St. George, Utah) has five and a half quarterback sacks, and fellow defensive lineman Wayne Alofipo (6-2, 290, So., St. George, Utah) has seven tackles for losses.

Vikings Steal One From Wolves:

Western Oregon had 415 yards of total offense but only 14 points to show for it during a heart-wrenching 17-14 loss to Western Washington on Oct. 28 at Civic Stadium.

The Wolves defense held the Vikings to just 225 yards of total offense, and all but 53 of that came on two WWU scoring drives—one in the first quarter and one in the fourth. But the Wolves turned the ball over three times via interceptions, more than doubling their season output in that category. The Wolves also had an uncharacteristic 11 penalties for 112 yards in a game that got away from them.

Coach Ferguson on Loss:

“That was a very disappointing loss, because we lapsed into some mistakes that we hadn’t been making all year. We had too many penalties, were not consistent in the red zone, and turned the ball over too many times. On defense, we had two drives where we didn’t stop them, and that is disappointing. But we have to give credit to Craig Garner (WWU running back), he is a D-I type back and he is going to be special in the future for them. It was a tough loss, but the difference between now and 1-2 years ago, is that we then had to play a complete game in order to have a chance to beat teams like Western and Central Washington. Now, we can play poorly and still have a chance to win because we are that much better. For those two teams (Central and Western), playing good teams every week in the North Central Conference helps, that’s an advantage that they have. We need to get our scholarship levels closer to where they are at, and play the same kind of schedule that they are playing to keep climbing.”

MASH Unit:

The Wolves were without two All-American candidates against the Vikings, and will be so again this weekend. Tight end Kevin Boss will miss the rest of the year after having shoulder surgery this week, and running back Eliot Vinzant will also rest an injured knee. Boss, at 6-7 and 255 pounds, averaged 5.5 catches per game before going down in the fourth quarter of an Oct. 14th game at Central Washington. He finished his season with 33 catches for 403 yards and five touchdowns. Vinzant was injured in the third quarter of the Oct. 21st Southern Oregon contest, and could possibly return for the Nov. 11th season finale against Humboldt State (for more on Eliot, see below).

Game Notes:

Sophomore Isaiah Smith had a career-best eight catches for 119 yards, and that does not include an apparent 17-yard catch that would have given the Wolves a first down in the red zone in the third quarter, but it was ruled incomplete...Jay Darden had two pass break-ups, and also pulled down an interception in front of 6-5 receiver Travis McKee.

Darden stands just 5-9...Redshirt fresman JT Gilmore led the Wolves with five solo tackles and six total bring-downs...Anthony Marin and Matt Jirges had another quarterback sack each, bringing their season totals to 7.5 and 6.0 respectively....Running back Ben Kuenzi made his first collegiate start in place of Eliot Vinzant, rushing for 57 yards on 22 carries.

He also had three catches for 26 yards...For the second consecutive game, Sean Fullerton had a touchdown catch, and totaled four grabs for 82 yards...Kyle Beck had a kick-off return for 39 yards that helped set-up WOU’s final attempted scoring drive.

10 for #10:

Senior flanker Tyler Knudsen had a career-best 10 catches at Western Washington for 94 yards. The ten grabs is the most for a WOU player since Kevin Boss had 11 against the Vikings in a four-overtime win in 2004. Knudsen’s 142 career receptions now ranks third all-time at WOU, and those numbers were tallied in just three seasons (he spent his freshman year at Chabot JC).

He passed No. 4 Mike Hinshaw, who had 140 (2000-03) on Saturday. With just two games left, he is now chasing Cam Frickey at 156 (1992-96) and career leader Brad Satran at 161 (2000-03). Knudsen has 46 catches this year for 543 yards and three scores. The former Centennial High School (Portland) standout is also a kick-off and punt return threat, averaging 8.1 per punt and 27.5 per kick-off return.

Mark’s Mark:

Junior quarterback Mark Thorson had career bests on Saturday with 30 completions (43 attempts) and 359 yards. The 30 completions ties for the third highest number in school history, behind the 35 by Denny Bies in 2004 against the Vikings and 35 by Erik Davis against UC Davis in 1999. Bies also had 30 completions in a 2003 game against Humboldt State.

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 Oct. 21 against Southern Oregon, when he was held to 46 on 22 carries 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, despite missing a game, making him the first WOU back in school history to rushing for 1,000 yards in back-to-back campaigns.

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 ninth nationally.

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

By The Numbers:

WOU’s offense is averaging 430 yards a game, seventh best in Division II statistics...With 185.5 yards a game rushing, the Wolves are 21st nationally...WOU is outscoring its opponents by a 32-13 margin...WOU is only averaging 65 yards in penalties per game...The Wolves third down conversion rate is 45 percent...As a team, the Wolves are averaging 24 yards per kick-off return, eighth best in NCAA Division II...Quarterback Mark Thorson is connecting on 59 percent of his passes (146-247) for 1,947 yards and 14 scores. He has thrown just five 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) are have also started in 2006. Redshirt freshman Brian Buckmier (6-4, 250) has also seen action in WOU’s big front, along with Jose Escobedo (Fr., 6-4, 270).

Shutouts:

Western Oregon’s defense has essentially given up just eight touchdowns in eight 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 76.4 yards rushing per game. That total ranks 10th among 141 NCAA Division II teams.

Sack Hounds:

The Wolves defense has 29 quarterback sacks in eight games and 63 tackles for 231 yards in losses. Anthony Marin leads the sack group with 7.5, while Matt Jirges adds six...Jirges and Marin also lead in tackles for loss with ten 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 46 tackles.

More on Marin:

Sophomore tackle Anthony Marin (Salem/McKay HS) had two fumble recoveries against Central Washington, 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 four interceptions and nine pass break-ups, leading the Wolves in both categories. 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 25 solo tackles. Fellow safety Jason Buckmier (Sr., Beaverton/Westview HS) has two interceptions and is second on the squad in total tackles with 41. The Wolves have 16 interceptions in eight games, with eight different players responsible.

Air Time:

Redshirt freshman punter Josh Vanlue (Salem/South Salem HS) continues to hammer the pigskin, averaging 43.0 yards a punt. That mark lists him fifth on the national NCAA Division II rankings. Bruce Voges (Jr., Grants Pass), who has hit eight of his last 11 field goal attempts, ranks 11th in NCAA number in field goals per game with 1.1. He is nine of 17 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 10-9.

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