Wolves Now 3-0, Face Rival Raiders Saturday

You can listen to the game locally Saturday on 1220 KCCS AM

Raiders' Shane Van Zant at their season opener 9-3 home loss against Eastern Oregon. Photo courtesy: SOU

MONMOUTH - Western Oregon Weekly Football digest

Flying out of the blocks: Western Oregon rolled over Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday at McArthur Field (36-10), moving to 3-0 on the season, its best start since 1997.

Traveling south to Southern: This Saturday, the Wolves will bus down I-5 to Raider Stadium in Ashland, to take on longtime rival Southern Oregon. Kick-off is at 6:00 PM.

Tickets: Reserved tickets at Raider Stadium are $15 with seatbacks, $10 without. General Admission is also $10, while children under the age of 12 are $5, as are seniors (over 62). For more information, call (541)552-6772.

Series snapshot: The Wolves and Raiders have met 68 times over the years, although not so much lately. When WOU moved to the NCAA Division II level, the meetings became a little more sporadic, but were renewed again last season in Ashland—where the Wolves came away with a 24-10 victory.

Western has won the last four meetings between the two Oregon University System schools, the last three of those at Raider Stadium. The teams will play each other twice this year, and head into Saturday’s match-up with WOU holding an all-time 41-26-1 edge.

String of six: Western Oregon is now riding a six-game win streak, which includes 2005 season-ending wins over Humboldt State, Western Washington, and Puget Sound. The last time that WOU won six games in a row was during the 1986 season, on a Duke Iverson-coached team that finished 7-2. Current head coach Arne Ferguson was on that squad as an all-conference defensive back.

Polling: Western Oregon moved up 12 spots to No. 21 in the Hansen Football Gazette national poll. Grand Valley State (Mich.) is No. 1, while WOU opponent Central Washington checks in at No. 15. The Wolves have yet to crack the Top 25 in the d2football.com poll, where Grand Valley State is also No. 1 and Central Washington is No. 21.

Coach Ferguson on win: “To be successful against a program as solid as Texas A&M-Kingsville was very gratifying. Our offense did a nice job controlling the football, and Mark (quarterback Thorson) made good decisions. Our receivers are getting better by the week, and Ryan (offensive coordinator O’Malley) did a tremendous job of getting a lot of people involved, with variety and balance."

On defense: "The interceptions by Zach (Christopherson) and Huber (Bryan) were huge, as was our ability to rise to the occasion on third and fourth down. We are gaining confidence, but we still need to play faster and more physical.”

Raider readings: Southern Oregon is 1-1 on the season, and will be rested and refreshed when the Wolves arrive after a bye week. The Raiders, under first-year coach Steve Helminiak, opened the year with a 9-3 home loss to Eastern Oregon and then rebounded with a road victory at Menlo, 16-13. Helminiak, who was the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Rockford College (Ill.) for the past three years, has designs on turning around a program that went 1-9 last season.

Shane Van Zant is SOU’s new tailback, averaging 67 yards rushing through the first two games, while freshman quarterback Casey Mitchell (Baker, Ore.) has completed 24 of 45 passes for 205 yards in a pair of games. Senior Gabe Hatchett is dangerous at the wideout spot and as a return man. While the offense has averaged only 223 yards in total offense, the defense has been tough to move on, giving up only 274. Linebacker Damario Watson paces that unit with 16 tackles, including two for losses.

Ferguson on Raiders: “I am of course, very aware of the intense rivalry that Western and Southern have had over the years. Playing down there, anything can happen and we traditionally have not played very well at their place. They will be fresh and ready coming off the bye week. We will practice very hard this week to make sure that we are ready as well.”

Red sea: Western’s defense posted another solid performance, this time against Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Wolves allowed just one touchdown, and that came after a turnover gave the Javelinas great field position to start the third quarter. On the season, the WOU defense has given up just two touchdowns in 12 quarters of action. WOU is allowing just 77 rushing yards per game, and they have six interceptions in three contests. They have ten quarterback sacks and 28 total tackles for losses. In WOU’s last five contests, including 2005 games against Western Washington and Puget Sound, the Wolves have given up a total of 46 points, less than 10 points a game.

Marin mashes: Sophomore defensive tackle Anthony Marin had another quarterback sack against the Javelinas, giving him five in three games. The former McKay High School standout (Salem) also has six tackles for loss for a total of 35 yards.

Pickers have two each: Three WOU defensive backs have two interceptions each through three games. Zach Christopherson (Jr., Portland/Wilson HS) grabbed his two against Texas A&M-Kingsville, while Jay Darden (Jr., Portland/Lincoln HS) and Bryan Huber (Fr., Salem/West Salem HS) also each have a pair. Christopherson also leads the team in solo tackles with 11. Linebackers Jeff Cloud (Sr., Culver) and Matt Buche (Jr., Myrtle Point) lead the squad with 23 and 21 tackles respectively.

10 plus 100: Senior running back Eliot Vinzant continued his streak of rushing for 100 yards or more in a game, now at ten. He dashed for 165 yards against the Javelinas, including TD runs of three and four yards. He also caught a six-point pass for 11 yards. He rambled for 195 yards against Linfield, which included touchdown runs of 69 and 12 yards, which is a WOU career best and was the 11th highest single-game total in school history.

Vinzant had rushed for 101 yards by halftime against the Wildcats. In 10 games last season, the Portland State transfer rushed for 1,073 yards, the fourth-highest single-season total in the WOU record book. He now has 1,607 career rushing yards, including 534 this season, at an average of 7.2 yards a carry, and he has seven touchdowns in three games. The former 3A player of the year at Scappoose was named the d2football.com independent player of the week for his efforts at Linfield. He was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2005.

National news: Eliot Vinzant ranks fifth in NCAA Division II statistics in rushing, averaging 178.0 per game. Chadron State’s Danny Woodhead is the leader with 236.0. As a team, the Wolves rank 11th in rushing offense (232.0), are tenth in total offense (435.7) and are fifth in kick-off return yardage (31.5). Vinzant is also fifth in all-purpose yards (196.0), while Anthony Marin is second in quarterback sacks per game (1.7). Josh Vanlue is fifth in punting (43.2), and Tyler Knudsen is sixth in kickoff returns (31.5). WOU’s is also ranked sixth in scoring defense (8.0 points per game) and is sixth in team net punting (38.47).

Long boot: Junior kicker Bruce Voges (Jr., Grants Pass) nailed a 48-yard field goal as time expired at the end of the first half against Texas A&M-Kingsville, equaling his career best. That kick also tied for the fourth longest three-pointer in school history. Voges also kicked a 48-yarder last season against Humboldt State.

Boss man: WOU senior tight end Kevin Boss (6-7, 255) had his best game of the young season against the Javelinas, 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, will also line-up at wide receiver from time to time. He currently has 16 catches for an even 200 yards and three touchdowns.

Making his Mark: Junior signal caller Mark Thorson (6-6, 230) continues to be an efficient leader for the high flying Wolves offense. He completed 16 of 27 passes for 257 yards and three TD’s last Saturday. On the season, he has completed 60 percent of his tosses (49-82) for 611 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Thorson started last season and completed a school-record 186 passes. The Sandy native tossed 16 scoring strikes and totaled 1,916 yards through the air in 2005. Thorson has very capable back-ups waiting in the wings in Josh Vanlue (6-5, 240), a redshirt freshman who began his career at Kentucky, and brother Ryan Thorson (6-6, 230), a senior who was WOU’s starting quarterback in 2003.

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. He had six catches for 84 yards against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday. His 111 career receptions ranks seventh all-time at WOU. Knudsen, out of Centennial High School in Portland, is also a kick-off and punt return threat, averaging 6.0 per punt and 31.5 per kick-off return. He has 15 grabs thus far for 148 yards in 2006.

Welcome back, Ryan: Senior Ryan Belcher (6-4, 330) saw some playing time for the first time this season on Saturday, as continues to recover from an injury. He 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 seen starting time in 2006.

Veterans and baby vets: At the end of the 2005 season, WOU had 10 starters in the line-up that were either true freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Those players are all a year older now, and will mix with a group of seven seniors and ten juniors that are penciled into the projected starting line-up. The Wolves return nine players with starting experience on offense, and ten on defense.

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 8-6.

Western Oregon Players of the Week (vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville)

Offensive MVP: Kevin Boss (Sr., Philomath, Ore.)

Offensive Captain: Eliot Vinzant, Sr., Scappoose, Ore.)

Defensive MVP: Zach Christopherson (Jr.., Portland, Ore.)

Defensive Captain: Matt Jirges (Sr., Gervais, Ore.)

Special Teams MVP: Greg Coleman (So., Beaverton, Ore.)

Special Teams Captain: Bryan Huber (Fr., Salem, Ore.)

Scout Team Offense: Adryan Allen (Fr., Salem, Ore.)

Scout Team Defense: Michael Petrovich (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska)

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