Western Oregon Weekly Football Digest

The Wolves travel to take on national powerhouse Linfield on Saturday. Kick-off is set for 6:00 PM.

Photo by: Tim King

MONMOUTH - Bearcat blanking: For the second season in a row, the Western Oregon football team opened the season with a shutout of nearby Willamette, this time claiming a 42-0 victory on Saturday night at McCulloch Stadium in Salem.

Eliot Vinzant rushed for 174 yards and the Wolves scored on five straight possessions to begin the season at 1-0.

Short trip, big game: This Saturday, WOU will trek 25 miles north to McMinnville, to take on perennial national small college power Linfield. The Wildcats, 10-1 last year and 2004 NCAA D-III national champions, will open their 2006 campaign with this contest against the Wolves. Start time is 6 pm at Maxwell Field.

Tickets, please: Reserved tickets at Linfield are sold out, but general admission tickets are available on game day at the following prices: Adults, $8, Seniors $3, Ages 6-11 $2, Students with ID $3, Students with no ID $5.

Series snapshot: The Wolves and Wildcats have met 57 times over the years, with Linfield holding a commanding 42-13-3 all-time lead. The ‘Cats won 49-7 in Monmouth last fall, and won 58-17 in 2004 in McMinnville.

The two teams did not play from 1999-2003, but played a thriller in 1998 at McArthur Field, with Linfield winning in overtime, 20-17. WOU’s last win was the year previous (1997), a 24-10 handling at Linfield.

Zeros: WOU has now posted back-to-back shutouts against Willamette, after also opening the 2005 season with a 35-0 win in Monmouth. WOU’s previous shutout was also against the Bearcats in 2000 (23-0), and the Wolves defense also drew zeros against Simon Fraser in 1999 (45-0).

Arne on opener: “They (Willamette) did some things early that hurt us, but our punting game and special teams kept us with field advantage until we could get things going.

It’s not uncommon to make some of the mistakes that we were making in your first game, and I was impressed with how we settled in and made the plays we had to, especially in the third quarter. On defense, our people read their keys and did their jobs, that’s how you stop that offense.

Offensively, if we can run the football like we did, we can do a lot of things. Willamette is better than they were last year, and I think that we are getting better, too.”

Defense dominates: After a shaky first quarter, WOU’s defense was dominant during its 42-0 win over Willamette. The Bearcats had 75 yards of total offense in the first period, but totaled only 216 for the game.

The hosts didn’t advance past the Western Oregon 38-yard line in the contest, and only crossed over midfield three times. In addition, the Wolves had 10 different players involved in tackles for losses, and had two interceptions from Jay Darden (Jr., Portland/Lincoln HS) and another from true freshman Bryan Huber (Fr., Salem/West Salem HS). Matt Cox (So., Salem/North Salem HS) and Evan Corbin (Jr., Oakland) both had forced fumbles, and Matt Starley (So., Klamath Falls/Mazama HS) had a fumble recovery.

Special teams, special reward: WOU had a new punter in the line-up in redshirt freshman Josh Vanlue (Salem/South Salem HS), and he had a breakout game like no other in recent memory. The back-up quarterback, who was a second-team all-state punter in high school, blasted four punts for an average of 50 yards even, and he put three of those inside the 20. For his efforts, he was honored as the d2football.com NCAA Division II independent player of the week.

Modest four: The Wolves now have a modest four-game win streak, dating back to the close of 2005. WOU finished off Arne Ferguson’s first season as head coach with wins over Humboldt State, Western Washington and Puget Sound. It’s the program’s longest win string since they began the 1997 season with four consecutive victories.

Eight for Eliot: Senior running back Eliot Vinzant (6-0, 220) continued a streak as well in the 2006 season opener. In rambling for 174 yards on 21 carries against Willamette, Vinzant has now rushed for over 100 yards in eight consecutive games, a school record.

In 10 games last season, the Portland State transfer rushed for 1,073 yards, the fourth-highest single-season total in WOU history. The former 3A player of the year at Scappoose scored two touchdowns (36 and 55 yards) against the Bearcats and averaged 8.3 yards per carry. He was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2005.

Boss man: Much attention will be focused on WOU senior tight end Kevin Boss (6-7, 255), who 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, and has also caught the attention of NFL scouts, who have been making 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 had just three catches for 23 yards at Willamette, including an 18-yard grab.

Making his Mark: Junior signal caller Mark Thorson (6-6, 230) began the year with a solid outing, hitting 13 of 23 passes for 157 yards, two 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. His 96 career receptions in two seasons ranks ninth all-time at WOU.

Knudsen, out of Centennial High School in Portland, is also a kick-off and punt return threat, averaging 8.9 per punt and 14.1 per kick-off return last season. He had three catches for 35 yards at Willamette on Saturday night, and returned a kickoff for 40 yards.

These guys have eaten together before: WOU’s offensive line returns mostly intact from 2005, and four of the men in the trenches will be playing at least their third season together.

After returning from injury, Ryan Belcher (6-4, 330) will be starting for the fourth consecutive season at guard, while juniors Paul Wright (6-4, 290) and Brett Rhodes (6-2, 255) will get the nod for the third season in a row at tackle and center respectively.

Allan Mikolas (6-4, 315) begins the season as a back-up as he recovers from an injury, but he has seen starting action in parts of the last two seasons.

Dynamite defense: The Wolves lost their top three tackles to graduation (Jon Apgar, Bret Hughes, Dane Wagner), but return 10 players who have starting experience on the defensive side of the ball.

Second team all-conference selections Tyler York (6-2, 225) and Anthony Marin (6-0, 270) give the Wolves all-stars are linebacker and tackle respectively. Jason Buckmier (6-3, 210) returns for his third season as a starting safety, and junior Matt Buche (6-1, 225) is back for a third consecutive season at linebacker.

The Wolves would like to carry over the defensive momentum it had at the end of 2005, when they gave up a total of just 22 points in their last two contests.

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.

Buy local: The Wolves have 19 Salem-area athletes on their roster, including eight listed on the first or second team depth chart. All of WOU’s first game starters on offense or defense 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 6-6.

Wildcat Words: Reams of paper can be filled with Wildcat hype and accomplishments, both recent and historical.

Linfield carries an all-divisions record of 50 consecutive winning seasons coming into the 2006 season. The Wildcats have won six straight Northwest Conference titles, and they went unbeaten last season until the west region finals, falling to Wisconsin-Whitewater in a 44-41 shootout. They have not lost a regular season game since 2001.

And although the ‘Cats lost 13 position starters from their 2005 squad, including All-American quarterback Brett Elliott and receivers Casey Allen and Brandon Hazenberg, AND their longtime head coach Jay Locey (to Oregon State), don’t weep for the folks in McMinnville. Defensive coordinator Joe Smith takes over and welcomes back 10 starters, including All-American offensive tackle Jake Lucey. Three All-Northwest Conference defensive linemen also return, including three-time all-league pick Michael Greenberg. Senior Tim Benzel is expected to step in for Elliott, and although it is his first season as a starter, he has three seasons in the Linfield system and has completed 36 of 55 passes for 447 yards in mop-up duty.

The Wildcats are 60-6 over the last six seasons, the second highest winning percentage during that time in all of college football.

Ferg on ‘Cats: “People talk about all that they have lost since last year, but those people don’t understand that they have had people waiting in the wings that are well versed in the Linfield system.

Like always, our job on defense will be to handle their very good passing game, and on offense, we need to be able to run the ball well. And we will need to stay composed. Those things never change.”

Western Oregon Players of the Week (vs. Willamette)

Offensive MVP: Eliot Vinzant (Sr., Scappoose, Ore.)

Offensive Captain: Brad Ching, Jr., Kailua, Hawaii)

Defensive MVP: Jay Darden (Jr., Portland, Ore.)

Defensive Captain: Matt Cox (So., Salem, Ore.)

Special Teams MVP: Bruce Voges (Jr., Grants Pass, Ore.)

Special Teams Captain: Josh Vanlue (Fr., Salem, Ore.)

Scout Team Offense: Jake Zeutenhorst (Fr., Selah, Wash.)

Scout Team Defense: Braden Bangay (Jr., Aloha, Ore.)

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports