Jacob Thompson
football
ELLENSBURG, Washington – The Central Washington University football team will maintain its road warrior status for week two as it travels to Colorado Mesa University to face the Mavericks on Saturday, September 14 at 12:00 p.m. PST at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction, Colorado.
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LAST WEEK
The Wildcats opened their season last Saturday at the University of San Diego’s NCAA Division I FCS, losing 26-7. On their opening drive, the Wildcats missed a 40-yard field goal, which San Diego took advantage of to take a 6-0 lead after a 28-yard pass from Kenyon Sims in the end zone, but the attempt to score a point after the touchdown was no good. The ‘Cats answered on the ensuing possession with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Tyler Flanagan with the successful PAT of Quinton Pacheco gave the ‘Cats a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Toreros scored a touchdown in each of the remaining quarters and stifled the Wildcat offense to win 26-7 in sunny San Diego.
Kennedy McGill led the attack for the Crimson and Black, totaling 231 offensive yards, including 14/28 for 109 passing yards and leading the running attack with 122 rushing yards. Flanagan scored the only touchdown for CWU, adding 27 rushing yards and 10 receiving yards. Darius Morrison And Logan Brady Each of them scored over 30 yards, with Morrison scoring 35 yards and Brady scoring 31 yards. Tanner Volk led the Wildcats with eight tackles and also recorded a tackle for loss, while Adams State transfer Daniel Mendoza was not far behind with seven tackles and one pass defense. Brett McCalla And Daniel Matagi Each of them recorded six tackles and Matagi recorded the Wildcats’ first sack of the season, which resulted in a loss of six yards. Jaylen Clay added two pass breakups, while Wahi Emmsley added one. Daniel Stewart He punted seven times for CWU, averaging 281 yards for a 40.1-yard average. Three of his punts landed inside USD’s 20-yard line and he had one long punt of 55 yards.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa has already started the 2024 season 1-0, defeating a familiar face, the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas, 16-13 in a hard-fought road win in Texas in week zero.
“They are tough and combative,” said the CWU head coach Chris Fisk said. “When you go to Kingsville, Texas, it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s different than what the kids train with in Mesa, it’s just a tough game. Just the fact that they were able to go there and have that storm play the game they had to play against a well-coached and very talented Kingsville team says a lot about the program and the determination they play with.”
The Javelinas took the lead early in the first quarter when Roger Hagan caught a 9-yard pass from quarterback Kannon Williams and Gilbert Garza converted the PAT to put Kingsville up 7-0. The Mavericks answered late in the first quarter when Leslie Richardson scored the 7-yard touchdown followed by Evan Morris scoring the two-point conversion to put the Mavs up 8-7. The Javs took the lead again in the second quarter when Gilbert converted a 32-yard field goal and followed up with a 40-yard field goal in the third quarter to put Kingsville up 13-8. The Mavs struck again late in the fourth quarter when Jack Burke caught a 30-yard pass from Liu Aumavae and sealed it with Aiden Taylor’s two-point conversion to give CMU a 16-13 win.
The Mavericks finished the game with 157 passing yards, led by Richardson, who managed 5/11 for 80 yards but threw two interceptions. Aumavae finished the game with 4/8 throwing for 77 yards and a touchdown. CMU managed just 80 rushing yards, led by Taylor with 54, while Richardson finished with 36 and scored the only rushing touchdown. Quezon Villa finished the game with the most receptions with four for 56 yards, but Alex Turpin finished the game with the most receiving yards with 64 yards on two receptions.
Charlie Smith and RMAC Defensive Player of the Week Liban Shongolo led the defensive effort for CMU with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively. Jason Thome and Troy Mataia each finished with six tackles, with Thome recording the only interception of the game for CMU and Mataia adding half a TFL and a quarterback hurry. Colin Stuhr had the only sack for CMU, while Hunter Hamilton added a quarterback hurry.
Sullivan Moon missed the only field goal attempt of 53 yards for CMU, but had two kickoffs for 125 yards and three punts for 93 yards. Kash Bradley was the primary punt returner, returning two punts for 13 yards and adding a kickoff return for 31 yards. Noah Greer has two kickoff returns for 60 yards, while Villa added a kickoff return for 19 yards.
“We know we’re going to have our hands full. We’re playing their first home game and they’re going to be really excited,” Fisk said. “They have a talented roster and an experienced coaching staff, so it’s going to be a really tough battle this weekend.”
Next
The Wildcats remain on the road for one more week as they travel to West Texas A&M for the Lone Star Conference opener. The ‘Cats and Buffs will face off at 5 p.m. PST on Saturday, September 21 at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium in Canyon, Texas.
