Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Sept. 19) -- Senior Prince Hall (Moreno Valley, Calif.) had a career-high 14 tackles and Central Washington scored 28 first-half points en route to a 42-10 victory over visiting Azusa Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium.

The win was the 10th straight regular season victory for the Wildcats (4-0), who were ranked fifth in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II poll and fourth in the D2football.com ranking. Central's last regular season loss was a 38-35 decision at Montana last September. Azusa Pacific, which competes as an independent member of the NAIA, fell to 0-4.

Hall had the highest tackle total by a Wildcat player since the Montana game last September while adding 3 1/2 tackles for losses to spearhead a starting linebacking trio that combined for 34 stops on the day. Senior Buddy Wood (Chattaroy/Riverside HS) added 11 tackles and a 33-yard fumble return for a first-quarter touchdown on a play where he literally stripped the ball from Oliver Petty's hands and sprinted to the end zone to give CWU a 14-0 lead at the time. The Wildcats' third starting linebacker, senior Matt Snell (Yakima/East Valley HS), also had a career-high with nine tackles.

Although 11 of Central's first 14 offensive plays of the game came on the ground, redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Robertson (Sammamish/Eastlake HS) had another strong first half engineering the Wildcat offense. He marched the Wildcats deep into Azusa Pacific territory on its first drive, with the help of senior running back Randall Eldridge (Lynnwood), before a fumble inside the Cougars' 20 thwarted a potential scoring possession. Robertson then completed both of his passes on the subsequent CWU series, including a 15-yard scoring toss to running back Bryson Kelly (Mukilteo/Kamiak HS) for Kelly's first Wildcat touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Turnovers also proved to be a prevalent theme in Saturday's contest, as Central Washington's defense came away with a total of four takeaways. The Wildcats also stopped Azusa Pacific on two of the Cougars' three fourth-down conversion attempts, including a fourth-and-one in the second quarter after which Robertson and senior Johnny Spevak (Edgewood/Puyallup HS) immediately responded with a 63-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage.

A 16-play drive -- the longest of the season for Central Washington -- culminated with the Wildcats' first rushing touchdown of the season late in the second quarter as Eldridge scored from one yard out with 50 seconds remaining before halftime.

The Central defense jumpstarted the second half, as defensive ends Andrew Oney (Spanaway/Spanaway Lake HS) and Ryan Dyer (University Place/Life Christian Academy) combined on a sack and fumble recovery on Azusa Pacific's second play from scrimmage, giving the Wildcats possession at the Cougars' 13-yard line. The offense then needed just three plays before Robertson and Spevak connected on their second score of the game -- a seven-yard touchdown strike -- to make it a 35-0 count just 1:38 into the third period.

Azusa Pacific finally broke the CWU shutout on its next series, consuming nearly 10 minutes of game clock with a 17-play, 73-yard drive that resulted in a 23-yard field goal by Ben Hansen.

Central picked up its final score of the game on the first series of the fourth quarter. Senior quarterback Cole Morgan (Seattle/Ballard HS) hooked up with former Western Washington teammate Zach Hekker (Bothell) on a seven-yard scoring play for the first touchdown of the season for both players.

Azusa Pacific, which had the ball for an even 19 minutes in the second half and finished with a nearly 10-minute advantage in time of possession for the game, finally found the end zone on its final offensive series as Chris Brown had a one-yard touchdown run.

Statistically, the game was much closer than the final score would indicate. Central had a 319-257 advantage in total offense, although the Wildcats held the Cougars to just 97 passing yards. CWU was outgained on the ground by a 155-142 count, although APU had 14 more carries in edging the Wildcats in rushing yardage.

Eldridge led Central in rushing for the fourth time in as many games, totaling 63 yards on 15 carries. Redshirt freshman Dominick Davis (Tacoma/Lakes HS), who made his collegiate debut Saturday, finished with three carries for 32 yards while Kelly had five carries for 30 yards.

Robertson completed 10 of 15 pass attempts for 163 yards and three touchdowns, playing the first three quarters before giving way to Morgan for the fourth quarter. Morgan finished 2 of 4 for 14 yards.

Spevak was one of nine CWU receivers with catches in the game, finishing with just three grabs for 84 yards but two scores. Sam Togar (Tacoma/Lakes HS) was the only other Wildcat with more than one catch, totaling two receptions for 30 yards.

Azusa Pacific was led by Brown, who netted just 66 rushing yards on 29 carries but did complete a 19-yard pass attempt to Aaron Wall in the third quarter. John van den Raadt was 5 of 11 passing for 78 yards, and added 55 rushing yards, but was intercepted twice -- once each by Wildcat safeties Loa Madon (Vista, Calif.) and Taylor Breitzman (Valley Springs, Calif./Calaveras HS).

Central Washington will have its final non-conference tune-up of the season next Saturday (Sept. 26), visiting Division I-Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) member Idaho State at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho. The game will pit the Wildcats against former CWU head coach John Zamberlin, who is in his third season as the Bengals' coach after a 10-year stay in Ellensburg. Kickoff will be at 3:35 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time (2:35 p.m. Pacific).

QUICK NOTES: Six Wildcats made their CWU debut in Saturday's game, including five who redshirted for CWU last fall ... Senior kicker Garrett Rolsma (University Place/Curtis HS) added six more extra points against the Cougars and has now made 78 straight PATs ... After scoring just three first-half points in its first two games, Central Washington has combined for 59 points in the first two quarters in the last two weeks ... Two of the Wildcats' five all-time meetings with Azusa Pacific have been played on Sept. 19 in Ellensburg. They are also Central's two largest wins in the series -- CWU won 51-17 on Sept. 19, 1998 ... CWU has allowed exactly 10 points in each of the last three games after posting a shutout in the season opener. The Wildcats are allowing just 7.5 points per game so far this season.