Box Score

ELLENSBURG (Oct. 13) -- Senior DEMETRIUS SUMLER (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) tied a Central Washington University school record with five rushing touchdowns, helping the Wildcats to a convincing 51-10 Homecoming football victory over visiting Simon Fraser University on Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium.

The Wildcats improved to 5-2 overall including 5-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with the victory, which came in its Tomlinson Stadium debut. Simon Fraser fell to 3-4 overall and 2-4 in the conference.

Sumler, a transfer from the University of Colorado, scored on carries of 1, 47, 27, 8, and 37 yards to become the third player in CWU history -- and the first since 1989 -- to score five rushing touchdowns in a single game. The other two players in CWU history to accomplish the feat were Pat Patterson in 1989 and Corky Bridges in 1958.

Sumler finished with a career-high 226 rushing yards on 30 carries, helping spearhead a CWU rushing attack that amassed 374 yards and six touchdowns on 64 carries. Freshman JORDAN TODD (Bellevue/Interlake HS) had career-highs of 134 yards and 23 carries, scoring the game's final touchdown on a 16-yard run with 8:53 remaining.

The Wildcats set the tone early on offense, scoring on each of their first five possessions. Sumler capped the first two series with touchdowns, while senior SEAN DAVIS (Federal Way/Todd Beamer HS) booted a 21-yard field goal with 59 seconds left in the first quarter to give CWU a 17-0 lead. Sumler then scored his third TD early in the second quarter, and senior RYAN ROBERTSON (Sammamish/Eastlake HS) then connected with senior ANTHONY SPAIN (Grants Pass, Ore./North Valley HS) on a seven-yard scoring pass that gave the Wildcats a 31-0 lead with still more than eight minutes left in the first half.

The CWU defense held Simon Fraser in check, especially in the opening half when the Clan netted just 90 offensive yards including just eight on the ground. SFU broke the Wildcats' shutout on its first series of the second half, marching 66 yards on six plays and settling for a 28-yard field goal by Tiernan Docherty. The Clan then scored on a 44-yard passing play on the only play of its next possession, cutting the CWU lead to 31-10.

Sumler's fourth touchdown of the game accounted for the Wildcats' lone score of the third quarter, and he then broke the 200-yard rushing mark for the day on his 37-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter. He had just three carries the rest of the way, turning rushing duties over to Todd, who improved upon his career-best day with 60 rushing yards in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats logged 122 yards on the ground while attempting just one pass in the final stanza.

CWU nearly doubled Simon Fraser in total offense for the game, finishing with a 502-264 edge. The Wildcats held SFU running back Bo Palmer to 95 rushing yards, a total that was aided by a 63-yard non-scoring carry on the second play of the third quarter.

Linebackers RILEY WALL (Olympia/Capital HS) and RIDGE NIELSEN (Mesa, Ariz./Mountain View HS) were both credited with a quarterback sack while tying for team-leading honors with five tackles in the game. A total of 23 Wildcats were credited with at least one tackle in the game, and junior linebacker STAN LANGLOW (University Place/Curtis HS) collected the lone takeaway of the game for CWU -- a fourth-quarter interception that was his 10th career pick.

Central Washington will return to the road for consecutive night games in the state of California. The Wildcats, who currently own a one-game lead in the GNAC standings with four games remaining, will visit Azusa Pacific University next Saturday (Oct. 20) at 6:30 p.m. before a visit to Humboldt State University on Oct. 27. The next home game for CWU will be Nov. 3 when the Wildcats host Western Oregon University.