Box Score
HTML Box Score
Photo Gallery

ELLENSBURG (Sept. 21) -- The Central Washington University football team put forth a strong defensive effort against the top passing team in the NCAA Division II, but a trick-play touchdown with just under seven minutes remaining enabled visiting Simon Fraser University to steal a 21-14 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday at Tomlinson Stadium.

CWU finished its season-opening three-game home stand with a 1-2 record (1-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference games), while Simon Fraser improved to 2-0 overall and in the conference.

The Wildcats put together their best offensive game of the season with 349 total yards on 60 plays, outgaining Simon Fraser by 17 total yards despite 15 fewer offensive plays. SFU, which accumulated 587 yards of offense in its season opener at Humboldt State on Sept. 7 including 518 passing yards, totaled 332 yards on Saturday against the CWU defense.

"I thought our defense did great," first-year CWU head coach John Picha said. "They did a great job early in the game (specifically holding SFU to a first down on its opening drive) and maintained that 'bend-but-don't-break' the whole game. The defense played well, but bottom line, the offense has to score more points than they have and we didn't do that today."

The Wildcats have accumulated just 48 points in their first three games, with their highest single-game total being the 20 they scored in last week's 20-7 win over Western Oregon University.

CWU took a 7-6 lead into halftime, scoring the lone touchdown of the opening half on a 65-yard run by sophomore Jordan Todd (Bellevue/Interlake HS). The defense held the Clan to two Chad Heerspink field goals before halftime -- an 18-yarder on the opening possession of the game and a 26-yard boot midway through the second quarter.

Todd had a 58-yard scoring run called back due to penalty early in the second quarter, which would have made it a 10-point differential at the time, and the Wildcats' drive eventually stalled on downs inside the SFU 35-yard line.

CWU carried the momentum of its defense, which capped the first half with an interception by true freshman Sean Elledge (Monroe/Glacier Peak HS), into the second half. The Wildcats scored on their opening possession, with redshirt freshman Jake Nelson (Lake Stevens) connecting with junior Greg Logan (Graham/Graham-Kapowsin HS) on a nine-yard touchdown pass that finished off a 12-play, 66-yard drive.

The score remained an eight-point margin until early in the fourth quarter, when Simon Fraser picked up the game-tying touchdown on a 10-yard run by Chris Tolbert and a subsequent two-point conversion pass from Ryan Stanford to Bobby Pospischil with 14:11 to go. CWU responded by driving quickly into SFU territory, but a fumble inside the five-yard line returned possession to the Clan.

Simon Fraser then went 97 yards on 11 plays, scoring the eventual game-winning touchdown on a double pass where Stanford tossed a lateral to wide receiver Ryan Blum, who then found an open Tolbert in the end zone for the go-ahead points.

CWU had just one possession the rest of the way, resulting in a three-and-out series, and Simon Fraser was able to run out the clock to preserve its first win in Ellensburg since September 27, 1980. It also marked just the third time in 17 all-time meetings at Tomlinson Stadium that SFU has prevailed.

"There are a few plays that determine football games, and there were a few plays that determined this one," Picha explained. "There were things that needed to click a little better for us on offense, and I thought we did that in the second half. But we had a touchdown called back because of a penalty and a fumble (inside the red zone), and those are missed opportunities that cost us today."

Todd led all players with 127 rushing yards on 22 carries, while Nelson was the team's second-leading rusher with 46 yards on 11 carries. CWU accumulated 218 rushing yards in the contest, and Nelson was 10 of 17 for 131 yards through the air, completing his final eight pass attempts including all seven in the second half.

Defensively, junior linebacker JB Torsy (Mission Viejo, Calif./Trabuco Hills HS) led all players with 13 tackles, and senior safety Stan Langlow (University Place/Curtis HS) made 11 stops. The Wildcat defense finished with three sacks and seven total tackles for losses.

Simon Fraser, which capitalized on three CWU fumbles, was keyed by a 106-yard rushing performance from Tolbert and a 211-yard passing day from Stanford, who completed 29 of 42 attempts. Pospischil had game-high totals of 82 yards and nine receptions for the Clan.

CWU will make its road debut next week, traveling to Glendora, Calif., for a Sept. 28 showdown with Azusa Pacific University at 6:30 p.m. The Wildcats' next home game is Oct. 12, when Dixie State University visits for Homecoming.