Game Notes

ELLENSBURG (Sept. 23) — Bothell's Pop Keeney Stadium will be the site for the inaugural Battle for the Border football clash Saturday between Central Washington University (1-2, 0-0 GNAC) and Simon Fraser University (0-3, 0-0 GNAC). This first battle, presented by the Washington National Guard, has an international flair to it, as SFU is the only football-playing member of the NCAA located outside the borders of the United States.
 
"We received a lot of feedback about playing a game on the west side, " said Dennis Francois, CWU athletic director. "We wanted to do it right. So we held off a year, found a presenting sponsor—the Washington National Guard—and we're looking forward to an outstanding event. Hopefully, we can make this a regular occurrence."
 
The event will feature a Washington National Guard Fan Zone, which will open at 4 p.m., two hours prior to the scheduled 6 p.m. kickoff.
 
"They're going to have their portable climbing wall, their Halo bungee jumper, some of their military equipment and some other things for fans of all ages to enjoy," Francois added. "We appreciate and are really excited to have the Washington National Guard as partners in this venture. This game is also meant to help us honor our servicemen and servicewomen."
 
The battle, which is considered to be a home game for the Wildcats, is also the first conference-counting contest in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) this season.
 
"This year, when we're not playing everybody in the conference twice, when you're looking for a GNAC title, this is a very important game for the Wildcats," Francois noted of the additional significance of the contest.
 
CWU is after its eighth GNAC title in 12 years. The Wildcats are coming off a disappointing 36-34 loss Saturday at Western Oregon. In defeat, the Wildcats picked off four Western Oregon passes and returned two for touchdowns. Defensive tackle MATT MILLER (6-4, 244, So., Spokane, WA—Gonzaga Prep) took in one interception 46 yards for a score. Four Western Oregon passes later, junior safety DEANDRE BAINES (6-2, 180, Tacoma, WA—Mount Tahoma) brought back a second pick for 54 yards and a score. It was his second interception of the day. The interceptions were the first given up by Western Oregon this year.
 
The Wildcats split their first two games of the season, losing at the University of Montana 48-14, but then defeating Dixie State University by the identical margin in Ellensburg.
 
Offensively, the Wildcat are led by sophomore quarterback JAKE NELSON (6-2, 210, Lake Stevens, WA), who set his new individual career mark for single-game passing yardage by throwing for 303 against the Wolves. That bettered his previous mark of 299 yards set the week before against Dixie State. On the season, Nelson has hit on 63.6 percent (70-110) of his passes for 819 yards and five touchdowns.
 
On the receiving end of 22 of Nelson's throws has been senior wide receiver GREG LOGAN (5-10, 181, Graham, Wash.—Graham-Kapowsin). Logan's reception total is tied for No. 16 in the nation this week. Last week, he reeled in seven receptions for 123 yards, highlighted by a 52-yard catch, which is CWU's longest pass play of the year.
 
Defensively, linebackers MITCH HALDANE (6-0, 217, Jr., Mountlake Terrace, WA) and redshirt freshman KEVIN HAYNES (6-0, 230, Battle Ground, WA), lead the team in tackles with 29 each, the second best total in the conference. Defensive end TOVAR SANCHEZ (6-4, 230, Jr., Seattle—Ingraham) tops the GNAC with five sacks.
 
On special teams, ISAIAH DAVIS (5-10, 186, Jr., Bremerton, WA—Eastern Washington) is No. 1 in GNAC kickoff returns (26.8).
 
First-year head coach Ian Shoemaker, the 24th head coach in CWU football history, will, lead the Wildcats into the Battle for the Border, where he will face another new GNAC head coach. Longtime Canadian Football League coach Jacques Chapdelaine was hired by SFU last spring.
 
The Clan also lost at home to Western Oregon two weeks ago 38-14. SFU fell Saturday at Azusa Pacific 32-24 and dropped a 31-24 decision to Menlo in the SFU season home opener.
 
Chapdelaine inherited an offense that returns some key players from the 2013 squad, including junior quarterback Ryan Stanford (6-3, 210, Phoenix, AZ), a second team all-GNAC selection in 2013, who has thrown for 800 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
 
On the receiving end of a team-high 14 passes is senior wide receiver Bobby Pospischil (5-10, 185, Coquitlam, BC). Pospischil was also a second-team all-conference pick last season. His current career reception total (190) ranks fourth in GNAC history. By way of comparison, former Wildcat Johnny Spevak, who played from 2006-09, is the conference's career leader with 318 catches.
 
On defense, the Clan is led by Jordan Herdman (6-2, 231, So., Winnipeg, MB), who leads the GNAC with 42 tackles, more than twice as many stops as any other SFU player. He has also recorded has 1 1/2 sacks.
 
Anchoring Clan special teams is punter Nikolai Karpun (6-0, 203, Jr. North Delta, BC). He is averaging 45.5 yards on his punts—which tops in the GNAC and is sixth best nationally—with six of his 15 this season going for 50 yards or more. Karpun only had four such punts last year.
 
CWU has won 26 of the 36 meetings between the two teams dating back to 1967. The Wildcats split the two meetings last year, losing at home to the Clan 21-14, but avenging that loss with a 54-14 win in Burnaby, B.C. Last year's home loss was only the third time in 17 Ellensburg meetings that the Wildcats had lost to SFU at Tomlinson Stadium, snapping a 12-game home winning streak that dated back to 1984.
 
The Wildcats and Clan have also twice before met at sites not considered their home fields. CWU won 50-14 over SFU in 1997 at Zaepfel Stadium in Yakima, Wash., but lost to the Clan 23-9 in 1979 in Vancouver, B.C.
 
Central played its first football game in Seattle in 1907, when Ellensburg Normal defeated Washington High School. Overall, the Wildcats have gone 13-7-1 in games played in Seattle, including five straight Battle in Seattle victories at Century Link Field from 2005-09. The Cats also won two previous games held at Bothell's Pop Keeney Stadium during the 2012 season, beating Azusa Pacific 41-17 and ninth-ranked Humboldt State 31-3.