Football | 10/1/2015 1:46:00 PM
ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Oct. 1) – The Central Washington University football team will look to take its two game winning streak to Glendora, Calif. this Saturday when they take on reigning Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions Azusa Pacific at 6 p.m.
This will be the first GNAC counter for the Wildcats (2-2) and the second for the Cougars (3-1, 1-0 GNAC).
The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 75-7 in the first half of their last two contests and will look to get off to a fast start again Saturday.
Justin Lane will be the starting quarterback for CWU and will look to improve upon his 141.5 passer efficiency that ranks second in the conference. Lane has completed 62.71 percent of his passes this year, with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
"Lane has really stepped up for us so far this season and has been a vital part of our success the past couple of weeks," CWU Head Coach
Ian Shoemaker said. "He is completing passes at a high percentage and most importantly, he is taking care of the ball."
Lane will be missing his top target in
Jesse Zalk who has not been cleared to play after being shaken up against Simon Fraser. But the emergence of
Christian Gasca who has caught nine passes over the past two games for a total of 191 yards and two scores should help bolster the receiving core.
"Christian has come up as of late, and we will need another solid outing from him and our other wide outs this weekend," Shoemaker added. "He has a great ability to find a hole in the defense and pick up extra yardage after the catch."
Defensively, CWU has come to life, especially last week, holding Simon Fraser to just 111 yards of total offense, including just three yards rushing. Central Washington recorded a season high six tackles for loss in the game including two each from
Bo Banner and
Matt Miller. Five of those tackles for loss were the result of sacks led by Banner with 1.5 along with 1.5 from
Winslow Kouassi.
Myles Carelock helped hold down the secondary that gave up just 108 yards passing. Although, the senior just had two tackles, he recorded a season-high three pass breakups.
"Our defense has been stout as of late, which allows us to dictate the pace of the game," Shoemaker said. "We have scored a lot of points the last few weeks, but the play of the defense has been very impressive, and has given our offense prime field position to go put up more points.'
Azusa Pacific is also riding a two game winnings streak having defeated Simon Fraser 16-10 and Dixie State 34-5. The Cougars are averaging 419 .8 yards of total offense, 233.8 through the air and 186 on the ground.
Quarterback Chad Jeffries who has thrown for 935 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season leads the Cougars. And Kurt Scoby will be the featured running back averaging 115.5 yards per game with five rushing touchdowns.
"Azusa is a very dangerous team and has shown the ability to play at a high level," Shoemaker said about the opponents. "We have to make sure to match their intensity on both sides of the ball if we want to come home with a victory."
Unlike the Wildcats, the Cougar defense has yet to find a way to stop opposing rushing attacks. They are giving up 207 yards per game on the ground and 361.8 total yards of offense.
The live video stream for this game will cost $7.95. Live stats are free and both can be found via Wildcatsports.com. The Wildcat Sports Radio Network will broadcast the game live locally at 88.1 FM or you can download the 88.1 The Burg app at either the App Store or Google Play.
