MONMOUTH, Ore.  (Oct. 17) – Central Washington University quarterback Justin Lane threw for a career-high 376 yards and three touchdowns, but the football team's comeback against Western Oregon University fell just short, falling to the Wolves 25-31 Saturday afternoon at McArthur Field.
 
The Wildcats fall to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, while the Wolves improve to 4-3, 2-1 in the GNAC.
 
Lane led a late charge in the final minutes of the contest, starting at the Wildcats own nine yard line.  Lane found Kent McKinney Jr. and Arthur Burns on pass completions of 25 and 29 yards, respectively, putting the Wildcats on the WOU 39 yard line.  After a first down pass for 10 yards to Kyle Self, the Wildcats found themselves with a fourth and one opportunity on the WOU 20 yard line with just over a minute left, but running back Quincy Carter was tackled for no gain and the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs.  Western Oregon ran the clock out and secured the 31-25 victory.
 
Lane finished the game 27 of 42 and hit eight different receivers throughout the course of the contest.  His top target on the day was Jesse Zalk who caught eight passes for 148 yards and a touchdown.  Zalk had 140 of those yards in the first half.  In the second half, Lane and Christian Gasca proved to be a formidable combination with Gasca finishing with seven receptions and 85 yards including a 22-yard touchdown that pulled the Wildcats to within one score.
 
Western Oregon came into the contest with the the second worst rushing game in the conference, averaging just over 70 yards a game, but were able to net 213 yards on the ground, including 131 from Malik Braxton.  Western Oregon quarterback Phillip Fenumiai was 13 of 19 in the game, throwing for 176 yards and two touchdowns.  Two of his six incompletions fell into the hands of CWU defensive back Myles Carelock, his second and third of the season.
 
The Wildcats outgained Western Oregon 444 to 389, but the WOU running attack was able to control the clock as the home team had the ball in its possession over 12-minutes longer than the Wildcats.
 
The first half saw big play after big play as Western Oregon led CWU 21-15 heading into intermission.
 
The Wildcats first two drives of the game stalled out and after Jonathan Kuhn's second punt of the first quarter the Wolves broke open a 44-yard touchdown run by Malik Braxton to take a 7-0 lead.
 
The Wildcats responded as Lane hit Zalk on a 56-yard pass to land CWU on the Wolves 12 yard line.  Three plays later Lane found Burns wide open in the flat and scored from 10 yards out.  The Wildcats gained an 8-7 advantage after the touchdown as Jackson Heurta received the snap and ran in the two-point conversion.
 
With Western Oregon up 14-8, defensive back Myles Carelock intercepted Wolves quarterback Phillip Fenumiai, stripping the ball out of the hands of the receiver, handing the CWU offense the ball at the WOU 43 yard line.  It took the Central Washington just two plays to regain the lead after Lane found Zalk on a streak for a 34-yard touchdown.
 
The Wolves took the next possession and marched eight plays down the field scoring on a 22 yard pass completion, which led to the WOU 21-15 halftime lead.
 
The Wolves led 31-18 to start the fourth quarter but Gasca's 22-yard touchdown cut the lead to just six points.  That drive was a result of the Wildcat defense forcing its third turnover of the day on an interception by Korey Young.
 
The fourth quarter was the only quarter the Wolves did not score as the CWU defense stepped up.  However the Wolves were able to convert a first down with less than a minute forcing CWU to spend its final timeout.  Western Oregon did not let the opportunistic Wildcat defense get another shot at forcing another turnover by lining up in victory formation and tacking a knee to end the contest.
 
Central Washington will next host 10^th ranked Humboldt State University on Saturday, Oct. 24 at Tomlinson Stadium.  The Homecoming game is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff.