ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Nov. 14) – The Central Washington University football team captured its third conference win, and fifth win overall, with a 34-28 victory over Dixie State.  The Wildcats finish the regular season with a 5-5 record and a 3-3 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference games.
 
A late fourth-quarter drive, followed by a defensive stop, propelled the Wildcats to victory on Senior Day.
 
"First and foremost the biggest thing was our effort the seniors gave, opportunity those guys had to go out on a great note," CWU Head Coach Ian Shoemaker said.  "We talked about throughout the week and this morning before the game, these guys needed to play at a high level and bring that intensity to take care of our seniors and send them out the right way."
 
Central Washington forced the Red Storm to punt with 10:28 remaining in regulation and started the drive at its own 25-yard line.
 
The drive lasted over eight and a half minutes, culminating in a 4-yard touchdown rush by Christian Cummings.  The Wildcats went for two and quarterback Justin Lane found Brian O'Donnell alone in the end zone, giving Central a 34-28 lead with just 1:36 left on the clock.
 
Cummings finished with 93 yards on 20 attempts.  The Wildcats combined for 278 rushing yards.
 
"Obviously the o-line was huge in giving us the opportunity to run the ball," Shoemaker noted.  "We had 55 carries and one back can't do that.  It's a hard deal in this type of offense to have one back get that many carries.  It gave us a chance to split the carries and to have almost two 100-yard rushers was a positive day for us."
 
Elisha Pa'aga rushed for three yards early in the drive on a critical third down, putting the Wildcats on their own 45 with a new set of downs. 
 
"We made some big plays and some third down conversions," Shoemaker said.  "To get the touchdown and the two-point conversion, making it a six-point game was huge."
 
Following the touchdown, Central attempted a pooch kick in an attempt to recover the kickoff, but the Red Storm came up with the kick.
 
Kevin Haynes brought down Dixie State quarterback Blake Barney on 1^st and 10 for a sack and loss of two yards.  Barney then found Nate Stephens open downfield for a gain of 23 yards, putting the Red Storm on CWU's 36-yard line.
 
A Dixie timeout followed a rush for no gain, giving the Red Storm 2^nd and 10 with 58 seconds left. 
 
After an incomplete pass, Barney dropped back and loss control of the ball.  He recovered his own fumble, but as he scrambled, put the ball on the floor again.  Braden Peterson dived on top of the loose ball for the Red Storm, but the loss of nine yards set up a 4^th and 19.


Barney's final pass attempt was deflected by Winslow Kouassi at the line, forcing a turnover on downs and securing the Wildcats' victory.
 
"The biggest thing was that stop," Shoemaker acknowledged.  "We had a bit of a short field after the pooch kick didn't work quite as we hoped.  The defense stood up and bowed up, made a play and got us out of that game, it was huge.  Controlling the ball for over 11 minutes in the fourth quarter was big. 
 
The Wildcats opened their scoring in the first quarter with a 2-yard run by Kyle Self and a point after touchdown (PAT) by Sean McDonald.
 
The Red Storm responded with a scoring drive of their own on a 66-yard rush.
 
Quincy Carter restored the Wildcats' lead late in the first quarter on a 10-yard run, 13-7.
 
Carter finished with 22 carries, 105 yards, and one touchdown.
McDonald extended the Wildcats' lead in the second quarter with a 33-yard field goal.  He later added a 34-yard field to pull the Wildcats within two points, 19-21, in the third quarter.
 
Trailing 7-16, the Red Storm scored 14 unanswered points, taking a 21-16 lead.  They would extend their advantage to 28-19 early in the fourth. 
 
The Wildcats drew close early in the fourth quarter when Lane found Self in the end zone on a play-action pass.  The McDonald PAT brought CWU back to a two-point deficit, 28-26.
 
Lane finished 16-for-29, throwing for 239 yards and one touchdown.
 
Defensively, Anthony Beaver Jr. led the Wildcats with eight tackles and one interception.  Haynes added four tackles and one sack.   Central forced the Red Storm to punt seven times, while Wildcat punter Jonathan Kuhn punted just twice.

The Wildcats conclude the season with a 5-5 record overall.