SAINT GEORGE, Utah (Sept. 10) – The Central Washington University football team fell in a non-conference game to Dixie State University, a Great Northwest Athletic Conference football member, 49-20.  Dixie State is now 1-1 on the season, while the Wildcats fall to 0-2.
 
The Red Storm found the scoreboard first with 9:56 remaining in the first quarter.  DeJon Coleman found a hole and ran for 16-yards to give Dixie State a 7-0 lead (PAT by Alex Giordani). 
 
The Wildcats special teams' unit would put the first points on the board for Central Washington.  After the defense forced two incomplete passes, Dixie State's punting unit came onto the field.  Red Storm punter Christian Rodriguez could not handle the snap and it scampered away into the end zone.  Defensive lineman James Adeyanju dived on top of the loose ball to put six points on the board for the Wildcats.
 
Dixie State took control of the ball after the special teams breakdown and marched down the field.  Blake Barney found Nate Johnson to keep the drive alive on a third and eight, before Barney ran for 21 yards to get into striking distance.  On the next play, Barney took a quarterback bootleg to the left and found the end zone to increase the Red Storm lead to 14-6 (PAT by Giordani).
 
In the second quarter Coleman took a 39-yard rush for six points to extend Dixie State's lead to 21-6 (PAT by Giordani) with 9:12 remaining in the half.
                                                                       
With 4:04 left in the first half, the Wildcats took over on their own 23-yard line.  Jake Nelson and Arthur Burns combined for 14 yards to move the chains up to Central Washington's 34-yard line.  Nelson ran on the next two plays for 11 yards and another Wildcat first down.  On second and ten, Nelson found wide receiver Nate Rauda for 23 yards, moving the offense to Dixie State's 32-yard line.  Head coach Ian Shoemaker called a timeout with 1:23 left in the half.  Following the timeout, Nelson looked to Kent McKinney but his pass was incomplete.  Nelson dropped back on third and ten and found Jesse Zalk for a gain of 31 yards to Dixie State's 1-yard line. 
 
Jordan Todd was stopped for a loss of four on first and goal and the Wildcats called another timeout.  With 49 seconds on the clock, Nelson found Justin Peterson in the back of the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 21-13 (PAT by Sean McDonald).
 
The Red Storm scored 28 unanswered points in the second quarter to extend their lead to 49-13.
 
The Wildcats took the ball with 4:43 remaining in regulation.  Justin Lane looked deep for Tyler Stumph, but the Red Storm defense committed a hold that prevented the play from progressing downfield.  Following the penalty, the Wildcats took the ball at Dixie State's 41-yard line.  Lane found Kyle Self for a 3-yard gain.  The Red Storm jumped off side to make it second and seven.  Lane then fired to Zalk for a gain of four, to the Dixie State 29-yard line.  Peterson nabbed his fifth reception on the next play for a gain of 11 yards.  Lane then looked to Peterson again for a 10-yard completion to the Dixie State 18-yard line.  Zalk then reeled in a pass for a gain of 16 to put the Wildcats on the 2-yard line.  Burns took the next play for pay dirt to move the score to 49-20 (PAT by McDonald).
 
Peterson brought in six catches for 93 yards and one touchdown.  Zalk made seven receptions for 73 yards.  Lane finished 8-for-14 and 77 yards through the air.  Quincy Carter rushed for 50 yards on 14 attempts.  Burns finished with 42 yards and one touchdown on nine carries.
 
Central Washington will be back on the field on Sept. 19 against Western Oregon in Ellensburg in a non-conference game.  Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.