Football | 9/22/2016 5:38:00 PM

ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Sept. 22) - The Central Washington University football team [1-2, 1-1 GNAC] looks to bounce back from tough lost to Azusa Pacific this weekend as they host Dixie State University [1-2, 1-2 RMAC]. Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. on the Tomlinson Stadium gridiron.
 
Saturday's game will be the Wildcats final non-conference game of the 2016 season. The Wildcats come into the game with a 1-2 record after losing 17-27 last weekend to 15th ranked Azusa Pacific.
 
"Obviously this is an important week for us, as is every week," CWU Head Coach Ian Shoemaker said.  "Last week was tough on all of us, but there is a lot of season left to play, and we will learn a lot about ourselves this Saturday.  So far, we have showed that we can rebound after loss, and I expect our guys to come out with a lot of energy.  We have a hungry group of guys who want to be great."
 
Dating back to 2008, the Wildcats hold a healthy 14-2 all-time record against the Trailblazers. Last season, the two teams split their season series, both winning at home.
 
Central Washington has never lost to Dixie State at home, with a perfect 8-0 mark. In those eight home games, the Wildcats have an average win margin of 24 points. Only two of those eight games were decided by one score or less, one of which was last year, a 34-28 victory for the Wildcats. 
 
Sophomore Christian Cummings got his second-consecutive start at running back against APU and made the most of it, rushing for a career-high 92 yards on 19 carries, and caught a 25-yard touchdown in the first half.
 
On the season, Cummings had totaled 152 yards on 30 carries and is racking up 4.9 yards per carry.  The sophomore has been splitting time in the backfield with Quincy Carter who is also having a productive year, averaging 5.0 yards per carry.
 
Last season, senior wide receiver Jesse Zalk led the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in receiving yards, and he is doing the same in 2016.  Zalk is averaging 83.0 yards per game which is 12 more yards than the next player in the GNAC.
 
The Wildcat's give up 405.3 yards a game, but are stepping up when it matters most.  Central Washington leads the GNAC in stopping opponents on third down, thwarting opposing offenses 66.6-percent of the time.  In 39 third down attempts, opponents have converted just 13 times, and just 2 for 6 on fourth down.
 
Dixie State converts just 38.46 of its third down opportunities, which should bode well for the CWU defense.
 
Leading the CWU defense will be junior safety Jackson Huerta. Huerta led CWU in tackles for the first two games of the 2016 season, including 12 tackles (eight solo) against Western Oregon. The junior safety also had one tackle for loss and an interception in the game.  Huerta ranks in the top-ten in the nation with 27 solo tackles and has 34 total tackles on the season.
 
Another Wildcat athlete to keep an eye out for on Saturday is senior defensive end Tovar Sanchez. Sanchez is just 4.5 sacks away from tying the school record held by Jacob Galloway who was inducted into the CWU Hall of Fame this past spring.  The record stands at 24., and if Sanchez can get half as many sacks as he did in 2014 (12), he will become the school's new all-time leader.
 
Dixie State University enters Saturday's competition against Central Washington with the hopes of bouncing back from a 14-20 loss to Black Hills State. Traveling to the loud confines of Tomlinson Stadium, the Trailblazer will rely on their rushing attack to silence the Wildcats.
 
DSU is 1-2 on the season. The Trail Blazers opened its season with a 21-14 win over New Mexico Highlands. The following week, DSU succumbed to South Dakota School of Mines & Technology 27-31. Last Saturday, Dixie State fell to Black Hills State 14-20. 
 
"Dixie poses a lot of issues on both sides of the ball," Shoemaker said of the Trailblazers.  "They have a new offensive coordinator this year and that adds a bit of unpredictability, which keeps us on our toes.  Defensively they will give us many different looks, so we have to be sharp, and take care of the ball."
 
The Trailblazers enter Saturday's game averaging 137.7 rushing yards per game. Leading the way for DSU on the ground is redshirt freshman Clifford Sims. Sims has averaged 63.7 yards/game and has 191 yards on the season.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, you can expect junior defensive back Colton Olson to be near the ball. On the season, Olson has recorded 29 total tackles (20 solo) to lead all DSU players and has 2.5 tackles for loss. Accompanying Olson around the ball will be sophomore linebacker Peter Brown. Brown has recorded 20 tackles (13 solo) thus far this season. Senior Darius Matthews is the veteran leader in the trenches for the Dixie State defense, recording a team-high two sacks on the season. 
 
Dixie State enter this week ranked first in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in scoring defense, allowing only 21.7 points per game. Allowing only 172.7 yards/game through the air, the Trailblazers also rank second in their conference in pass defense.
 
The Central Washington University athletics department will be giving the first 500 fans in attendance CWU rally towels, so make sure to arrive early to Tomlinson Stadium on Saturday.
 
Check back to WildcatSports.com for a complete game recap following Saturday's competition.