ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Sept. 24) -- The Central Washington University football team coasted to a 40-18 victory over Dixie State University (1-3) to improve to 2-2 on the season.
 
"It was disappointing to start this season 1-2, so it was nice to get this win." CWU Head Coach Ian Shoemaker said.  "We started out fast and kept things rolling on both sides of the ball.  I am proud of how our team rebounded from last week." 
 
The Wildcats led for virtually the entire game, scoring just over two minutes into the game on a blocked punt by Kyle Connors that was scooped up by Tevin Gray, who returned the ball 11 yards for the opening score of the ball game.
 
Gray's score was the first of the season, and was one of three players to score their first collegiate touchdowns on the day.
 
After a 70 yards touchdown pass from Justin Lane to Quincy Carter, Christian Stafford joined the scoring frenzy with a 41 yards touchdown completion from Lane.
 
To cap off the day, JoJo Hillel scored his first career touchdown on a 31-yard quarterback keeper to give CWU the final 40-18 advantage.
 
"We were able to get a lot of guys playing time today, which is something we have been waiting for," Shoemaker added.  "Everyone who came into the game stepped up and made plays.  It is exciting to watch our young guys get out there, play hard, and give us quality reps." 
 
The CWU defense stifled the Trailblazers, allowing just 86 yards on 38 rushing attempts, and racked up seven sacks on the day and nine tackles for a loss.
 
Leading the defensive charge was Tovar Sanchez who totaled six tackles, three sacks, and four tackles for loss.  Kevin Haynes led all players with 10 tackles, while Jackson Huerta and Blake Williams-Miller each totaled eight.   
 
"Our defense has been stout all year, and showed up once again today," Shoemaker said.  "Anytime you can put pressure on the oppositions backfield, there will be opportunity to make big plays."
 
The Wildcats will return to action next week when they travel to Burnaby, British Columbia to faceoff with Simon Fraser on Oct. 1 at 6 p.m.
 
NOTES
 

• Six different running backs saw action Saturday, led by Jordan Tufaga who ran for 90 yards on nine carries.  (Austin Pernell – 8 for 59, Quincy Carter – 5 for 24, Hasani Childs – 6 for 23, Sam Richmond – 1 for 21, Jacob Yordy – 1 for 1) --  Childs, Richmond, and Yordy each got their first collegiate carries in the game.
•  
• Quarterback Justin Lane was extremely accurate on the day with nine completions on 14 attempts for 215 yards and two scores, with three passes over 40 yards.
•  
• Quincy Carter scored three times on the day, a 70-yard screen pass in the first quarter and two rushing scores of 1 and 5 yards, respectively.
•  
• JoJo Hillel got his first career score on a 31-yard rush.  The red-shirt freshman carried the ball four times for 59 yards. 
•  
• The Wildcats came into the game with just two sacks on the season, and more than tripled that mark with seven quarterback sacks in the game.  Tovar Sanchez – 3 sacks.  Billy Greer, Sean Elledge, Bo Banner, and Winslow Kouassi each had a sack on the day.
•  
• Tovar Sanchez passed Adam Bighill as the school's all-time leader in tackles for loss, totaling 48.5 in his career, and passed CWU Hall of Famer Jacob Galloway as the schools new leader in yards lost from tackles for loss with 226.  His three sacks now gives him 22.5, which puts him just 1.5 sacks away from breaking the school record of 24, also held by Galloway.