ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- The eighth ranked Central Washington University football team overcame a slow start to defeat Azusa Pacific (5-4, 3-4 GNAC) 34-23 Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium to improve to 9-0 on the season and 6-0 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference Play.
 
After a deadlocked first half that ended in a 10-10 tie, the Wildcats scored on their opening possession of the second half marching 75 yards on 13 plays and took over seven minutes off the clock to take a 17-10 lead.  Azusa Pacific answered back less than two minutes later to bring the score level for the third time in the contest.
 
Central Washington scored on three of its next four possessions to open up a 34-17 lead with 1:56 remaining to insure a victory on Senior Day.
 
The Wildcats put up 435 yards of offense, 264 in the passing game and 171 rushing.  Quarterback Reilly Hennessey bounced back from a subpar performance last week, completing 21 of 28 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns.  Hennessey also led the Wildcats with 60 rushing yards on 14 carries and a score.
 
The duo of Austin Pernell and Jordan Tufaga teamed up to carry the ball 28 times for 111 yards and a score, and wide out Justin Peterson caught six balls for 118 yards and a touchdown.  Freshman tight end Samuel Sanchez caught his second pass of the season, a five-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, giving him three catches on the year, two of which ending in a score.
 
Defensively, CWU held the Cougars to 291 yards of offense and sacked quarterback Andrew Elffers six times on the day.  Senior Nick Aumua gathered 1.5 sacks on the afternoon to lead the squad, while Sean Elledge, Tevin Gray, Christian Penny and Bo Banner each had one.  Sophomore Billy Greer added to his GNAC leading sack total, earning half a sack to go along with six tackles and two hurries.
 
Senior linebacker Kevin Haynes etched his name into the CWU and GNAC record books, becoming the all-time leader in solo tackles.  Haynes had three solo tackles to give him 210 in his career, passing former Wildcat Blake Walker for the crown.  Haynes finished with six tackles on the day.
 
Defensive back Tyler Hasty had four tackles in the game, and a school-record tying five pass breakups.  His final breakup came in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats up by three points, and allowed safety Max McIntosh to intercept the pass, leading to a CWU touchdown eight plays later to give the Wildcats a 10-point lead with 4:39 remaining in the game.
 
The Wildcats will look to remain perfect when they travel to winless Simon Fraser next Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. in Burnaby, British Columbia Canada.