ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University football team defeated 17^th ranked Humboldt State University 55-27 to improve to 6-0 on the season and 4-0 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
The loss is the first of the season for Humboldt State who falls to 4-1, 3-1 in the GNAC.
 
Although the Wildcats put up 55 points, it was the effort of the defense that highlighted the victory Saturday afternoon in front of a packed house of 6,032 fans inside Tomlinson Stadium.  The Lumberjacks came into the contest averaging over 530 yards per game.  The stingy CWU defense allowed HSU just 326 yards of total offense, including just 41 rushing yards, holding HSU's Ja'Quan Gardner to just 64 yards.  Gardner came into the game averaging 150 yards on the ground.
 
The Wildcats totaled four sacks on the day, more than doubling the amount of sacks the Lumberjacks have allowed all season.  Sean Elledge, Billy Greer, and Bo Banner each tallied a sack on the day, while Kevin Haynes and Nick Aumua each recorded half a sack.
 
Haynes spearheaded the defense with a season high 14 tackles including one for loss.  Tyler Hasty accounted for both CWU's defensive turnovers in the game, intercepting two passes, including a 58-yard touchdown return in the third quarter to give CWU a 41-7 lead.
 
Humboldt State scored just twice on the CWU defense, their two other scores came off a mishandled CWU handoff, and a partially blocked punt.
 
Offensively, the Wildcats put up 546 yards of offense, with 284 on the ground and 262 through the air.  Quarterback Reilly Hennessey filled up the stat sheet by throwing for 216 yards and five touchdowns.  Hennessey also tied a CWU quarterback rushing record with 118 yards on 13 carries.
 
Hennessey was not the only person to complete a pass in the game.  Wide receiver Justin Peterson fooled the HSU defense on a little bit of trickery when he took a lateralled pass and threw to a wide-open Dillon Sugg for a 46-yard completion.  Sugg caught three passes on the day for 66 yards and a touchdown, his first three receptions of his career.
 
Fellow tight end Kyle Self led the Wildcats with 75 receiving yards on five catches, and a career-high three touchdowns.  Senior Christian Gasca also hauled down a touchdown, giving the Wildcats their opening score of the game on a 2-yard reception in the first quarter.
 
The 55-points scored by CWU are the most in a single game against Humboldt State, and the 82 combined points are also a single-game series record.  The Wildcats now hold a 23-11-1 record all-time against the Lumberjacks.
 
Central Washington starts the back half of GNAC play next weekend with they travel to Monmouth, Ore. to play Western Oregon on Oct. 14.