Yakima, Wash. (Sept. 15) – The Central Washington University football team showed up and showed out in front of their home fans for the first time in 2018, blanking the Humboldt State Lumberjacks 49-0 on Saturday afternoon.  

"It was great to come out here in the road game at home and make a statement like that,' head coach Ian Shoemaker said. "Through the logistics of moving over here and getting everything together to play this game in Yakima, I couldn't be prouder of our guys."   

The Wildcat (2-1, 2-0) defense smothered the Lumberjacks (0-2, 0-1) all afternoon, holding them to just 285 yards of total offense. The Lumberjacks made good on just 10 pass attempts for only 116 yards. Donte Hamilton led the Wildcats with 12 total tackles. Uli Ma'ae was another Wildcat with double figure tackles, racking up 10, while picking up 1.5 sacks. Tyler Hasty had an interception that led to a Wildcat touchdown.
  
"Anytime you can throw a goose egg up, it's a huge positive," Shoemaker said. 

The Wildcat offense was relentless, picking up 502 total yards of offensive. The running game powered that offense, gaining 346 yards on 41 plays for an average of 8.4 yards per rush. Cedric Cooper led the squad with 178 yards on 11 carries, finding the end zone once. Michael Roots ran for 65 yards.  
 
Reilly Hennessey was effective under center for the Wildcats, going nine-for-17 for 112 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite Target was Quinton Lewis who caught six passes for 77 yards. Tyson Rainwater had the hook up in the end zone, catching two passes for touchdowns. Hennessey also ran for 61 yards and a touchdown.  
 
Hennessey found Rainwater for their first touchdown connection of the day in the seventh minute on a 10-yard pass, giving the Wildcats a 7-0 lead after Colin Manners' knocked through the extra point.  Hennessey found Rainwater again in the second on a seven-yard pass.
 
The senior signal callers feet got some work as well, Hennessey scampered into the end zone with 4:16 to play in the opening quarter.
 
In the second quarter, Hennessey found Christian Stafford in the end zone for his third TD pass of the game.
 
Just a minute into the third quarter, Cooper broke threw the line and blew past the defense for a 60-yard touchdown rush.
 
The Wildcats' special teams have now scored in consecutive weeks, as Tyler Hasty scooped up a loose ball after Chaz McKenzie broke through the line and blocked his second field goal in two weeks.  Hasty raced 79 yards for a touchdown.
 
The final Wildcat touchdown came through the air, as backup quarterback Christian Moore found Samuel Sanchez open for a 24-yard TD pass.

"It wasn't a perfect day," Shoemaker said. "We aren't satisfied. We got a lot of things we can continue to work on. Anytime you can win a college football game, you got to be happy."  
 
The Wildcats take a trip north next weekend, as the team faces Simon Fraser in Burnaby, BC on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.  
 
"There's going to be a whole new atmosphere up there with Coach Ford taking over the program," Shoemaker said. "I haven't got a chance to look at Simon Fraser a lot until now. I'm looking forward to getting back and starting that process."