MONMOUTH, Ore.—Coaches like to talk about excelling in all three phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. Central Washington did all that and more as the Wildcats rolled to a 45-14 win against Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Western Oregon here on Saturday.
 
Central produced 354 yards of offense, and the defense limited the Wolves to an opponent season-low 252 yards. The Wildcats held Western to just 2 of 12 on third down conversion attempts, intercepted two passes, and blocked a punt.
 
"The kids came out and played extremely hard from start to finish," CWU head coach Chris Fisk said. "It starts with our defense and stopping the run and forcing some three and outs."
 
Overall, Central's defense produced three sacks, two interceptions, at least seven quarterback hurries, and broke up two passes.
 
"If you can't stay on schedule against our defense, it's hard to play quarterback against us," Fisk said. "Those guys did a nice job on first down all day long and produced a lot of second and longs and a lot of three-and-outs."
 
Tyler Flanagan rushed for 93 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Darius Morrison caught a two scoring passes to lead the offense, while Zach Stecklein led a harassing defensive effort with three quarterback sacks.
 
Cornerback Dominic Wieburg intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown, and Matt Wiitanen blocked CWU's third punt of the season as the Wildcats (4-2 overall, 2-0 GNAC) cruised to their second straight win.
 
Western Oregon (2-4, 1-1) scored on its first possession of the game, with Oamri Land capping a 13-play, 82-yard drive with a 6-yard TD run. That was pretty much it in terms of offensive highlights for the Wolves until after the game was all but over.  
 
The Wildcats immediately scored the equalizer on their next possession, as Quincy Glasper connected with Morrison on a 29-yard touchdown pass, capping a 9-play, 76-yard drive and knotting the game at 7-7.
 
Midway through the second half Glasper and Morrison again hooked up, this time on an 8-yard pass as the Wildcats took the lead for good at 14-7 with 8:20 left in the half.
 
Central's next touchdown was set up by the play of the special teams unit. Matt Wiitanen broke through the line and blocked a punt deep in WOU territory, and on CWU's next play Glasper tossed his third touchdown pass of the game, this time to tight end Isaac Crichton from four yards out, giving the Wildcats a 21-7 lead.
 
Everything went right for the Wildcats in the first half. The only blemish for CWU in the game's first 30 minutes came on the final play of the half when Glasper was intercepted at the goal line with the game clock winding down.
 
But the missed opportunity was quickly made up for as play moved to the second half. After the defense stopped Western on three plays to start the half, Flanagan raced 35 yards on fourth-and-1, finding the endzone and giving CWU a 28-7 lead.
 
Another Flanagan TD run, this one from eight yards out, made it 35-7 with 2:51 left in the third, and the Wildcats concluded their touchdown barrage when Wieburg intercepted WOU quarterback Ryan Worthley and return it 29 yards for a touchdown.
 
Western finally scored another touchdown when Andrew Valladares raced 55 yards for a score with 5:42 left in the game.
 
Patrick Hegarty tacked on a 33-yard field goal in the final two minutes for the Wildcats.
 
Flanagan combined with Rashaad Boddie for 172 yards rushing on 27 carries.
 
Boddie and Flanagan have shared the backfield for the last two weeks since Flanagan's return from injury, and Fisk likes what he sees.
 
"If you watch the game, they're kind of like thunder and lightning," Fisk said. "Rashaad is the thunder and Tyler is the lightning. But our depth is better than those two. Cameron McKinney came back today, and he gives us another speed element. Davine Tullis is getting healthier, and he'll be back soon. We've got a lot of options in the backfield."
 
Glasper finished 14 of 21 passing for 147 yards. Morrison caught three passes for 63 yards. Tai-John Mizutani and Flanagan each also caught three passes.
 
 
Game Notes

• Zach Stecklein's 3 sacks fell one short of the school record of 4.0 set by Ryan Dyer against Humboldt State on Sept. 20, 2008
• Dominic Wieburg's INT return for a touchdown was the first by the Wildcats since Patrick Rogers did it against Southwest Baptist on Nov. 9, 2019
• Central improves to 43-21 all-time against Western Oregon, and has now won five straight games against the Wolves in Monmouth
• Tyler Flanagan's 93 yards rushing are a career high

 
Up Next
The Wildcats are off next week before they return to Tomlinson Stadium for a Homecoming rematch with Western Oregon, 6 p.m., Saturday, October 23.