SILVER CITY, N.M.—Quincy Glasper passed for a career-high 452 yards and five touchdowns as Central Washington rolled past Western New Mexico, 54-29, Saturday at Ben Altimirano Field.
 
Tyler Flanagan gained 106 yards on the ground, including a 69-yard scoring, run, and also hauled in a 52-yard touchdown pass. JoJo Hillel caught a career-high 11 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, and fellow wide receiver Darius Morrison reeled in 5 passes for 117 yards and a score as the Wildcats (7-2) rolled up 452 yards of total offense.
 
The Wildcats capped off what will essentially be a 4-day road trip with their second-highest point total of the season against Division II competition. The Wildcats left campus on Thursday, flew out of Seattle on Friday at 6 am., and won't return to campus until late Sunday morning.
 
Taking those factors into consideration, plus the fact that the Wildcats were coming off a 92-0 win against Lincoln the previous week, and CWU head coach Chris Fisk was more than pleased with today's result.
 
"It's a tough place to play and to get to," Fisk said. "We handled all of that well. That said, we didn't play as well as we hoped in some phases. Deep down, our preparation this week was impacted by our opponent the week before, and that didn't help. It took a while to wake up and once we did, we got rolling."
 
Glasper finished the day 36-of-55 passing, tying a school record for completions. His 452 yards passing are 17 yards shy of the program record.
 
Fisk raved about the play of his third-year freshman quarterback. Glasper returned to his starting role after missing last week's game against Lincoln with a minor injury.
 
"I think the word is poised," Fisk said. "I don't throw that word out for young guys very often. His pocket presence and ability to keep his eyes down field while under pressure was outstanding today. On the other side, his receivers had some good catches and nice plays on that end."
 
Running back Rashaad Boddie opened the scoring for Central, finding the end zone from a yard out, giving the Wildcats a 6-0 lead with 7:32 left in the first quarter. The extra point attempt was no good.
 
Glasper followed with a 4-yard scoring strike to Daniel Johnson, and Flanagan took a short pass and rumbled up the middle 52 yards to find paydirt just before the end of the second quarter, giving the Wildcats a 20-6 lead at halftime.
 
Patrick Hegarty opened the second half scoring with a 31-yard field goal and after the Mustangs (1-9) responded with a touchdown, Flanagan rumbled 69 yards up the right sideline for his second touchdown of the day and a 30-16 lead.
 
Another Glasper touchdown pass, this time a 25-yard connection with Kellen Gregory, made it 37-16 with just seconds remaining in the third.
 
In the fourth, Hegarty made a 28-yard field goal, and Glasper hooked up with Tai-John Mizutani and Hillel on scoring passes to close out an exceptional afternoon.
 
Defensively, the Wildcats employed a bit of a bend-don't-break style on Saturday, allowing 404 yards of offense, including 358 through the air. Fisk said overly aggressive play on the parts of both the offense and special teams contributed to WNMU's big day offensively.
 
"We put our defense in a lot of bad spots," Fisk said. "If I was a little more conservative, we probably come out better on that end. That's on me."
 
The defense did have several bright spots, including a pair of sacks for Zach Stecklein and a late-game interception by Michael Chisley. The Wildcats also limited Western to just 40 yards rushing on 23 carries. The 40 yards are a season-low for a Division II opponent this season.
 
Game Notes

• Glasper just missed out on the school record for passing yardage. Justin Lane passed for 469 yards against Humboldt State on Nov. 12, 2016.
• Glasper tied the completions record (36) set by Mike Reilly against Western Washington on Oct. 11, 2008
• Tyler Flanagan recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his career
• Zach Stecklein's two sacks give him 7.5 for the season, the most by a Wildcat since Billy Greer had 11.0 in 2017
• The Wildcats finished with a season-high 612 yards of total offense, the most since gaining 667 yards against Azusa Pacific on Oct. 12, 2019

 
Up Next
CWU closes out the regular season next Saturday when the Wildcats host Simon Fraser, 1 p.m., at Tomlinson Stadium.