PORTALES, N.M.—JJ Lemming tied a program record with five touchdown passes and ran for another as Central Washington opened the 2021 season with a convincing 66-24 win against Eastern New Mexico, Thursday, at Whitehead Field.
 
Making his first collegiate start, Lemming, a sophomore, finished 14 of 22 passing for 332 yards before coming out of the game in the fourth quarter. In all, CWU racked up 501 yards of offense.
 
The Wildcats opened the game with touchdowns on each of their first three drives, jumping out to a 21-0 less than 10 minutes in.
 
Lemming connected on a 51-yard pass to Daniel Johnson to start things off and followed that with a 40-yard strike to Samuel Sanchez, and a 6-yard toss to Tai-John Mizutani as Central built a three- touchdown lead.
 
In the second quarter, Lemming threw another touchdown pass, this one a 37-yard connection with Darius Morrison, and Tyler Flanagan ran one in from two yards away as Central took a 35-17 lead into halftime.
 
Lemming finished the first half 10-of-14 passing for 269 yards and those four touchdowns.
 
The second half was much of the same for Lemming and Wildcats. The sophomore ran for a 4-yard score on the first possession of the half. Patrick Hegarty connected on a 47-yard field goal, and Lemming found Mizutani on a 6-yard score in the final 99 seconds of the third quarter as CWU 52-24 lead.
 
Flanagan led the rushing attack with 84 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Morrison and Mizutani each caught a pair of touchdown passes.
 
Jahleel Breland led the Wildcats with 12 tackles (8 solo). Donte Hamilton finished with 8 tackles (7 solo) and one sack.
 
Quoting Coach Fisk
"Obviously any win is something to celebrate. We'll enjoy it for 24 hours and then get back to work on preparing for Eastern Washington."
 
"While I'm happy with our overall production, we didn't run the ball or stop the run early on the way I'd hoped. We also didn't tackle well in the first half, but those are all things we can work on and build on this coming week."
 
"Any time you come in and perform the way JJ Lemming did in his first collegiate start, it's pretty impressive. He looked like a veteran, and more importantly, he acted like a veteran, in the locker room and on the sidelines. He's poised out there. He made some good throws tonight. Our guys have a lot of confidence in him."
 
News & Notes

• Lemming's 5 TD passes were the most by a CWU quarterback since Reilly Hennessey also tossed 5 against Humboldt State on Oct. 7, 2017
• Overall, Lemming is the eighth Wildcat to throw 5 TD passes in one game
• Zach Matlock relieved Lemming in the fourth quarter and tossed a pair of touchdown passes
• Tyler Flanagan rushed for a career-high 84 yards
• Eight different receivers caught passes on Thursday, with six players making at least a pair of catches
• Thursday's win marks the first season-opening victory for the Wildcats since a 34-10 triumph at Texas A&M-Kingsville in 2017

 
Up Next
The Wildcats visit Eastern Washington, 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 11 in Cheney, Wash.