ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Football Team (8-3, 7-2 LSC) will open the 2024 NCAA Division II Football Championship Playoffs with a matchup against the 10th-ranked Western Colorado Mountaineers (10-1, 8-1 RMAC) in a rematch of last years first-round matchup. The Wildcats and Mountaineers will clash on Saturday, November 23 at 12:00 p.m. PST from the Mountaineer Bowl in Gunnison, Colo.
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LAST WEEK
The Wildcats earned a hard-fought 13-3 victory over Western Oregon to cap the regular season and give 23 seniors a big victory in their regular season finale.
Cooper Britton put CWU on the board first with 5:09 left in the first quarter when he drilled a 22-yard field goal attempt to make it 3-0 CWU. The Wolves countered with 12:48 remaining in the second quarter to tie the game at three with a 32-yard field goal of their own. Britton gave CWU the lead once more with 3:23 left in the third quarter with a 26-yard field goal.
Kennedy McGill sealed the deal for CWU with 12:41 left in the game with the only touchdown of the game on an eight-yard rush that was capped with a Britton PAT to make it 13-3 CWU.
McGill finished the game 11/19 on passes for 94 yards and threw one interception but added 152 rushing yards and one touchdown.
Tyler Flanagan added 73 yards and
Cam Daniels added 44 all on the ground.
Marcus Cook had four receptions for 24 yards with
Darrien Gaines and Morrison each adding 21 yards on two receptions.
Brycen Indell led the 'Cats with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss with 1.5 coming as sacks.
Chase Coalson added seven tackles while
Tanner Volk finished with five.
Tyler King and
Josiah Cochran each logged a sack with Coalson adding a half a sack.
Chase Loidhamer forced a fumble with
Mikaio Edward recovering it.
Wahi Emmsley had the only Wildcat interception, adding a pass breakup.
Jalen Webber had two pass breakups while
Daniel Matagi blocked a field goal attempt by WOU.
Dan Stewart had four punts for 141 yards with two landing inside the WOU 20-yard line. Cook returned two punts for a total of 38 yards while Gaines had one kickoff return for 17 yards. Britton finished the game a perfect 2/2 on field goal attempts and 1/1 on PAT attempts with his longest field goal coming in at 26 yards.
Wyatt Redding had four kickoffs for 242 yards.
ABOUT THE MOUNTAINEERS
Western Colorado is 10-1 on the season and has gone 8-1 in RMAC play. They defeated fellow-LSC teams Midwestern State (38-33) at home and West Texas A&M (26-17) on the road to open their 2024 campaign. WCU then went on a tear to start RMAC play defeating Adams State (38-0), New Mexico Highlands (53-12), Fort Lewis (44-7), Black Hills State (35-14), and South Dakota Mines (35-24) before taking down Colorado School of Mines on the road in a battle of top 10 ranked teams by a 38-28 score. The Mountaineers suffered their first setback of the season in a 44-34 loss at home to Colorado State-Pueblo. WCU bounced back to earn a 21-17 home victory over Chadron State before concluding the regular season with a 37-7 victory at Colorado Mesa.
The Mountaineers are outscoring their opponents 36.27 points per game to their opponents 18.45. They've utilized a dual-threat offense that has averaged 262.27 yards in the air and 173 yards on the ground per game. The rush defense has done exceptional damage to their opponents offense this year allowing a mere 74.2 rush yards per game. The pass defense has been a little more susceptible to giving up yardage allowing 224.73 yards per game to their opponents passing attack.
"It will be a battle," CWU Head Coach
Chris Fisk said. "They are an extremely talented team from top to bottom. Both teams have a majority of players back from last years game, which I'm sure revenge for them will play a little bit of a factor as they want to avenge that overtime loss last season."
Drew Nash is back leading the Mountaineers at quarterback, completing 190/299 passes for 2,338 passing yards while also throwing 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. Braeden Hogan, Royce Pao, and Nash have been a three-headed ground attack for WCU. Hogan has 601 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 125 attempts while Pao has added 425 yards and six touchdowns on 81 attempts and Nash has tacked on 362 yards and five touchdowns on 89 attempts. Josiah Ayon and Daniel Parsek have been the two favorite targets of Nash. Ayon has 551 yards and eight touchdowns on 37 receptions while Parsek has added 431 yards and three touchdowns on 35 receptions.
"It's the same quarterback as last year," Fisk said. "He has a knack for being able to make those calm, cool, collected plays that help them move down the field effectively. They have an extremely talented offensive front that will be a challenge for our defense."
Ricky Freymond, Cy Shope, Cameron Cooper, and Kendall Lightfoot will be names to watch on the Mountaineer defense this weekend. Freymond leads the way with 58 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and has added seven quarterback hurries, one forced fumble, and two blocked kicks. Shope has added 55 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, one interception, one pass breakup, four quarterback hurries, and one forced fumble. Cooper has 54 tackles on the year, pairing that with 6.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions, one pass breakup, and two quarterback hurries. Lightfoot isn't far behind with 46 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, seven pass breakups, and a Mountaineer-high eight quarterback hurries. Kevondrick Carr leads WCU with three blocked kicks on the year.
"If number 97 isn't the RMAC Defensive Player of the Year, then number three sure will be," Fisk said. "They are a very good defensive front that doesn't give the quarterback a lot of time to make a decision. They are one of if not the most disruptive front in the region maybe even the nation."
Zac Grable has 49 punts so far this season for a total of 1,983 yards with 16 landing inside the opponents 20-yard line and seven going for 50 or more yards. Addam Tasei has converted 10/14 field goals with his longest one coming in at 49-yards. Grable has handled kickoff duties for the most part kicking off 59 times for a total of 3,718 yards with 30 landing as touchbacks. Jack Jones has 30 punt returns for the Mountaineers for a total of 268 yards while Ayon has returned nine kicks for a total of 190 return yards.
UP NEXT
If the Wildcats earn a victory this Saturday, they will advance to the second round of the NCAA Division II Championship playoffs and will face the winner of Angelo State and Bemidji State on November 30.
