ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Football Team (6-3, 5-2 LSC) hosts LSC-newcomers, the Sul Ross State Lobos (3-6, 2-5 LSC) in the Wildcats annual Military Appreciation Day this Saturday, Nov. 9 at 6:00 p.m. from Steve Hertling Field at Tomlinson Stadium.
To honor and show respect for all those who fought to defend our country, CWU is allowing those with Military ID, Veteran ID, Department of Defense Common Access Card, and Dependent ID to receive free admission as a small token of the university's appreciation.
There will be special in-game thank you to those who have or are currently serving to help protect the freedom of the United States.
GAME INFORMATION
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LAST WEEK
The Wildcats suffered a heart-breaking 17-16 defeat at LSC-leading Angelo State last Saturday evening.
The Rams opened the game in a big way, as Braeden Fuller connected with Zeek Freeman for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game to put ASU up 7-0. Both teams went back-and-forth until the 'Cats started their third drive of the game with 5:58 left in the first quarter.
Kennedy McGill rushed for 25 quick yards to set CWU up at midfield as the 'Cats kept pounding their way down the field setting up a 22-yard field goal attempt by
Cooper Britton that would go through the uprights as time expired to make it 7-3 Angelo after the first. ASU responded marching down the field before stalling out at the CWU 29-yard line to set up the 47-yard field goal by Bradley Larson that would be good and make it 10-3 ASU. CWU responded as McGill found
Marcus Cook for a 40-yard reception and with Flanagan rushing for 18 yards, helped set up McGill to run in an eight-yard touchdown with Britton converting the PAT to tie things up at 10. The Rams would take the lead going into halftime after taking advantage of a shortened field as Jayden Jones rushed the final yard for the touchdown to make it 17-10 heading into the break.
Both teams battled back and forth in the third quarter, but ASU maintained their 17-10 lead. The Wildcat defense did what it does best and shut down the ASU offense, despite an interception by the Rams with just under eight minutes to go, giving the ball back to the offense with 5:48 remaining. McGill round open space for a 21-yard gain followed by an 11-yard completion put the 'Cats within the Rams 20-yard line. McGill found a 10-yard gain on the ground and was followed by Flanagan running it in the final nine yards to score a touchdown with 34 seconds remaining, but unfortunately the PAT swung wide left securing the 17-16 victory for ASU.
McGill finished the game completing 10/19 passes for 136 yards with one interception, while adding 130 rushing yards and one touchdown. Flanagan added 92 rushing yards and one touchdown. Cook led the receiving corps with 73 yards on five receptions.
Isaac Clark led the crimson and black defense with seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and one sack.
Tanner Volk added six tackles and a 0.5 tackle for loss.
Tyler King had two tackles with 1.5 coming as sacks while
Jalen Webber finished with two tackles and one pass breakup.
Daniel Matagi had two tackles. 0.5 sack, and a quarterback hurry.
Dan Stewart punted four times for 175 yards. Britton was 1/1 on field goal attempts, making his attempt from 22 yards, and finished 1/2 on PAT's.
Wyatt Redding had three kickoffs for 132 yards. Cook returned three punts for 23 yards.
ABOUT THE LOBOS
Sul Ross State is 3-6 on the season and is currently 2-5 in LSC play. Their first NCAA Division II game came in a 42-21 setback against West Texas A&M followed by a 36-17 setback at Eastern New Mexico in a nonconference game. They earned their first victory of the season in a thrilling 52-51 overtime victory over their old conference rivals, Wayland Baptist. They then dropped three contests in a row: 39-17 against Western Oregon, 56-21 at Texas A&M-Kingsville, and 40-21 at Midwestern State. They bounced back for the 34-20 victory over Western New Mexico in the Battle for the Golden Tumbleweed. They dropped a 57-10 game at Angelo State before bouncing back for the 33-28 victory at home over ENMU, this time in a conference matchup.
"They'll be bringing momentum with them," CWU Head Football Coach
Chris Fisk said. "They're a team that's transitioning from D3 to D2, it's their first year in the Lone Star Conference."
Andrew Martinez has led the Lobos offense completing 130/227 passes for 1,625 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, adding 151 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Jordan Morales has been the leader in the rushing game for SRSU racking up 298 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the year with Carson Workman not far behind with 173 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Austin Ogunmakin, Yamil Oaxaca, C.J. Parks, and Vicente Luevano all have nine receptions on the year with Liam Lowe and Morales each with eight. Ogunmakin leads the Lobos receiving corps with 655 yards and two touchdowns while Oaxaca has added 486 yards and seven touchdowns.
"They have talented players on the roster, that's for sure," Fisk said. "They have a talented quarterback. I think that as you look at them, they do enough things defensively, offensively, and in special teams that are extremely unique and I think they understand that they know what they need to do to win football games as they get accustomed to playing football at the division two level.
Quincy Blair has been a dominant force for the SRSU defense already having 101 tackles on the season and adding 1.5 tackles for loss, one interception, two pass breakups, and forced one fumble. Brendon Martin has 65 tackles on the year, 2.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups, one forced fumble, and leads the Lobos with three interceptions. Dayln Dunbar leads SRSU with 2.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss while Tamirr Bullock and Elijah Gomez each have four pass breakups. Mekhi Harris, Brayden Durocher, and McLain Garrett IV all have blocked a kick on the season.
Jacob Franco has 35 punts on the year for 1,302 yards with three landing inside the opponents' 20-yard line. Carlos Arreola has drilled 6/11 field goals with his longest coming at 57 yards. Arreola has added 44 kickoffs for 2,622 yards. Luevano has five punt returns for 103 yards and one touchdown while Oaxaca has 14 kick returns for 366 yards and one touchdown.
"I think their coaches do a really good job of doing some really uncommon things, especially in the kicking game they cause a lot of problems and headaches," Fisk said. "So, we're going to have to be on our best, especially to start the game to not let them have any momentum as they come into Tomlinson Stadium on Saturday. Then, we just have to go to work and do what we do as a team and really work through our process to go win the football game."
UP NEXT
The 'Cats will prepare for "The Battle of the Pacific Northwest" as they welcome Western Oregon (6-3, 6-1 LSC) on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1:00 p.m. from Steve Hertling Field at Tomlinson Stadium.
