ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Football Team (5-1, 4-0 LSC) welcomes the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas (3-3, 2-2 LSC) for a homecoming showdown this Saturday Evening.
 
CWU students attending the game will need their physical connection card to enter on Saturday, or else CWU students can go onto wildcatsports.com/tickets and select the student ticket option which gives students a QR code that they can show at the game for entry for free.
 
GAME INFORMATION:
 
Saturday, October 18
#10 Central Washington vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville
6:00 p.m.
Steve Hertling Field at Tomlinson Stadium
Ellensburg, Wash.
WATCH ($): HERE
LISTEN (88.1 The 'Burg): HERE
LIVE STATS: HERE
TICKETS: HERE
 
QUOTING CWU HEAD FOOTBALL COACH CHRIS FISK:
 
"The Javelinas have a new Head Football Coach, Coach Parr. Coach Salinas moved into the Athletic Director role after being the previous Head Coach where he did a great job down there in Kingsville, having some really good football teams over the years. Coach Parr came in and has kind of picked up right where Coach Salinas left off. They have a little bit of a different offensive identity than what they've had in the past, they're now an air raid, up-tempo style offense. Coach Parr comes from Louisiana Tech University where they're running that air raid offense. They'll be high flying, they'll be throwing the ball around a bunch. Defensively, it's the same Defensive Coordinator, so we'll be seeing the same defense that we've seen the past couple of seasons. Coach Bisch does a really nice job defensively, their kids play extremely hard, they're very talented at stopping the run, so we'll have our work cut out for us in another big time Lone Star Conference matchup this weekend."
 
LAST GAME:
 
The Falcons struck first, marching downfield on the opening drive as Kanon Gibson hit TJ McKenzie for an eight-yard touchdown. Angel Diaz added the PAT to put UTPB up 7-0 with 10:54 left in the first.
 
Both defenses settled in, trading quick punts until UTPB threatened again, but Chase Loidhamer's quarterback hurry and a fourth-down breakup by King Williams stopped the drive. The Falcons' defense then forced a three-and-out to close the quarter up 7-0.
 
CWU's defense opened the second quarter with a stop of its own, setting up the Wildcats' first offensive rhythm of the night. Kennedy McGill connected with open receivers and, along with Beau Phillips and Justice Taylor, moved the ball to the UTPB 19. A fake field goal, however, came up short.
 
After another defensive stand, McGill broke loose for 42 yards, followed by a 12-yard pass to Mason Juergens and a short Taylor run to set up David Weber's 40-yard field goal, trimming the deficit to 7-3 with 27 seconds left in the half.
 
UTPB ran out the clock to take the 7-3 lead into halftime.
 
A CWU fumble on the opening kickoff gave UTPB the ball at the Wildcats' 33, but penalties and tough defense forced a turnover on downs. Both teams traded possessions until Taylor broke free for a 24-yard touchdown, giving CWU a 10-7 lead late in the third.
 
The Falcons immediately answered as Gibson found Ben Patterson for a 73-yard score, reclaiming the lead 14-10 heading into the fourth.
 
McGill, Taylor, and Phillips powered CWU back downfield, capped by McGill's six-yard rushing touchdown to make it 17-14 with 3:15 remaining. The defense held firm — a Loidhamer breakup and sacks by Loidhamer and Matulino Masunu forced a turnover on downs.
 
Weber's 44-yard field goal extended the lead to 20-14 with 38 seconds left, and moments later, Javonte Walker sealed the win with a 35-yard pick-six. Weber's PAT capped the scoring as CWU closed out No. 6 UTPB, 27-14.
 
McGill completed 7 of 18 passes for 70 yards and rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown. Taylor led the ground game with 100 yards and a score, while Phillips added 56 yards. Juergens and Logan Brady each caught three passes for 29 yards.
 
Defensively, Loidhamer and Chase Coalson led with seven tackles apiece, with Loidhamer adding a sack, two pass breakups, and a five-yard loss. McCalla followed with six tackles, while Williams and Jalen Webber each recorded five—Williams adding four breakups and Webber two. Walker notched the team's lone interception along with three tackles and a breakup. Edward added three tackles and a six-yard sack, and Masunu chipped in another sack for an eight-yard loss. Owens had one breakup, King a quarterback hurry, and Timoteo a tackle for loss.
 
On special teams, Redding punted five times for 221 yards and handled six kickoffs for 379 yards. Weber was perfect on the day, going 3-for-3 on PATs and 2-for-2 on field goals, with a long of 44 yards. Roberson returned three punts for 32 yards, while Bumgarner added two kickoff returns for seven yards.
 
The Wildcats totaled 308 yards while giving up 300 to UTPB. The Wildcats earned 17 first downs compared to the Falcons 14 but outgained the 'Cats in the air 250 yards to 70 yards. The crimson and black however earned more yards on the ground by a 238 to 50 margin.
 
The 'Cats clung to the ball for a resounding 38:15 during the game, only allowing the Falcons to possess it for 21:45. The 'Cats were 7/17 on third down attempts and 2/3 on fourth down attempts while limiting the potent Falcons to 2/11 on third downs and 1/4 on fourth downs.
 
ABOUT THE JAVELINAS
 
The Javelinas are currently 3-3 on the season including a 2-2 Lone Star Conference Record. They opened their season with a 60-12 route of Lincoln (CA) at home. They suffered their first setback in week two when they traveled to Northwest Missouri State and fell 49-20 and then in the following week, lost in their LSC-opener against then #11 UTPB by a 43-30 score. They bounced back with a 52-3 win at Sul Ross State before falling at Midwestern State by a 31-24 score. They'll be riding the momentum into this week after knocking off then #12 Angelo State at home by a 24-19 score last Saturday, their first win over the Rams since 2011.
 
Kingsville is currently outscoring their opponents 35 points per game to the 26.17 points per game they're giving up to their opponents. The blue and gold have a solid mix in their offensive game averaging 296.83 passing yards per game that includes 10 passing touchdowns as well as an average of 154.3 rushing yards per game and 15 rushing touchdowns. Opponents are averaging 243.17 passing yards per game and 130.3 rushing yards per game.
 
The Javelinas are currently successful on 42.86 percent of their third down attempts and 53.85 percent on their fourth down attempts. Opponents are holding onto the ball longer than Kingsville by a slim margin of 30:41 minutes per game compared to the 29:19 minutes Kingsville holds onto the ball. They're currently averaging 78.17 penalty yards per game racking up 51 penalties for a total of 469 yards this season.
 
Jack Turner has been the guiding force for the Javelina offense averaging 288.33 passing yards per game for a grand total of 1,730 passing yards this season that includes 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He tosses the ball at a 62.22 percent clip, making 140 completions out of 225 attempts.  The reigning LSC Offensive Player of the Week Edward Cumley leads the ground attack, averaging 105.5 rushing yards per game for a total of 422 yards on the ground and 5 rushing touchdowns. King Phillips and Christian Kretz are the favorite targets of Turner's with Phillips leading the way with 36 receptions for 513 yards and 1 touchdown and Kretz adding 29 catches for 430 yards and 2 touchdowns.
 
Julian Payne is the leading tackler for the Javelinas with 28 tackles, adding 4 tackles for loss, a 0.5 sack, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. Tre Robbins owns the most sacks on the season with 3 and leads the team in tackles for loss at 4.5 total. 7 other Javelinas join Payne in recording an interception.  D'Cambren Verrett leads TAMU-K with 3 pass breakups while Blake Jaques has 2 quarterback hurries. The Javelina defense has recorded a safety against Lincoln (CA).
 
Jared Campbell has 25 punts on the season for 989 yards and an average of 39.56 yards per punt. 9 of his punts have landed in the opponents 20-yard line. Daniel Gauna is 8/11 on field goal attempts with his longest coming in at 42-yards. Angel Lopez has 39 kickoffs for a total of 2,427 yards for an average of 62.2 yards per kick. Kretz has 11 punt returns for a total of 66 yards and an average of 6 yards per return. CJ Thompson has 11 kickoff returns for a total of 223 yards and an average of 20.27 yards per return.
 
UP NEXT:
 
CWU will head back on the road this time heading to Wichita Falls, Texas to take on the Midwestern State Mustangs (2-4, 2-2 LSC) on Saturday, October 25 at 5:00 p.m. PST from Memorial Stadium.