Central Washington University Athletics

KINGSVILLE, Texas – The 11th-ranked Central Washington University Football Team (5-2, 5-0 LSC) traveled down to south Texas and won a thrilling shootout against the Texas A&M-Kingsville Javelinas (4-3, 4-1 LSC) Saturday afternoon by a 52-49 score to remain undefeated in conference play. 
 
QUOTING CWU HEAD FOOTBALL COACH SCOTT POWER:
 
"I'm happy to get the win. I'm happy for the players and coaches and proud of the effort tonight. It took all three phases to get it done and at times each unit made big time plays that impacted and contributed to the success. On the other hand at times each unit had some snaps we'd like to have back. Good teams find ways to win and good teams that compete for championships find ways to win. I'm proud of players and am ready to get back home and get to work."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• The Wildcat defense began the game with a three-and-out to start the game, only allowing a six yard completion before forcing the Javelinas to punt, however, the Javelina defense forced a three-and-out of their own despite seven yards on the ground from Ryder Bumgarner and one more from Justin Brennan. 
• The Javelinas took over at the 'Cats 41-yard line and made the most of the short yardage, as Daniel Gauna hit a 32-yard field goal to make it 3-0 TAMUK with 10:12 left in the first. 
• The Wildcats came out on their next drive with Brennan finding Mason Juergens and Isaac Torres for back-to-back first downs followed by a pair of big gains from Ki'Marree Washington and Antoine Lee to get the 'Cats deep in Javelina territory to set up Bumgarner for a 38-yard touchdown and after the David Weber PAT the 'Cats had the 7-3 lead with 6:02 left in the first. 
• Mills Dawson found Kenhide Atunrase for a big 22-yard gain but Brycen Indell made a big snag after a broken up pass for the interception on the second play of the drive to set the 'Cats up at the CWU 40-yard line. 
• Brennan found Ty Snider immediately for 10 yards and a first down and with the combined efforts of Bumgarner gaining chunks on the ground and big connections from Brennan to Torres and AJ Perz to eventually set up Bumgarner for the one-yard touchdown and after the Weber PAT, the 'Cats led 14-3 with 1:02 left in the first. 
• Dawson found Christian Kretz for 45 yards followed by Levi Fontenot earning 14 yards on the ground over a pair of plays which ended the first quarter with the 'Cats on top 14-3. 
• The Javelinas needed three plays as Dawson took it five yards into the endzone to put the Javelinas back on the board to start the second quarter and after Guana hit the PAT, the 'Cats lead was cut to 14-10 with 13:53 left in the second. 
• The 'Cats took to the ground as Brennan, Lee, Bumgarner, and Washington all combined to ground and pound their way down the field, eventually seeing Lee get in on the touchdown fun, running it in from six yards and after Weber's PAT, the 'Cats saw their lead grow to 21-10 with 9:38 left in the second. 
• Weber kicked off to the Kingsville five-yard line and Austin Abram returned it 13 yards before he fumbled the ball which saw Connor Goff recover the fumble and set the 'Cats up at the TAMUK 18-yard line. 
• Bumgarner only needed one play to score, punching it in the 18 yards on one play and after the successful PAT from Weber, the 'Cats led 28-10 with 9:25 left in the second. 
• Fontenot got the Javelinas next drive going and paired with a big pass from Dawson to Marques Singleton for 21 yards and a penalty on the Wildcats, eventually saw Texas A&M-Kingsville deep in CWU territory where the Wildcat defense stood tall forcing the Javelinas to settle for a field goal which Gauna hit from 24-yards out to make it 28-13 CWU with 5:06 left in the second. 
• The Wildcats saw Brennan connect with Juergens and Bumgarner for a pair of big yardage plays but Brennan and Bumgarner got the job done on the ground, eventually seeing Bumgarner punch it in from three yards out and after Weber's PAT, the 'Cats lead ballooned to 35-13 with 1:53 left in the second. 
• The Wildcat defense stood tall thanks to a huge 21-yard sack from Chris Hauss to force a punt from the Javelinas, however, the Javelina defense made a big play of their own, forcing the sack fumble from Brennan to take over at the 'Cats 20-yard line.
• Texas A&M-Kingsville made the most of the turnover as Dawson needed three plays to find Kretz for the 15-yard touchdown and after the Gauna PAT the 'Cats lead was cut to 35-20 with five seconds before the half. 
• Bumgarner made it an exciting final five seconds, returning the kick 76 yards but was only able to get to the TAMUK 12-yard line to send the teams to the half with the 'Cats leading 35-20. 
• The Javelina defense came out to play to begin the second half forcing a three-and-out to begin the second half on the Wildcat offense. 
• TAMUK made the most of it as Dawson immediately found Kretz for an 80-yard touchdown reception on the first play after the three-and-out and with Gauna hitting the PAT it became a one possession game with CWU leading 35-27 with 12:53 left in the third. 
• The Wildcats responded quickly after recovering the onside kick as Lee made a pair of big gains to set the 'Cats up in the Javelina redzone which helped Bumgarner tack on another touchdown, this one from four yards out and after the Weber PAT, the 'Cats led 42-27 with 10:57 left in the third. 
• The Javelinas kept the back-and-forth scoring going as they maneuvered their way down the field thanks to Fontenot getting chunks on the ground and Dawson getting a couple big connections to Singleton to eventually set up Dawson to find Atunrase for the two-yard touchdown and with Gauna hitting the PAT, it was a one possession game once again with CWU leading 42-34 with 7:32 left in the third. 
• The Javelinas quickly saw a huge 15-yard sack turn into positive yards for the 'Cats thanks to a facemask  penalty on TAMUK and paired with a second facemask penalty on the Javelinas after a 10-yard connection from Brennan to Torres and a chunk of yards on the ground from Bumgarner, Brennan eventually found Torres who wouldn't be brought down by the Javelina defenders to rumble it in from 26-yards out and after the Weber PAT the 'Cats had some wiggle room once more leading 49-34 with 4:04 left in the third. 
• The Wildcat defense stiffened up and force a three-and-out of the Javelina offense thanks to a huge tackle from loss from Hudson Hardy and Hauss as well as a big pass breakup from Riah Tua to give the 'Cats the ball back. 
• The Wildcats saw Lee get a big first down thanks to a 14-yard rush followed by a Brennan finding Juergens for a second-straight first down thanks to a 12-yard connection, but the 'Cats weren't able to get much further, as an incomplete deep pass saw the Javelinas take over on a turnover on downs. 
• Dawson immediately found Kretz for a 59-yard reception to end the third quarter and set the Javelinas up at the 'Cats 11-yard line with CWU leading 49-34. 
• The Javelinas began the fourth quarter fighting but despite the 'Cats defense forcing Texas A&M-Kingsville into two different fourth down scenarios within the 'Cats own five yard line, the Javelinas saw Dawson connect with Singleton on fourth and one to score a touchdown and backed that up with a completion to Kretz for the two point conversion to make it a one possession game once more with CWU leading 49-42 with 11:08 left in the game. 
• The Javelina defense stepped up despite allowing Bumgarner to get a first down after a 16-yard gain on the ground to force a punt from the 'Cats and take over at their own 15-yard line. 
• Kingsville came out after the punt and saw Dawson make a pair of big connections to Kretz and Jacoby James to eventually set up Fontenot for the 40-yard touchdown and after Gauna's PAT, the game was tied at 49 apiece with 7:37 left in the game. 
• The Wildcats took over and saw Brennan connect with Samaje Featherstone for a quick first down thanks to a 13-yard reception and paired with a facemask penalty on Kingsville, the 'Cats found themselves in Javelina territory after which the 'Cats took their time and slowly maneuvered their way down the field before the Kingsville defense forced the 'Cats into a fourth down scenario from the Javelinas 15-yard line which set up Weber who drilled the field goal from 32-yards out to give the 'Cats the 52-49 lead with 1:48 left in the game. 
• Isaiah Paul called game on the first play of the Javelinas taking over the ball, intercepting Dawson to give the 'Cats the ball back with 1:42 left in the game and three rush plays by Bumgarner and a kneel down by Brennan sealed the 52-49 victory for the 'Cats to stay undefeated in conference play. 

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Brennan finished the game completing 19 of 27 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown while adding 35 more yards on the ground. 
• Bumgarner led the ground game with 165 yards and five touchdowns while Lee added 110 yards and another touchdown. 
• Juergens added 60 receiving yards while Torres tacked on 51 receiving yards and the only receiving touchdown of the day for the 'Cats. 
• Kam Watkins-Hunter and Omar Lazcano led the Wildcat defense with six tackles while Watkins-Hunter added two pass breakups and Lazcano added a half tackle for loss. 
• Brady Phillips added five tackles while King Williams, Joseph Jefferson II, Hardy, and Hauss all added four tackles. Williams and Hardy added a tackle for loss each while Haus tacked on 1.5 tackles for loss including a 21-yard sack and added a forced fumble and a pass breakup. 
• Peyton Cunningham had three tackles and a half tackle for loss while Indell and Paul each added two tackles and an interception with Paul also contributing a pass breakup. 
• Goff added two tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
• Brian Kuhn had a tackle including a half tackle for loss while Tua added a pass breakup. 
• Weber finished with three punts for 114 yards with one landing in the Javelina 20-yard line. 
• Weber also finished the game with nine kickoffs for 559 yards and was a perfect seven for seven on PAT attempts and was successful on his only field goal attempt on the night, coming from 32 yards out. 
• Juergens had a punt return for eight yards while Bumgarner had two kick returns for 85 yards and Featherstone tacked on six kick returns for 141 yards. 

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will return to the Pacific Northwest to host the UT Permian Basin Falcons (5-2, 4-1 LSC) next Saturday at 6:00 p.m. from Steve Hertling Field at Tomlinson Stadium.