REILLY TIES TD RECORD. DEFENSE HELPS CARRY WILDCATS PAST DIXIE STATE 49-14

#12/9 Central Races to 42-7 Halftime Lead. Defense Scores Twice in Rout

ELLENSBURG. Wash. — Dixie State College traded touchdowns with Central Washington University early in its Great Northwest Athletic Conference rematch with the Wildcats.

Unfortunately for Dixie. Central Washington rattled off 35 unanswered first-half points in CWU's 49-14 victory in front of 3.452 fans at Tomlinson Stadium.

In a game that seemed nothing like Central Washington's come-from-behind. 44-38 overtime victory in St. George on Aug. 30. the ninth-ranked Wildcats (3-0 GNAC. 5-1 overall) scored willingly on both offense and defense despite being outgained by seven yards and holding the ball for five-and-a-half minutes less than DSC (0-4. 1-5).

Of course. that doesn't matter when you convert two interceptions and two fumbles into 28 points. Dixie had five turnovers overall.

“It's tough to win a game when you turn the ball over however many times we did.” DSC quarterback Dexter Hill (Pocatello. ID/Highland HS) said.

“Our defense continues to get us turnovers.” CWU head coach Blaine Bennett said. “Not only did we get some turnovers. we also scored a lot of points off of them.”

Central got on the board first. but Dixie came back with a five-play.

67-yard drive. highlighted by Hill's 46-yard completion to the Wildcat 15 to Judd Thompson (Crystal Lake. IL/Prarie Ridge HS). Two plays later. Hill found Skyler Ence (St George. UT/Pine View) from 11 yards out to knot the game at 7.

However. Central answered back less than three minutes later as Wildcat quarterback Mike Reilly connected with Johnny Spevak — both preseason All-Americans — for 38 yards and then later with Jamal Weems for a 41-yard score to regain the lead and never look back.

“Offensively. we just came out flat.” Hill said. “And then they got it going and we never did.”

Midway through the second quarter. CWU safety Jerome Williams picked off Hill and rumbled 20 yards to the Dixie 3 before J.R. Hasty scored to make it 21-7 two plays later.

CWU would add three more scores in the last 2:16 to all but put the game away at halftime.

“It's like we were snake-bitten.” DSC head coach Ron Haun said.

After a Dixie punt and personal foul after the return. Central Washington found themselves again with a short field. going 48 yards on six plays with Reilly finding Spevak for the score and the 28-7 lead.

Just 47 seconds later on the second play of DSC's ensuing possession. Justin Gran picked off Hill and went 31 yards for the touchdown.

The Wildcat defense again created more turmoil when Adam Wells (Kenmore. WA/Inglemoor) was stripped of the ball by Marcus Ford before Buddy Wood took it all the way to the Dixie 22. Reilly and Spevak connected for their second scoring strike to make it a 42-7 halftime score.

“Going into halftime. there's not much to say. everybody knows what's going on.” Hill said.

But Dixie certainly wasn't done as they opened the second half with a 13-play drive. taking the ball 65 yards to the CWU 15. However. on the 14th play. while Hill eluded a sack. his shovel pass was fumbled by Sione Tapuosi (East Palo Alto. CA/Carlmont) and Wildcat cornerback Jon Rogers picked it up and scampered untouched 79 yards for Central Washington's final score of the game at the 7:48 mark of the third quarter.
Dixie would put together one last drive. an eight play. 63-yard march. ending with Teddy Owens (Pleasant Grove. UT/Pleasant Grove HS) getting the score from four yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Nate Lewis (Rancho Mirage. CA/Cathedral City) took over play-calling duties from Hill early in the second half and the two combined for 17-of-32 passing with one touchdown. three picks and 173 total yards.

Wells got the bulk of the team's 129 yards on the ground. picking up 86 yards on 20 carries.

Ence (eight catches) and Kyser Christensen (Boise. ID/Centennial) (three) both had 48 yards receiving.
For the Wildcats. Reilly finished with 212 yards and four touchdowns in the air on 14-for-20 passing. He only attempted three passes in the second half and sat the entire fourth quarter. His favorite target was Spevak. who caught six balls for 122 yards and the two scores. Hasty led the 'Cats with 51 yards on the ground.

After back-to-back road trips to Washington state. including a last second. 29-27 loss at Western Washington on Sept. 27. Dixie hosts Humboldt State in Saturday's homecoming game at Hansen Stadium.

“We go back home now.” Haun said. “We've had two tough trips. Two long trips.
“The kids will get up and get ready to play.”

NCAA DIVISION II/GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

#12/9 Central Washington 49. Dixie State 14

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

Dixie State......... 7 0 0 7 - 14 Record: (1-5.0-4)

Central Washington.. 14 28 7 0 - 49 Record: (5-1.4-0)

Scoring Summary:

1st 06:40 CWU - Waller.Mike 10 yd pass from Reilly.Mike (Rolsma.Garrett kick). 9-48 4:08. DSC 0 - CWU 7

03:52 DSC - Ence.Skyler 10 yd pass from Hill.Dexter (Manning.Zack kick). 5-67 2:42. DSC 7 - CWU 7

01:29 CWU - Weems.Jamal 41 yd pass from Reilly.Mike (Rolsma.Garrett kick). 4-76 2:18. DSC 7 - CWU 14 2nd 07:35 CWU - Hasty.J.R. 3 yd run (Rolsma.Garrett kick). 2-3 0:45. DSC 7 - CWU 21

02:16 CWU - Spevak.Johnny 28 yd pass from Reilly.Mike (Rolsma.Garrett kick). 6-48 2:26. DSC 7 - CWU 28

01:29 CWU - Gran.Jason 31 yd interception return (Rolsma.Garrett kick). . DSC 7 - CWU 35

00:40 CWU - Spevak.Johnny 15 yd pass from Reilly.Mike (Rolsma.Garrett kick). 2-22 0:34. DSC 7 - CWU 42 3rd 07:49 CWU - Rogers.Jon 79 yd fumble recovery (Rolsma.Garrett kick). . DSC 7 - CWU 49 4th 14:56 DSC - Owens.Teddy 4 yd run (Manning.Zack kick). 8-63 2:45. DSC 14 - CWU 49

DSC CWU

FIRST DOWNS................... 14 16

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 31-129 32-87

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 173 208

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 32-17-3 22-15-1

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 63-302 54-295

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 1-79

Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-16 1-7

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-102 3-54

Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-2 3-49

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 5-27.8 4-41.2

Fumbles-Lost.................. 4-2 0-0

Penalties-Yards............... 8-53 4-28

Possession Time............... 32:43 27:17

Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 14 3 of 11

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 2 1 of 2

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-3 3-4

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-3 1-5

RUSHING: Dixie State-Wells.Adam 20-86; Hill.Dexter 6-22; Tapuosi.Sione 4-17; Owens.Teddy 1-4. Central Washington-Hasty.J.R. 19-51; Reilly.Mike 4-18; Leonard.Justin 5-15; Miller.Kyle 1-7; TEAM 3-minus 4.

PASSING: Dixie State-Lewis.Nate 11-20-1-109; Hill.Dexter 6-12-2-64. Central Washington-Reilly.Mike 14-20-0-212; Miller.Kyle 1-2-1-minus 4.

RECEIVING: Dixie State-Ence.Skyler 8-48; Christensen.Kyser 3-48; Ott.Steve 2-23; Wells.Adam 2-14; Thompson.Judd 1-46; Tapuosi.Sione 1-minus 6. Central Washington-Spevak.Johnny 6-122; Togar.Sam 3-23; Waller.Mike 2-17; Weems.Jamal 1-41; Rohrbach.Chris 1-5; Bronson.Jared 1-4; Burton.Austin 1-minus 4.

INTERCEPTIONS: Dixie State-Sumko.Dan 1-2. Central Washington-Williams.Jerome 2-18; Gran.Jason 1-31.

FUMBLES: Dixie State-Tapuosi.Sione 2-1; Ott.Steve 1-0; Wells.Adam 1-1. Central Washington-None.

SACKS (UA-A): Dixie State-Gochis.Chad 1-0. Central Washington-Ford.Marcus 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Dixie State-Gochis.Chad 4-3; Doman.Ross 5-1; Ferrin.Jacob 4-2; Harward.Micah 3-3; Alofipo.Wayne 3-2; Frank.Chad 3-1; Owens.Teddy 1-3; Mortensen.Seth 2-0; May.Richard 2-0; Beavers.Wesley 1-1; Gold.Chandler 1-1; Hutchinson.Aric 1-1; Greening.Vaughn 1-0; Moe.Dominique 1-0; Hill.Dexter 1-0; Cook.Stephen 0-1; Hicks.Andy 0-1. Central Washington-James.Chris 3-2; Bighill.Adam 3-2; Le.Anthony 1-4; Buenaflor.Ryan 3-1; Wood.Buddy 2-2; Breitzman.Taylor 2-2; Rogers.Jon 3-0; Reffett.Mitch 3-0; Nielsen.Tyrell 3-0; Rogers.Nick 0-3; Hessler.Chase 0-3; Ford.Marcus 2-0; Dyer.Ryan 2-0; Gran.Jason 2-0; Hartwell.Antonio 1-1; Williams.Jerome 0-2; Oney.Andrew 1-0; Tanasse.Taylor 1-0; Burton.Austin 1-0; Reno.Mike 1-0; Carpenter.Ryan 0-1; Togar.Sam 0-1; Landers.Tamarria 0-1; McLemore.Antonio 0-1; Jamerson.J.R. 0-1; Rolsma.Garrett 0-1.

JOHN GORDON-CENTRAL WASHINGTON SPORTS INFORMATION