Football 10/6/2012 8:00:00 PM John Potter, Media Relations Assistant

Upset in the Desert: Storm comeback stuns Wildcats

DSC gets first win in nine tries against Central Washington

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ST. GEORGE – In a game of scoring runs, Dixie State took an early 10-0 lead. Central Washington then rattled off 21 unanswered points, only to see the host Red Storm rally behind junior quarterback Griff Robles (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork) for the final 19 points of the game to stun the previously league unbeaten Wildcats 29-21 on Saturday at Hansen Stadium.

Dixie State set school single game records with 478 passing yards and for the first time eclipsed the 500-yard mark for total offense (585) to improve to 3-3 on the year and 3-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The win was the first for DSC over the Wildcats in nine all-time meetings in the Storm's NCAA tenure.

Central Washington dropped to 4-1 in the GNAC and lost for only the second time this year, 4-2.

Robles (12-of-19, 244, 1 pass TD, 1 rush TD) entered the game in the third quarter after a pair of Kaleo Nawahine (Fruitland, ID/Fruitland) interceptions capped the Wildcat run of points with nine minutes left in the third quarter. The junior completed all three passes in his opening drive including a 56-yard touchdown to Matt Porrazzo (Rescue, CA/Ponderosa).

With 8:36 left in the fourth quarter, the Red Storm began the go-ahead drive backed up at the one-yard line. The threat of a safety did not last long – Robles connected with his high-school teammate Zack Fox (Spanish Fork. UT/Spanish Fork HS) for 31 yards. Ten plays later, an exhilarating grab by Mitch Frei (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) put the ball near the two and a CWU penalty placed the ball on the one. Running back #A.J. Johnson# broke the plane of the end zone for a 22-21 lead on the next play.

Ryan Robertson (11-of-29, 174, 1 TD, 1 INT) missed on three connections in the subsequent drive, giving Dixie State the ball with under four minutes. On fourth down, the seventh play of the drive, Robles weaved his way into the end zone for the insurance score.

CWU's final gasp came on a Robertson pass from the Dixie State 40-yard line. The pass intended for tight end Griffon Squires was intercepted by the out stretched hands of cornerback Nick Porrazzo (Rescue. CA/Ponderosa).

Nawahine (16-of-31, 234, 1 TD, 2 INT) ignited the Dixie State offense in his debut as the starter. He completed four passes in the opening drive setting up a 27-yard field goal from freshman place kicker Austin Haslem. The QB trusted the running game in the next drive, handing the ball off on six of 10 plays. Nawahine then went to the air hitting Randon Willard (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) for a four-yard TD and a 10-0 lead.

Central turned to tailback Demetrius Sumler. His 33-yard TD on a swing pass from Robertson made the halftime score 10-7. CWU took the lead on Nawahine's first interception, returned by Kevin Puckett from the DSC goal line to the house for 100 yards. Sumler ran up the gut for a 22-yard score for a 21-10 CWU lead.

Momentum swung back to the home team late in the third quarter. On consecutive short yard plays, junior linebacker Nick Largent (Escalon, CA/Escalon) stopped Jordan Todd after a one-yard gain and Sumler for no gain getting a turnover on downs.

Dixie State had 12 different receivers catch passes. Fox paced the squad with 120 yards on four grabs while Frei made six catches for a season-high 95 yards. Andre Aron (Inglewood, CA/Westchester) notched 98 yards with five receptions. Johnson led the DSC rushers with 54 yards while Kamuela Alisa (Laie, HI/Kahuku) carried the ball 10 times for 50 yards.

On the defensive side, defensive lineman Kris Williams (Hazlehurst, MS/Hazlehurst) had seven tackles. Tana Woodard (Honolulu, H/McKinley) and Sean Gibson (Herriman, UT/Riverton) each recorded sacks. Puckett (14) and Stan Langlow (11) paced the CWU defense.

Dixie State hits the road for the next two weeks in GNAC play. First stop is Monmouth, Ore., for a rematch with the Western Oregon Wolves. Kickoff from McArthur Field is set for 2 p.m. Mountain.

Score by Quarters     1 2 3 4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Cent. Washington.... 0 7 14 0 - 21       Record: (4-2,4-1)
Dixie State College. 10 0 6 13 - 29       Record: (3-3,3-2)

Scoring Summary:
1st 09:33 DSC - Haslam,Austin 27 yd field goal, 11-70 3:46, CWU 0 - DSC 3
    02:06 DSC - Willard,Randon 4 yd pass from Nawahine,Kaleo (Haslam,Austin kick), 10-77 5:16, CWU 0 - DSC 10
2nd 04:32 CWU - Sumler,Demetrius 33 yd pass from Robertson,Ryan (Davis,Sean kick), 7-57 3:32, CWU 7 - DSC 10
3rd 10:45 CWU - Puckett,Kevin 100 yd interception return (Davis,Sean kick), , CWU 14 - DSC 10
    08:59 CWU - Sumler,Demetrius 22 yd run (Davis,Sean kick), 5-40 1:36, CWU 21 - DSC 10
    03:18 DSC - Porrazzo,Matt 56 yd pass from Robles,Griff (Haslam,Austin kick blockd), 4-58 2:20, CWU 21 - DSC 16
4th 04:23 DSC - Johnson, A.J. 1 yd run (Robles,Griff pass failed), 12-99 4:13, CWU 21 - DSC 22
    01:39 DSC - Robles,Griff 2 yd run (Haslam,Austin kick), 7-52 2:16, CWU 21 - DSC 29

                                    CWU      DSC
FIRST DOWNS...................       16       25
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   31-123   40-107
PASSING YDS (NET).............      174      478
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 29-11-1 50-28-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   60-297   90-585
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      1-1      1-8
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    6-141     2-50
Interception Returns-Yards....    2-114      1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   8-40.0   3-41.7
Fumbles-Lost..................      0-0      1-0
Penalties-Yards...............    11-76     9-70
Possession Time...............    24:09    35:51
Third-Down Conversions........ 5 of 15 10 of 20
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   3 of 5
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      0-0      4-6
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-3     2-16

RUSHING: Cent. Washington-Sumler,Demetrius 21-96; Robertson,Ryan 5-11;
Todd,Jordan 3-10; Banks,Darius 2-6. Dixie State College-Johnson, A.J. 17-54;
Alisa,Kamuela 10-50; Nawahine,Kaleo 5-9; Robles,Griff 5-4; TEAM 3-minus 10.

PASSING: Cent. Washington-Robertson,Ryan 11-29-1-174. Dixie State
College-Nawahine,Kaleo 16-31-2-234; Robles,Griff 12-19-0-244.

RECEIVING: Cent. Washington-Sumler,Demetrius 3-53; Spain,Anthony 3-42;
Squires,Griffin 2-25; Akeo-Orr,Robert 1-25; Dunlap,Brandon 1-19;
McAllister,Taylor 1-10. Dixie State College-Frei,Mitch 6-95; Aron,Andre 5-98;
Fox,Zach 4-120; Willard,Randon 4-25; Alisa,Kamuela 2-28; Hoskins,Beau 2-13;
Porrazzo,Matt 1-56; Johnson,Brock 1-19; Loo,Jordan 1-15; Johnson, A.J. 1-11;
Sklarsky,Conor 1-minus 2.

INTERCEPTIONS: Cent. Washington-Puckett,Kevin 1-100; Koopman,John 1-14.
Dixie State College-Porrazzo,Nick 1-0.

FUMBLES: Cent. Washington-None. Dixie State College-Johnson, A.J. 1-0.

SACKS (UA-A): Cent. Washington-Johnson,Donnie 1-0. Dixie State
College-Gibson,Sean 1-0; Woodard,Tana 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Cent. Washington-Puckett,Kevin 10-4; Langlow,Stan 5-6;
Davis,Isaiah 4-2; Gallegos,Adrian 4-2; Johnson,Donnie 4-2; Wall,Riley 2-4;
Koopman,John 0-5; Sanchez,Tovar 0-5; Burk,Cory 3-0; Johnson,Jarrel 2-1;
Tepper,Jake 2-1; Chaney,Cedrique 1-2; Bruno,Gabe 0-3; Joyner,Terrance 0-2;
Gaisie,Deshawn 1-0; Squires,Griffin 1-0; Baines,DeAndre 1-0; Hall,Charles 0-1; Nielsen,Ridge 0-1; Baker,Jerod 0-1. Dixie State College-Williams,Kris 4-3;
Largent,Nick 3-2; Tanuvasa,Matt 1-5; Duncan,Jake 3-1; Chapman,Ray 3-1;
Porrazzo,Nick 3-1; Woodard,Tana 2-2; Gibson,Sean 2-1; Tuiasosopo,Eldon 2-1;
Ence,Justin 2-0; Morgan,Cache 2-0; Greene,Cameron 1-1; Morton,Antonio 1-1;
Ehinger 1-1; Raethke,Levi 0-2; Sklarsky,Conor 1-0; Loveless,Brady 1-0;
Porrazzo,Matt 1-0; Townsend,Willie 1-0; Johnson,Brock 0-1;
Curtis,J 0-1; Metz,Robert 0-1; Peacock,Cameron 0-1.

Stadium: Hansen Stadium        Attendance: 2055
Kickoff time: 1:05 PM   End of Game: 4:13 PM   Total elapsed time: 3:08
Officials: Referee: Bob Rose; Umpire: Dave Stireman; Linesman: Brian Michelson;
Line judge: Terry Keister; Back judge: Scott Zellmer; Field judge: Eric Cheatley;
Side judge: Gary Reed; Scorer: Jeff Cluff;
Temperature: 78       Wind: NNW@2mph Weather: Sunny

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