Wildcats complete comeback to upend Storm, 27-24

Dixie State squanders 14-point halftime lead in Ellensburg

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ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Holding onto a 17-3 lead at halftime, the Dixie State University football team had its best chance to defeat Central Washington University at Tomlinson Stadium for the first time since the teams began playing in 2008. Those hopes slipped away via a Wildcat comeback and a game-winning field goal with one second remaining in regulation.

Central Washington scored 24 points in the second half to defeat the Red Storm 27-24 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon.

Dixie State (2-4, 2-3 GNAC) outgained the Wildcats in total yardage 479 to 341, but it was the ground game behind Jordan Todd and a career effort from receiver Jesse Zalk that led the Wildcats (4-2, 4-1 GNAC) in the return effort. Sean McDonald completed the charge with a 44-yard field goal that split the uprights with one second remaining, the only lead CWU held in the game.

Dixie State sped out of the gates, using a pair of Widlcat turnovers to take a 10-lead in the first quarter. Robert Metz (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro) popped the ball out of Todd's hands on the first CWU drive and Dillon Bishoff (Monroe, UT/South Sevier) kicked a 22-yard field goal for a 3-0 advantage. After the Storm dislodged the ball from tight end Tyler Stumph, DSU marched for a TD on a nine-play, 99-yard drive. Myles Burton (Berkeley, CA/Rodriguez) dashed for a 53 yard TD, a season long, pushing the lead to 10.

CWU cut the lead to 10-3 with McDonald's first field goal from 34 yards out.

On the subsequent drive, Griff Robles (Spanish Fork, UT/Spanish Fork) connected twice with tight end Joe Don Duncan (Corona, CA/Notre Dame) en route to the end zone. On the third play of the sequence, Robles found Duncan open in the middle of the field. Only a tackle from behind from Cedrique Chaney saved a TD. Three plays later, Robles hit Duncan in the end zone for an 11-yard score.

The Storm had two more chances inside the CWU 25 in the final moments of the second quarter, but both chances were shut down by fourth down stops by the Wildcat defense.

Dixie State opened the second half with its longest drive of the game – 12 plays taking nearly eight minutes off the clock. Bishoff set up for a 25-yard field goal. A high snap led to the Wildcats blocking the attempt and earning the ball at the DSU 41 after the deflection bounded over 40 yards. Todd carried the ball six times on the next possession, including a four-yard TD to cut the DSU to 17-10.

CWU knotted the game for the first time early in the fourth quarter when Jake Nelson rushed for a 13-yard score.

The Storm committed two early false starts to begin the next drive, but calmed their nerves with another big connection from Robles to Duncan for 42 yards. Later, Robles hit Mitch Frei (Santa Clara, UT/Snow Canyon) to retake the lead on a 23 yards TD pass.

Both teams punted on successive possessions, but CWU benefitted from better field position starting their next equalizing drive at the DSU 45. Todd rushed for over half the plays – containing a string of five consecutive handoffs. Nelson hit Zalk on third-and-goal for a TD highlighting the 12-play drive.

The Red Storm went three-and-out in response, setting up CWU for the game-winning drive. Nelson once again hit Zalk with the key play, a 26-yard pass completion to push the Wildcats into Storm territory. McDonald nailed his longest kick of the year to thrill the Homecoming crowd.

Nelson threw for 193 yards on the day, with 105 yards tallied to Zalk on 14 catches. Todd ended with 120 yards on 35 carries.

For Dixie State, Robles was 23-of-43 for 362 yards and two TDs. Burton eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second straight game – 106 yards on 14 attempts.

Duncan caught a TD for a sixth consecutive game, his 10^th of the year, en route to becoming the DSU single-season leader (besting his own mark in 2011) in that stat category with five games still remaining. He led DSU with seven catches for 150 yards. Frei taliied a career-best 159 receiving yards on six catches.

Defensively, Jake Duncan (Corona, CA/Notre Dame) led all game tacklers with 16 stop, 10 of the solo. He became the Dixie State all-time Division-II leader in tackles, passing former Rebel standout Teddy Owens (213 tackles in two seasons). Metz added eight tackles and a forced fumble. #K.J. Boyer# had two sacks and three overall tackles for loss.

The Red Storm returns home next Saturday to begin the second round of games in the GNAC round-robin format. DSU hosts Western Oregon on Oct. 19, kickoff at 6 p.m. The Wolves took the first meeting four weeks ago, 51-32, at McArthur Field in Monmouth, Ore.

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