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DIXIE STATE vs. CWU STORYLINES
 

Storm vs. Wildcats, take two: Finishing off its three-game homestand, Dixie State (5-4, 3-2 GNAC) will play at Hansen Stadium for the last tie in 2014 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference rematch with Central Washington (5-4, 3-2 GNAC) on Saturday, Nov. 8. The game will kickoff at 6:05 p.m. MT. Live coverage of the game will be broadcast on CEC-TV, SouthernUtahLive.com and ESPN SportsRadio 106.1 FM with John Potter and Devin Dixon calling the action from the booth with sideline reports from Patrick Amico and Taylor Decker. A live stats link is also be available via DixieAthletics.com.

Notes from a Rocky overtime: Ben Longshore (Santa Clarita, CA/Canyon) continues to impress as the Storm's number one quarterback. He threw for season-highs with 427 passing yards and four touchdowns … Nate Stephens (Redding, CA/Shasta) once again was Longshore's favorite target – career-best 13 grabs for 200 yards and a TD… Conor Sklarsky (Norco, CA/Notre Dame) had three TD grabs against South Dakota Mines, the first multi-score game of his career … Robert Metz (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro) extended his team tackles lead with 12 against the Hardrockers, topping double digits in stops for the third straight week… Two other defenders had more that 10 stops – Trevor Oakley (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill High School ) with 13 and Alshondre Smith (Stone Mountain, GA/Wesson HS) with 11. It is the second time this season that a trio of Storm defenders has tallied 10+ tackles.

Storm vs. CWU: The Wildcats won the first eight series meetings, including a 44-38 overtime game in CWU's first trip to St. George in 2008. Dixie State claimed its only win in the series at home on Oct. 6, 2012. The Storm racked up 585 yards of offense and rattled off 19 unanswered points to stun the Wildcats. Since then, Central has won four straight, including a 44-0 drubbing of DSU in last year's home finale. CWU held the Storm to 235 yards while reeling off 41 straight points to cruise to victory, 48-14. 

A look at the Wildcats: Central Washington is 5-4 on the season after defeating Lincoln University of Missouri at home, 17-14. The Wildcats are 3-2 in their five GNAC games losing in their last league game 38-20 at Humboldt State on Oct. 25. Ian Shoemaker is in his inaugural year at head coach of the Wildcats after spending the prior six years as co-offensive coordinator at St. Cloud State. Sophomore quarterback Jake Nelson who has thrown for 2,123 yards and 16 touchdowns in nine games leads the CWU offense. His favorite targets are senior Greg Logan (53 catches-705 yards-2 TDs), sophomore Kent McKinney (35-562-4), and sophomore Jesse Zalk (34-305-5). Junior running back Jordan Todd handles the majority of ground game accounting for 630 yards and 11 touchdowns. Defensively, the Wildcats have picked 16 passes and have a solid front. Tovar Sanchez has 20 tackles for loss including 10.5 sacks. 

GNAC review: Dramatic endings were the prevailing theme last week in the GNAC. Terrell Watson ran for an 80-yard score and Matthew Hackett blocked a Western Oregon game-winning field goal to give Azusa Pacific a 19-18 win at home. Watson rushed for 202 yards and two scores. In Ellensburg, CWU capped off their Senior Day with a last-second win, 17-14, over Lincoln University of Missouri. After missing two kicks earlier in the game, Sean McDonald connected when it counted with a 41-yard field goal at the buzzer. Humboldt State relied on the running of Nick Ricciarduli to beat Simon Fraser, 33-17, in Canada. The senior running back rushed 29 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns.

Brum's coaching ledger: Scott Brumfield is in his fifth year as head coach of the Storm. Brumfield has an 11-41 collegiate coaching record. Prior to being Dixie State's head coach, Brumfield was offensive coordinator at DSU. He was the head coach at his alma mater, Spanish Fork High School before moving to DSU.