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 Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats | News | Archives WEEKLY RELEASE: Vikings on road to face NCAA I-FCS No.16 EWU
Sept. 15, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - THIS WEEK'S GAME: Western Washington University Vikings (1-1) vs. Eastern Washington University Eagles (0-2) in a non-league contest Saturday, Sept. 20 (6:05 p.m.) at Woodward Field (8,600 cap., Grass) in Cheney, Wash. The Vikings, who opened with two Great Northwest Athletic Conference games, picked up a 30-14 road win over Humboldt State last Saturday after losing their home and season opener 36-27 to Western Oregon the previous week. The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for Western, which dropped its last five games in 2007. Eastern, which had a bye last week, is currently ranked No.16 in the NCAA-I Football Championship Subdivision Poll and is a member of the Big Sky Conference. It is the home opener for the Eagles, who are 0-2. Both road losses have been to NCAA I Bowl Championship Sub Division foes, 49-24 to No.12 Texas Tech on Sept. 6 and 31-24 to Colorado on Sept. 13. LEGENDARY WWU COACH TO BE HONORED AT HALFTIME: Former WWU basketball coach Chuck Randall, the inventor of the collapsible basketball rim, will be honored at halftime of the Western-Eastern football game as recipient of the EWU Athletics Hall of Fame Service and Contribution Award. A 1951 graduate of Eastern, Randall went on to coach 18 years at Western and recently authored a book entitled "My Impossible Dream." Randall will also be recognized the following week when four new members will be inducted into the EWU Athletics Hall of Fame. Randall grew up in Spokane and attended Central Valley High School. After graduating from Eastern, Randall was a very successful high school coach and eventually spent 18 years as head coach at Western from 1963-81where he compiled a 274-183 record. His 1971-72 Viking team posted a best-ever 26-4 mark, reaching the quarterfinal round of the NAIA National Tournament. His many honors included NAIA Area I Coach of the Year (1972), NAIA District 1 Coach of the Year (1966, 1971, 1972) and Evergreen Conference Coach of the Year (1966, 1971, 1972, 1975). In addition, Randall directed the Western baseball team to two national tournament appearances, with the Vikings placing fifth nationally in 1964 and eighth in 1965. He was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1985, and was selected as WWU's Men's Coach of the Century (1900-1999) in 1999. He is also a member of the Washington State Basketball Coaches and WWU Athletics halls of fame. In all, Randall won nearly 500 games in 35 years of coaching basketball. But his contribution to the game didn't stop there. After beating Eastern 61-60 in Bellingham late in the 1974-75 season, Eastern head coach Jerry Krause showed Randall that the rim was bent. Three days later, Randall suffered a severe heart attack that forced him to sit out a season to recover. During that year, he began tinkering with a collapsible rim and he eventually marketed the "Slam Dunk" rim for a short time before selling the business. Others introduced similar products at the same time and also claim recognition as the inventors. Besides his rim invention, Randall founded the first basketball camp west of the Appalachian Mountains. Randall was known as the "Coaches Coach" with one-third of his players at Western going on to coach at schools throughout the Pacific Northwest. In January 2008, a book on his life called "My Impossible Dream" was published, as told to author Barbara Kindness. Randall, 81, still resides in Bellingham with his wife of 60 years, Doris. SERIES HISTORY: 63rd meeting. Eastern leads the series, 37-25-0. The Vikings lost the last meeting, 42-19, at Cheney in 1998. The schools had not met previously since 1978. The series began in 1923 with Western winning 27-13 at Bellingham. The Vikings won four of the first five meetings, then lost 19 of the next 20. Eastern's biggest win was 64-0 in 1974 at Cheney. Western's biggest victories were 50-7 in 1971 and 59-0 in 1951, both at Bellingham. RADIO: KBAI (930 AM-Bellingham) is broadcasting all Western football games live this season with sports director Doug Lange handling the play-by-play duties for the 13th consecutive season. The pre-game show with host and color commentator Mark Scholten begins at 5:35 p.m. The KBAI broadcast can also be heard on the Internet at wwuvikings.com. AUDIO WEBCAST INFORMATION: Viking football is again on the Internet for 2008. To listen to the live broadcast via the web, go to www.wwuvikings.com and follow the links. The web provides streaming audio of the KBAI 930 AM radio broadcast. The audio stream is only available during event broadcast times. 2007 RESULTS: Western finished 2-8 and placed ninth in the North Central Conference at 1-7. Eastern was 9-4 and ranked No.8 in the final national poll, reaching the national quarterfinals with its third post-season appearance in four seasons. The Eagles placed second in the Big Sky Conference at 6-2. NEW LEAGUE (KIND OF), NEW REGION: The Vikings spent the last two years as a football-only member of the North Central Conference, but when that league folded after an eight-decade history, WWU returned to the GNAC, which took a two-year hiatus from football. The top team in the conference not reaching the NCAA Division II playoffs earns a berth in the Rotary Bowl at St. George, Utah. The five GNAC schools will play each other home-and-home this season. The five current GNAC football teams competed in the Northwest Region last season, but have been moved to the Southwest Region this fall. That region, which earlier this season was officially renamed Super Regional Four, also includes the Lone Star Conference and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. WESTERN REPORT: Coming off their first win of the season, the Vikings will look to replicate the strong performance in all three phases of the game that marked the second half of the victory over Humboldt State. The offense has been Western's most consistent element, as might be expected with nine returning starters. Senior quarterback Adam Perry has completed 40-of-65 passes (65.1 percent) for 465 yards with five touchdowns and just one interception. He's also been a threat on the ground, running for 58 yards on 10 carries and being sacked just once. Perry has spread the ball around, with six different Vikings already having at least four receptions. Junior wide receiver Pat McCann has 11 catches for 108 yards and a touchdown, with eight of the receptions coming against Humboldt State. The tight ends have been an important element, with senior Logan Cullen and junior Zack Hekker combining for nine grabs, including three touchdowns. Junior running back Randall Eldridge is the GNAC rushing leader with 158 yards on 47 carries, and has also added eight receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown. The offense is anchored by an experienced line that returned four starters, led by senior center Dan Trask, an honorable mention all-North Central Conference pick last season. They have 55 starts between them. On defense, Western put together an outstanding second half against Humboldt State, holding the Lumberjacks to just 53 yards after halftime. At one point, the Viking defense forced an incompletion or a loss of yards eight times in a 10-play span. Leading the defense is junior linebacker Caleb Jessup. Jessup has a GNAC-best 26 tackles, and had a career-high 15 stops, 2.5 behind the line of scrimmage, against Humboldt State. Sophomore tackle Don Thomas anchors the defensive line with eight tackles, including team highs of 3.5 for loss and two sacks. In the secondary, sophomore safety Zach Schrader has 13 tackles and an interception, and sophomore cornerback Anthony Zackery has a team-high three passes defensed. On special teams, the Vikings have already blocked three kicks, two of them coming against Humboldt State. Freshman Kevin Sampson has two blocks, including one he returned for a touchdown against Western Oregon, and freshman Dave Johnson has the other. Junior Jordan Carey is averaging 18.0 yards on eight kickoff returns. Carey was a former state Class 4A Player of the Year at Olympia High who lettered two years at Oregon. The week's team co-captains are Rick Copsey, C.J. Green and Zach Schrader and Trask. VIKING NOTES: Perry has not thrown an interception in eight of 12 career starts and has been intercepted just six times in 376 attempts. In 2007, Perry threw for 1,587 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions ... Eldridge redshirted last year after being the Golden Gate Conference Offensive Player of the Year at Chabot JC in 2006, rushing for 1,277 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games ... Senior wide receiver Travis McKee had 43 catches and was an honorable mention all-NCC pick a year ago. He has been the Vikings' leading receiver in each of the last two seasons ... Jessup earned all-NCC honorable mention in 2007. SCOUTING EASTERN WASHINGTON: Directing the Eagles' offense is junior quarterback Matt Nichols, who has completed 68-of-112 passes for 638 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for 303 yards in a near upset of Colorado (led 24-17 with 3:52 left before allowing Buffaloes to score twice in 21-second span in final 2:05) and passed for 335 yards against No.12 Texas Tech. Last year, Nichols ranked among the top 10 nationally in three categories, being eighth in passing efficiency (156.5), fifth in passing offense (288.0) and fifth in total offense (318.2). He led the Big Sky Conference in all three categories. Nichols' favorite target in junior wide receiver Tony Davis, who has made 22 catches for 187 yards and one touchdown. Davis had 13 receptions versus Texas Tech. Junior wide receiver Brynsen Brown has 14 catches for 172 yards and one touchdown, and junior tight end Nathan Overbay has 10 catches for 109 yards. Nichols is on The Sports Network Top 16 Watch List for the Payton Award, which goes to the NCAA I-FCS Offensive Player of the Year. Another Eagle, senior defensive end Greg Peach, is among the top 16 for the Buchanan Award, which goes to the Defensive Player of the Year. Peach was a second-team Sports Network Preseason All-American. Junior wide receiver Aaron Boyce (nine catches for 54 yards) also was a second-team choice with third-team recognition going to senior defensive tackle Lance Witherspoon and senior fullback Alexis Alexander. Boyce also was a second-team preseason College Sporting News All-American with Witherspoon on the third team. Boyce and Peach were first-team All-Americans and Big Sky Conference picks last year with Witherspoon receiving All-America honorable mention. Handling the kicking duties is senior Felipe Macias, who is 2-for-3 on field goals with a long of 55 and a perfect 6-for-6 on PAT conversions. The punter is senior Fritz Brayton, who has averaged 42.2 yards on 11 attempts. Senior cornerback Ryan Kelley and freshman strong safety Matt Johnson lead the team with 17 tackles each. Freshman inside linebacker Zach Johnson has 16 stops, three for losses of nine yards, and three pass breakups. EWU was ranked No.7 nationally in the preseason poll. WWU INJURY REPORT: Reserve cornerback Reggie Christor separated his shoulder during the Humboldt State pre-game and his status is indefinite. Backup defensive end Amitoelau Faalevao, who injured his shoulder and back against Western Oregon, is expected to return to action this week. BATTLE IN SEATTLE: The sixth annual Wells Fargo Battle in Seattle for the Cascade Cup between arch-rivals Western and Central Washington takes place Oct. 11 (6 p.m.) at Qwest Field. The attendance at the contest has surpassed 11,000 all five years with the 2003 meeting being played before 16,392, a record for a non-NCAA I collegiate football game in the state of Washington. GNAC PRESEASON POLL: WWU was picked to finish third among five teams in the 2008 Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll. Arch-rival Central Washington was the first-place pick with Western Oregon second. Dixie State was fourth and Humboldt State fifth. HEAD COACHES: Robin Ross (Washington State, 1977) is in his third year (8-15) as head coach at WWU and has three decades of coaching experience. He was the defensive coordinator for two of the finest Viking teams in school history in the mid-1990s. Ross spent most of his career as an assistant at the NCAA Division I-A level. He also coached in the National Football League, being the linebackers coach with Oakland for two seasons, helping the Raiders have the ninth-ranked defense in the NFL in 2000, when they were 12-4 and reached the AFC Championship Game. In 2005, Ross was linebackers coach at Oregon State, where the Beavers led the PAC-10 in run defense, allowing 108.0 yards per game. He spent the previous four seasons as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Oregon. The Ducks won the 2001 PAC-10 championship, finishing second in the ESPN Coaches Poll after defeating Colorado in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl. He was also at Oregon as an assistant during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Ross initially came to Western in 1994 and in his first season the Vikings led the NAIA Division II in scoring defense, allowing just 11.5 points a game and five times holding opponents without a touchdown. Western, which posted its first national playoff victory that season with a 21-2 triumph at No.1-ranked Linfield, ranked third nationally in rushing defense at 76.0 yards a contest and fifth in total defense (260.3) with 42 takeaways. In 1995, Western finished 9-1, going 9-0 for the school's first undefeated regular-season in 57 years and being ranked No.1 nationally in NAIA II for five weeks. The defense allowed 13.7 points a game, ranking seventh nationally in that category. Ross, 53, is a graduate of Washington State, where he was a second-team all-PAC-8 pick as an offensive lineman. He was a 10th round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 1976, and spent one preseason with the Seattle Seahawks. Beau Baldwin (Central Washington, 1996) is in his first season (0-2) as head coach at Eastern Washington. After spending four seasons at Eastern as the offensive coordinator from 2003 to 2006 and helping the Eagles to FCS playoff appearances in 2004 and 2005, Baldwin led Central Washington to a 10-3 record and the 2007 NCAA II playoffs where it reached the quarterfinals. He was the Wildcats' quarterbacks coach from 1994 to 2002 and was a quarterback himself at Central. LAST MEETING: Running backs Mike MacKenzie and Jovan Griffith combined to rush for 264 yards and three touchdowns to lead Eastern Washington to a 42-19 victory over Western in a non-conference game at Woodward Field in Cheney on Oct. 10, 1998. Griffith ran for 149 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, MacKenzie had 115 yards and two scores on 13 carries. MacKenzie, who ran for 106 yards in the first half, scored the opening touchdown of the game on a 10-yard run on the Eagles' second possession of the game, then added a 1-yard run in the final minute before halftime. The game was tied, 7-7, early in the second quarter, after Western quarterback Sam Hanson found wide receiver Joey Smith for a 15-yard touchdown. But the Eagles got an 83-yard punt return by Bashir Levingston, his Big Sky record-tying third punt return touchdown of the season, to regain the lead, then opened up a 21-7 edge at the half on MacKenzie's short touchdown run that capped a nine-play, 84-yard drive. Eastern then put the game completely out of reach by scoring on its first two possessions of the second half, as Griffith scored on an 11-yard run and quarterback Griffin Garske connected with Lamont Brightful for a 17-yard score. Western scored a pair of touchdowns on quarterback sneaks in the fourth quarter, the first by Hanson, the second by backup R.J. Del Mese. In between those scores, Eastern got its final touchdown on a 66-yard pass from Scott Mitchell to Keish Levingston. Hanson completed 20 of 40 passes for 207 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Wide receiver Ben Clampitt had five receptions for 101 yards. Eastern had a 542-353 edge in total offense, amassing 280 yards of rushing. It was the first meeting between the two schools since 1978. LAST WEEK'S GAME: Western Washington University scored the final 16 points to pull away from a tie score and claim a 30-14 victory over Humboldt State University in a GNAC football game Saturday at the Redwood Bowl in Arcata, Calif. The score was tied 14-14 at halftime, but the Vikings took a 17-14 lead on a 23-yard field goal by Josh Lider late in the third quarter. The Western defense then forced Humboldt State to punt, with Caleb Jessup getting a third-down sack on the final play of the period. Western then opened the fourth quarter with a 11-play, 62-yard drive that took more than five minutes off the clock, capped by a 1-yard plunge by fullback Matt Clark. The Viking defense took over from there, forcing two three-and-outs from the Humboldt State offense. The Lumberjacks did not have a first down from the middle of the third quarter until the final minute of the game, and had just 53 yards of offense in the second half, and more than half of those came in the final minute. Western closed the scoring in the final minute as quarterback Adam Perry, who completed 17-of-27 attempts for 188 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, connected with tight end Zack Hekker on a fourth-and-two play that capped an eight-play, 45-yard drive. Each team scored on their opening possession. The Vikings went 75 yards in 13 plays, capped by a 4-yard touchdown run by freshman Domenique Hill. But Humboldt State returned the kickoff across midfield and evened the score seven plays later on an eight-yard pass from Mike Proulx to Kevin Miles. Proulx then connected with Matt Smith for a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter, giving the Lumberjacks a 14-7 lead. But the Vikings tied the score when following a blocked punt by David Johnson deep in Humboldt State territory, wide receiver Pat McCann caught an 11-yard pass from Perry with 51.5 seconds left in the first half. Randall Eldridge rushed for 78 yards on 23 carries for the Vikings, who had a 333-227 edge in total offense, including a 200-53 advantage in the second half. McCann had eight receptions for 88 yards for Western. Jessup led Western's defense with a game-high 15 stops, including 2.5 for losses. Jessup and Johnson were named the respective GNAC defensive and special teams Player of the Week. WWU PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Western Oregon
Offense - Logan Cullen Defense - Zach Schrader Special Teams - Kevin Sampson Scout Team Offense - Tony Gardiner Scout Team Defensive - David Johnson Scout Team Special Teams - Kyle Tunney Humboldt State
Offense - Phil Hayes Defense - Caleb Jessup Special Teams - David Johnson Scout Team Offense - Kirt Terry-Springs Scout Team Defense - Jonathan Ve'e Scout Team Special Teams - Tim Satterwhite TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for Viking football cost $12 for reserved seating, $10 for general admission adults, $6 for students and seniors and $3 for Western students. For ticket information, contact the WWU Athletic Department at 360-650-2583 (BLUE). Season tickets are available for $33. CIVIC STADIUM: Western is in its 47th year of playing home games at Bellingham's Civic Stadium. The Vikings have a 122-90-7 (.573) record at that facility which was built in 1961. Last year, Western finished 1-3 at home, the second time in three years after not having a losing record at Civic Stadium since 1990. NEXT GAME: Western returns home for its first series meeting with Dixie State UT in a GNAC contest Saturday, Sept. 27 (6 p.m.) at Bellingham's Civic Stadium. The 1-2 Rebels, who host Western Oregon this week, took nationally ranked Central Washington to overtime before losing 44-38, beat Western New Mexico 35-3 and lost 44-7 at NCAA I-FCS Weber State. WEBSITE: For the latest results, statistics and updates, including reports on all WWU athletic events, visit the Vikings website at wwuvikings.com.
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