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 Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats | News | Archives Weekly Release: Vikings meet No.2 North Dakota in home opener
Sept. 18, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - UPCOMING GAME: Western Washington University Vikings (1-1, 0-1) vs. University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (3-0, 1-0) in a North Central Conference contest Saturday, Sept. 22 (6 p.m.) at Civic Stadium (4,000 cap., FieldTurf) in Bellingham, Wash. It is the home opener for the Vikings, who lost 45-10 last week at No.8 Nebraska-Omaha. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Western, which had opened the season with a 28-21 victory at NCAA I-FCS UC Davis. North Dakota is ranked No.2 in the latest American Football Coaches Association/NCAA II Top 25. The Fighting Sioux, who tied for the NCC title last year with Nebraska-Omaha, were the preseason favorite to win the NCC championship in both the media and coaches polls. North Dakota is coming off a 35-28 victory over Central Washington at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, Neb., where the Fighting Sioux have won 31 of their last 32 games. They opened the season at home with a 59-0 win over Humboldt State, then won 37-10 at Southern Utah. SERIES HISTORY: Third meeting. Western trails 2-0. Last year, the Vikings gave then No.4-ranked North Dakota a scare at Grand Forks, holding a halftime lead before losing 26-20. They also met the Fighting Sioux on the road in 2005, losing 47-7. HOME OPENERS: Western has split its last six home debuts, upsetting No.15 Washburn, 16-13, in last year's opener at Civic Stadium. The Vikings won six straight openers from 1995 to 2000. CIVIC STADIUM: Western is in its 46th year of playing home games at Bellingham's Civic Stadium. The Vikings have a 121-86-7 (.582) record at that facility which was built in 1961. Last year, Western finished 3-3 at home after having a 1-3 record at Civic Stadium in 2005, its first losing record at home since 1990 (2-3). 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 12th consecutive season. Providing the color commentary for the 10th straight year is former Viking quarterback Jason Stiles. The pre-game show with host Mark Scholten begins at 5:35 p.m. The KBAI broadcast can also be heard on the Internet at wwuvikings.com. COACHES SHOW ON KVOS TV 12 WEBSITE: The Western Vikings Report-Football Edition will be available each week at kvos.com. KVOS also will air a pre and post season WWU Football Special. WEBCAST INFORMATION: Viking football is back on the Internet for 2007. 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 of Western athletic events. The audio stream is only available during event broadcast times. 2006 RESULTS: Western finished 5-6 and tied for fifth place in the NCC at 3-5. UND finished 11-2, tied for first place in the NCC at 7-1, and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA II national playoffs before losing 30-20 to eventual champion Grand Valley State MI. 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 $44. VIKING REPORT: Western completes perhaps the toughest three opening games of any NCAA Division II school in the country, playing host to No.2-ranked North Dakota. The Vikings opened the season with a 28-21 win at NCAA I-FCS UC Davis, which was opening a brand-new $31 million stadium and sporting a string of 37 winning seasons. Following a bye week, they lost 45-10 at No.8-ranked Nebraska-Omaha, which was coming off a win over No.2 Northwest Missouri State. Directing the Viking offense is sophomore quarterback Adam Perry, who has completed 58.8 percent of his passes (40-of-68) for 466 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Perry threw for 362 yards, the seventh-highest total in school history, in the win at UC Davis, connecting on 31-of-46 attempts, two for touchdowns. That earned him College Sports Report National Division II Football Performer of the Week and NCC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Sophomore running back Craig Garner, a second-team all-NCC choice, ran for 140 yards on 34 carries (4.1 apc) against UNO, his fifth 100-yard rushing effort in the Vikings' last six games. Garner is averaging 83.0 yards per game on the ground this season (166 total) with one touchdown, and is averaging 19.8 yards on six kickoff returns. Backup running back Tyler Roberts, also a sophomore, is averaging 7.7 rushing yards on seven carries. Perry's top targets are wide receivers Casey Dell, a senior and Travis McKee, a junior, who each have 10 catches. Sophomore Rick Copsey is averaging 25.2 yards on four receptions, one covering 85 yards for a touchdown against UC Davis. Dell is averaging 11.7 yards on three punt returns. Sophomore placekicker Josh Lider has made all four of his field goal attempts, three against UC Davis, hitting from 22, 18, 32 and 37 yards. Senior punter Corbin Anderson is averaging 42.7 yards on nine boots, including a school-record effort of 79 yards against UC Davis as he was named NCC Special Teams Player of the Week. Anchoring the Vikings' defense is senior middle linebacker Shane Simmons, a 2007 preseason D2football.com All-America and a second-team all-NCC pick last year, who has a team-high 21 tackles. Simmons was leading NCAA II in solo tackles per game (9.8) in 2006 until having his season end after five games because of a shoulder injury. NORTH DAKOTA: The Fighting Sioux have had 500 or more yards of total offense in each of their first three games, all victories, outscoring the opposition, 131-38. They totaled 579 yards last week in a 35-28 win over Central Washington. The North Dakota offensive unit is averaging 43.7 points and 547.0 total yards, 287.0 rushing and 260.0 passing. Sophomore running back Ryan Chappell, a first-team D2Football.com preseason All-American, ran for a school-record 306 yards against the Wildcats. He had touchdown runs of 37 and 33 yards on the first two UND possessions and a 59-yard run late in the fourth quarter that set up the winning touchdown. This season, Chappell has run for 491 yards (10.2 apc, 163.7 per game, 73 long) and four touchdowns, and has six catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. He already has scored 19 career rushing touchdowns, two of them against Western Washington. Another UND first-team preseason All-America is senior wide receiver Weston Dressler, who is the school's all-time career leader in receptions (185), yards (2,459) and touchdown catches (28), and is second in all-purpose yardage at 5,561 (record is 5,857). This season, he has 18 catches for 349 yards (19.4 apc) and three touchdowns, and is averaging 9.7 yards per punt return and 23.4 yards per kickoff return. Junior quarterback Danny Freund has completed 67.6 percent of his passes, throwing for 723 yards and eight touchdowns, completing 46 of 68 attempts with two interceptions. He tossed five touchdown passes, one shy of the school record, in a season-opening win over Humboldt State. Sophomore placekicker Brandon Hellevang has scored 29 points, converting 4-of-7 field goals with a long of 56 yards and all 17 of his point after kicks. He also has had an 85-yard kickoff for a touchback. Senior Brent Halfmann, a first-team all-league pick, is averaging 41.4 yards per punt. UND is allowing 290.0 yards per game on defense with seven players having double-digit tackles. Tied with a team-high 13 stops are sophomore linebacker Bobby Stroup, cornerback Donovan Alexander and junior free safety Rory Manke. This is UND's final year in Division II and the NCC prior to making the transition to NCAA I-FCS. THE FIGHTING SIOUX IN THE PLAYOFFS: North Dakota has made the NCAA II playoffs in seven of the last nine seasons, including 2001, when the Fighting Sioux won their first national championship as they rallied from a late four-point deficit to defeat Grand Valley State, 17-14, in Florence, Ala. North Dakota was the national runner-up in 2003, losing 10-3 to Grand Valley State in the title game. In all, the Fighting Sioux have made 13 NCAA II playoff appearances. VIKING NOTES: The four-game winning streak was the Vikings' longest since 2002 when they opened with four wins ... Western quarterback Adam Perry and punter Corbin Anderson were NCC co-offensive and co-special teams Players of the Week, respectively, for their performances in the Vikings' 28-21 win at NCAA Division I-FCS UC Davis on Sept. 1. Perry also was named the College Sports Report Division II Football Performer of the Week ... Last week, Perry suffered his first loss as a starter after being victorious in his first two career starts. He passed for 362 yards, the seventh-highest total in school history, in the Vikings' season-opening 28-21 win at NCAA I-FCS UC Davis. His only 2006 start came in a 35-21 victory in the season finale at Minnesota State, Mankato as he passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns, completing 14 of 25 attempts, and ran 10 times for 49 yards and one touchdown. Prior to that, Perry came off the bench last year to be a central figure in three Western comeback victories. GARNER LOOKS FOR ANOTHER 100: Sophomore running back Craig Garner ran for 140 yards last week at Nebraska-Omaha after being held to 26 yards at UC Davis. That gives him five 100-yard rushing efforts in Western's last six games. A 2006 second-team all-NCC performer, he ended last season with four straight 100-yard rushing games, becoming the first Viking player to accomplish that feat since 1999. Garner ran for 180 yards vs. Central Washington, 133 vs. Western Oregon, 108 vs. Augustana SD and 166 vs. Minnesota State, Mankato. Garner finished sixth among NCC runners with 655 yards (5.1 apc) and six touchdowns on 129 attempts with a long of 59 yards. WWU INJURY REPORT: Reserve sophomore linebacker Dan Winter (hamstring) is doubtful this week after suffering a hamstring injury in the Nebraska-Omaha game ... Junior defensive tackle Junior Aumavae (elbow) and linebacker James Day (knee) are expected to return to action after missing the UNO contest ... Three players, who sustained injuries during preseason practice and are still mending include senior fullback Tieba Bropleh (broken arm), outside linebacker Steve Davis (foot) and redshirt freshman free safety Zach Schrader (shoulder sprain). BATTLE IN SEATTLE: The fifth annual Wells Fargo Battle in Seattle for the Cascade Cup between arch-rivals Western and Central Washington takes place Oct. 20 (6 p.m.) at Qwest Field. The contest has surpassed 11,000 all four years with the 2003 meeting being played before 16,392, a record for a non-NCAA Division I collegiate football game in the state of Washington. NCC PRESEASON POLL: Western is picked to finish ninth among nine teams in both the 2007 preseason North Central Conference coaches and media polls. Defending co-champion North Dakota was the first-place pick in both polls. HEAD COACHES: Robin Ross (Washington State, 1977) is in his second year (6-7) as head coach at Western 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 has 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 University, 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 University of 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 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 (26 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries). In 1995, Western finished 9-1, going 9-0 for the first undefeated regular-season for the school 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. Immediately prior to coming to Western, Ross had been defensive coordinator at Iowa State University from 1987 to 1993. He has also been a defensive coordinator at Fresno State University (1996) and University of Cincinnati (1984 and 1985). Ross, 53, began his coaching career at Long Beach State University in 1977. A graduate of Washington State University, where he also spent one season as a defensive line coach, Ross 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. Ross, who is the 13th head coach in the 96-year history of Western football, is a graduate of El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, Calif. He and wife Jean have been married for 26 years. Dale Lennon (North Dakota, 1985) is in his eighth season (83-22) as North Dakota head coach and is 97-31 overall in 10 years. With a school-record .790 winning percentage, one NCAA Division II title, two NCAA II championship game appearances, four NCC titles and three NCC Coach of the Year awards, he already has cemented his legacy in the annals of Fighting Sioux football. His 83 career wins rank third on the school's all-time list and his winning percentage ranks No.1. A former defensive coordinator at North Dakota from 1990 to 1996, Lennon also was the head coach for two seasons (1997-98) at University of Mary (12-9). In 2001, he guided the Fighting Sioux to a 14-1 record and the program's first national championship with a 17-14 win over Grand Valley State. Lennon was named the AFCA Division II Coach of the Year. In 2003, he directed North Dakota to a 12-2 mark and a berth in the national championship game, and in 2004 the Fighting Sioux went 11-3 and advanced to the national semifinals. VIKINGS ARE FOOTBALL-ONLY MEMBER OF NCC: Western is a football-only member of the North Central Conference, one of the nation's most prestigious NCAA II alignments. The Vikings, along with arch-rival Central Washington, begin playing a full slate of eight NCC games last fall. The two schools had been competing as part of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The NCC, founded in 1921, currently has nine members in all, the others being Augustana SD, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State Mankato, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota, St. Cloud State MN and South Dakota. This is the final year of the NCC, which placed three teams in the 2006 national playoffs, as two schools are leaving NCAA Division II for Division I-FCS after this season. WWU FOOTBALL RETURNS TO GNAC IN 2008: Western will move to a new five-team football alignment as part of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference beginning in 2008. The Vikings, who already compete in the GNAC in five men's and seven women's sports, will return to the loop for football after a two-year absence. They won GNAC gridiron titles in 2001 and 2003. Humboldt State, located in Arcata, Calif., and Dixie State in Saint George, Utah, will join Western and its fellow GNAC members Central Washington and Western Oregon in the GNAC football league. Humboldt State and Dixie State, currently members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association and the PacWest Conference, respectively, will be granted affiliate membership in the GNAC for football and the football conference will operate under the auspices of the GNAC. Neither the CCAA nor the PacWest sponsors football. The new league will involve all five NCAA Division II schools in the West that sponsor football. The schools will play a home-and-home format, providing eight conference games each year. Humboldt State, Central Washington, Western and Western Oregon previously competed in the GNAC in football between 2001 and 2005. The GNAC, however, dropped its sponsorship of football following the 2005 season when Central and Western elected to move their football programs to the NCC and Humboldt State left the GNAC to become a member of the CCAA. Dixie State is currently in its second season as a NCAA Division II member. LAST WEEK'S GAME: Sept. 15 at Omaha, Neb. - Nebraska-Omaha 45, Western 10 Quarterback Zach Miller threw for two touchdowns, ran for two more and accounted for 354 yards of total offense, leading nationally ranked Nebraska-Omaha to a 45-10 victory over Western in the NCC opener for both schools before a crowd of 3,872 at Al F. Caniglia Field. UNO, rated No.8 in the latest AFCA/NCAA Division II Coaches Poll and the defending NCC co-champions, improved to 3-0. Miller completed 16-of-18 passes for 283 yards, including touchdown throws of 39 yards to running back Brian McNeill and 36 yards to tight end Mike Higgins, and ran for a team-high 71 yards on nine carries, with scoring runs of two and nine yards. Western suffered the loss despite an outstanding performance from running back Craig Garner, who rushed 140 yards on 34 carries, his fifth 100-yard rushing effort in the last six games. The Vikings scored their only touchdown late in the first quarter, when quarterback Adam Perry connected with wide receiver Rocki Sandusky for a 41-yard touchdown. That pulled the Vikings within seven points at 14-7. Western attempted to maintain the momentum with an onside kick, and nearly recovered it, but UNO took the ball at the Western 44 and scored just three plays later on Miller's TD pass to McNeill. On the next series, a Viking fumble gave the Mavericks the ball, and the following play, Miller connected with Higgins, putting UNO up 28-7. UNO had a 496-326 advantage in total offense. McNeill rushed for 65 yards on 19 carries and had the Mavericks' other two touchdowns on rushes of five and two yards. Western outside linebacker Caleb Jessup had 12 tackles, and middle linebacker Shane Simmons had 10. Placekicker Josh Lider completed Western's scoring on a 37-yard field goal that capped the opening possession of the third quarter. Perry completed 9-of-22 passes for 104 yards. UNO, which claimed its 200th victory at Caniglia Field since it opened in 1949, is now 61-8 in home games since 1996. LAST YEAR'S MEETING WITH NORTH DAKOTA: Sept. 23, 2006 at Grand Forks, N.D. - North Dakota 26, Western 20 Western held a halftime lead, but nationally ranked North Dakota, behind the 140 yards and two touchdowns rushing of freshman running back Ryan Chappell, rallied to claim a 26-20 victory in a NCC contest before a crowd of 9,007 at the Alerus Center. North Dakota, ranked No.4 in the AFCA/NCAA II Top 25, improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the NCC. Western quarterback James Monrean threw for 242 yards and one touchdown, completing 20-of-32 passes. Monrean was 14-of-21 for 203 yards and one score in the first half as the Vikings held a 20-13 lead at halftime, the first time UND had trailed at halftime in a home game since 2004. But the Fighting Sioux scored on their first three possessions of the second half to take a 26-20 lead. Chappell, who ran for 85 yards on 13 third-quarter carries, ran the last six plays on the first drive of the half, capping it with a one-yard touchdown. A 31-yard field goal by Brandon Hellevang gave UND a 23-20 lead in the final minute of the third quarter, and a 44-yard field goal by Hellevang extended the margin to 26-20. Western crossed midfield on the next two possessions, having a third-and-one at the UND 35 with just over a minute to go. But after an incompletion, UND defensive back Michael Greenwood threw slotback Brett Upchurch for a loss on a screen pass on fourth down, ending the drive. The Vikings had a 316-304 edge in total offense, but the two halves were very different. Western had a 246-141 advantage in the first half, UND had a 163-70 advantage after halftime. Western scored on the opening series of the game, going 76 yards on nine plays. Monrean was 5-of-5 for 55 yards in the drive, with the big play being a 32-yard gain on a screen pass to running back Calvin McCarty that put the ball on the North Dakota 4. Two plays later, McCarty scored on a toss play from three yards. North Dakota tied the score later in the quarter on a 42-yard pass from Chris Belmore to wide receiver Weston Dressler. Belmore finished the game 10-of-17 for 141 yards with a touchdown and an interception. After Western's Robby Smith kicked a 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter, North Dakota took its first lead on a 2-yard run by Chappell with 6:08 left in the half. But Western scored twice in the last 3:10 to take a six-point lead at halftime, Monrean hitting wide receiver Travis McKee for an 11-yard touchdown, then Smith hitting a 32-yard field goal with just a second left in the period. Linebacker Shane Simmons led the Western defense with 12 tackles, all of them unassisted. NEXT GAME: The Vikings travel to University of Minnesota-Duluth for a NCC contest on Sept. 29 (1 p.m. CT) at Malosky Stadium. The Bulldogs, who travel to Central Washington on Saturday, are 1-2 (0-1 NCC). In 2005, Minnesota-Duluth tied for the NCC title and reached the first round of the NCAA II playoffs. The Bulldogs have lost just eight times in their last 41 home games. WWU PLAYER OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS (by WWU coaching staff) vs. Offense, Defense, Special, Scout Off., Scout Def., Scout-Spec.
UC Davis, Perry, Cumming, Anderson, Hughes, A.Davis, Oakes Neb.-Omaha, Garner, Thorstad, Dell, Sampson, Cheek, C.Williams N.Dakota Minn.-Duluth St. Cloud St. South Dakota Central Wash. Western Ore. Augustana Minn. State TEAM CAPTAINS FOR NORTH DAKOTA GAME: Tyler Roberts, Chris Corey, Shea Thorstad and Craig Garner.
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