Clan earns big road win over Central Washington (VIDEO)

Ellensburg, WA – The Simon Fraser University Clan (2-0) were back on the road for the second time this season and came away victorious once again taking down the reigning conference champions the Central Washington Wildcats (1-2) on Saturday, 21-14.

SFU came from behind in the second half to pull off the win, their first in Ellensburg since 1980.

“Defensively I felt we played pretty tough,” Head Coach Dave Johnson said after the game. “Offensively we really ran into a tough defence today. It was apparent it was going to take sixty minutes to get it done.”

With the game tied 14-14 and the Wildcats possessing the ball on third-and-two from the SFU 30-yard line in the fourth quarter, Jake Nelson completed a pass to a wide open Matt Christiansen for 26-yards however, safety Chandler Gayton (Seattle, WA – 2 tackles) forced a fumble and fellow safety Travis Hayes (Vallejo, CA – 9 tackles 0.5 TFL) scooped it up at the Clan’s own three-yard line with 11:22 left in the game.

Backed up in their own end, the Clan offence went to work which was sparked by quarterback Ryan Stanford (Phoenix, AZ – 29/42 211-yards 1 INT) hitting wide receiver Bobby Pospischil (Coquitlam, BC – 9 rec. 82-yards) on a quick pass, who took it 26-yards up-field. While being tackled, a Wildcat defender grabbed a hold of Pospischil’s facemask adding an additional 15-yards, which moved the ball into Wildcat territory.

On third-and-two Stanford eluded a heavy pass rush and was able to find wide receiver Bobby Borcky (Orlando, FL) open in the middle of the field for seven-yards and the first down.

Two weeks ago against Humboldt State, Pospischil threw two touchdown passes showing off the creativity of offensive coordinator Nick Lucey. This week Lucey again called a trick play when back-up quarterback Ryan Blum (Santa Rosa, CA) took a screen pass from Stanford on the left sideline and then threw a perfectly thrown deep ball to a wide open Chris Tolbert (Silver Springs, MD – 24-106 yards 1 TD – 4 rec. 38-yards 1 TD) on a wheel route for the 27-yard touchdown.

Following a successful point-after-attempt, the Clan were up 21-14 which would hold as the final score.

“This (was) an indicator to the commitment and work our senior kids have put in,” Johnson said on what this win, along with the Humboldt State win, means to the program. “They busted their butts for four years to close the gap and be in a position now where they can beat teams like Humboldt State and Central Washington.”

SFU received the opening kickoff and could not have started any better as the offence weaved its way down the field thanks to Stanford spreading the ball around to five different receivers.

On the drive, Stanford was able to connect with wide receiver Kyle Kawamoto (North Vancouver, BC – 5 rec. 48-yards) for two first downs, with the second giving the Clan first and goal from the Wildcats eight yard line. However, following a personal foul penalty against Central Washington moving the ball to the three yard line, SFU could not punch it in and settled for an 18-yard field goal by kicker Chad Heerspink (Lynden, WA – 2/2 FG 1/1 XP 44.4 KO avg) giving the Clan the 3-0 lead.

After forcing a three-and-out and starting on their own twenty-three yard line, Tolbert broke off a nice 12-yard run on second-and-five to bring the ball close to midfield. An illegal procedure penalty against SFU on the very next play however would negate an 18-yard reception by Pospischil and ultimately end the drive.

Following a pass interference penalty against SFU late in the first quarter, Wildcats runningback Jordan Todd ran right up the middle for 65-yards and the touchdown giving Central Washington the 7-3 lead.

Later in the second quarter with Central Washington driving in SFU territory, the Wildcats decided to go for it on fourth-and-one. SFU was up to the challenge as the defensive line got great push at the line of scrimmage allowing linebackers Casey Chin (Port Moody, BC – 12 tackles 0.5 TFL) and Mitchell Barnett (North Vancouver, BC – 11 tackles 1 FF 2 FR) to attack the ball carrier and stop him for no gain.

This seemed to spark the Clan offence as it took the ball and drove downfield with Kawamoto coming through again with two first downs. However, like their first drive of the game, the Clan could not get into the end zone and instead settled for Heerspink’s second field goal of the game from 26-yards out.

The two teams would head into the half with the Wildcats leading 7-6 in the defensive battle as neither teams offence was able to get into a rhythm.

To open the second half the Wildcats marched down field which ended with Nelson throwing a quick slant pass to receiver Greg Logan for the nine-yard score and 14-6 lead.

For the rest of the third quarter, the teams would trade punts until Todd fumbled the ball at his own 46-yard line as Barnett was able to jar the ball lose and recover it.

Given great field position, Stanford and tight end Jamal Kett (Orangeville, ON – 6 rec. 43-yards) were able to hook up for 10-yards on second-and-seven resulting in a first down. A roughing the passer penalty on Central Washington would move the ball to the 10-yard line and on the next play Tolbert would run it in from the left side for the touchdown. Down 14-12 with almost a whole quarter left to play, head coach Dave Johnson decided to go for the two-point conversion to tie the game, which was successful as Pospischil caught the Stanford pass in the end zone.

With the score tied, Central Washington would begin to drive downfield but the fumble at the three-yard line would ultimately set up the game winning drive to give the Clan just their third win ever at Tomlinson Stadium, dating back to the two schools National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics days.

The Clan defence would force a punt with four-minutes left and the offence would wind the clock down to zero picking up two key first downs to ice it.

Playing the two toughest teams historically in the conference to start the season was just what Johnson wanted to help set the course of the year up.

“To be honest, the schedule was exactly how I wanted it (to be),” he said. “For us to be able to prepare for Humboldt over the course of training camp and then get that game out of the way, then to have a bye week to prepare for Central. We needed all of those practice days for these two games for sure.

“Obviously, we couldn’t have gotten off to a better start and we’re excited to play at home next week.”

Simon Fraser will return back to Burnaby Mountain where they will host Western Oregon in their home opener Saturday September 27 at 12:30 p.m.

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
—————–    — — — —   —–
Simon Fraser……..  3  3  0 15  – 21       Record: (2-0,2-0)
Central Washington..  7  0  7  0  – 14       Record: (1-2,1-1)

Scoring Summary:
1st 09:13 SFU – Heerspink,Chad 18 yd field goal, 13-64 5:47, SFU 3 – CWU 0
01:19 CWU – Todd,Jordan 65 yd run (McDonald,Sean kick), 2-74 1:03, SFU 3 – CWU 7
2nd 05:47 SFU – Heerspink,Chad 26 yd field goal, 12-57 4:05, SFU 6 – CWU 7
3rd 08:45 CWU – Logan,Greg 9 yd pass from Nelson,Jake (McDonald,Sean kick), 12-66 6:15, SFU 6 – CWU 14
4th 14:11 SFU – Tolbert,Chris 10 yd run (Pospischil,Bobby pass from Stanford), 5-46 1:16, SFU 14 – CWU 14
06:54 SFU – Tolbert,Chris 27 yd pass from Blum,Ryan (Heerspink,Chad kick), 11-97 4:18, SFU 21 – CWU 14

SFU      CWU
FIRST DOWNS……………….       23       16
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)…………    32-94   43-218
PASSING YDS (NET)………….      238      131
Passes Att-Comp-Int………..  43-30-1  17-10-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS…..   75-332   60-349
Fumble Returns-Yards……….      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards…………      0-0     2-20
Kickoff Returns-Yards………     2-44     5-60
Interception Returns-Yards….      0-0      1-6
Punts (Number-Avg)…………   6-40.7   5-39.6
Fumbles-Lost………………      0-0      3-3
Penalties-Yards……………     8-52     5-44
Possession Time……………    32:12    27:48
Third-Down Conversions……..  7 of 16  6 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions…….   0 of 1   0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances…….      3-3      1-1
Sacks By: Number-Yards……..      2-5     3-15

RUSHING: Simon Fraser-Tolbert,Chris 24-106; Spagnuolo,Stephen 2-5; Tudor,Cole 1-0; TEAM 1-minus 7; Stanford,Ryan 4-minus 10. Central Washington-Todd,Jordan 22-127; Nelson,Jake 11-46; Stinson,Ishmael 8-42; Davis,Bryce 1-4; TEAM 1-minus 1.

PASSING: Simon Fraser-Stanford,Ryan 29-42-1-211; Blum,Ryan 1-1-0-27. Central Washington-Nelson,Jake 10-17-0-131.

RECEIVING: Simon Fraser-Pospischil,Bobby 9-82; Kett,Jamal 6-43; Kawamoto,Kyle 5-48; Tolbert,Chris 4-38; Borcky,Robert 2-10; Corrado,Tore 2-6; Devries,Robbie 1-8; Spagnuolo,Stephen 1-3. Central Washington-Logan,Greg 4-63; Schechter,Adam 2-14; Christiansen,Matt 1-27; Zalk,Jesse 1-11; Clinch,Colter 1-10; Todd,Jordan 1-6.

INTERCEPTIONS: Simon Fraser-None. Central Washington-Elledge,Sean 1-6.

FUMBLES: Simon Fraser-None. Central Washington-Christiansen,Matt 1-1; Todd,Jordan 1-1; Stinson,Ishmael 1-1.

SACKS (UA-A): Simon Fraser-Murphy,Eric 1-0; North,Keenan 1-0. Central Washington-Nielsen,Ridge 1-0; Sanchez,Tovar 1-0; Johnson,Donnie 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Simon Fraser-Chin,Casey 6-6; Barnett,Mitch 5-6; Hayes,Travis 4-5; Lawrence,Kristian 4-3; Murphy,Eric 4-2; Jones,Derek 2-2; Roper,Dylan 0-4; Gayton,Chandler 2-0; Frain,EJ 2-0; Herdman,Jordan 1-1; North,Keenan 1-1; Jackai,Joshua 1-1; Horton,Quinn 0-2; Williams,Justin 0-2; Iezzi,Alex 1-0; Kett,Jamal 1-0; Milanovic-Litre,Ante 1-0; Herdman,Justin 1-0; Torkelson,Andrew 0-1. Central Washington-Torsy,JB 5-8; Langlow,Stan 6-5; Nielsen,Ridge 5-3; Wall,Riley 2-5; Gordon,Deionte 4-1; Bruno,Gabe 3-2; Davis,Isaiah 3-2; Sanchez,Tovar 2-3; Chaney,Cedrique 1-2;  Johnson,Donnie 1-2; Brooks,JoJo 2-0; Graves,Cole 0-2; Schnizler,Austin 1-0; Rego,Gabe 1-0; Hall,Charles 1-0; Williams-Miller,B. 0-1; Haldane,Mitch 0-1; Rouser,Nick 0-1.

Photo credit:  Ron Hole

Source:  Mackenzie Dagleish