NCAA: Clan Defeat Wildcats with a Comeback Victory (video & stats)

Burnaby, B.C. – Scoring 29 of their 35 points in the fourth quarter, the Simon Fraser University Clan football team defeated the Central Washington University Wildcats by a score of 35-24 in a wild finish on Saturday afternoon at Fox Field in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action. SFU improves to 3-7 (2-6 GNAC) on the season while CWU falls to 3-6 with a 3-4 mark in conference play.

The game proved to be defensive battle early on as the two teams combined for just three points in the entire first half. Wildcats kicker Sean Davis put his team on the board first, just under two minutes into the second quarter, kicking a 37-yard field goal. Central Washington went into halftime with a 3-0 lead.

CWU struck early in the third quarter as Levi Taylor took a short run of just four yards into the end zone to give the visitors a 10-0 lead. SFU responded with just 27 seconds remaining on the clock in the third quarter as quarterback Trey Wheeler (Seattle, WA) connected with receiver Tore Corrado (Vancouver, BC) with a 15 yard pass into the end zone. However, Clan kicker Ian Sternau’s (Pasadena, CA) convert attempt was blocked leaving the score at 10-6 in favour of CWU.

The Wildcats restored their double-digit lead as Taylor ended a six play, 56 yard drive with a 12 yard run into the end zone with 12:51 to go in the fourth quarter. Just three and a half minutes later, SFU answered back as running back Bo Palmer capped off a 64 yard drive with a patented run into the end zone making it 17-12 for CWU. After failing to convert on their first touchdown, SFU opted to go for a two-point conversion and successfully converted as Andrew Torkelson caught a pass in the end zone to bring the Clan within three points of the Wildcats.

After Wheeler aired out a pass complete to Corrado for 37 years and a first down for SFU, Wheeler aired out another one, this time to receiver Bobby Pospischil in the end zone. With the Sternau convert, SFU led by a score of 21-17 with just over five minutes to go.

On the first drive of CWU’s next drive, SFU’s Adam Berger picked off a pass from Wildcats quarterback Jose Mohler and returned it for 43 yards for the touchdown, giving SFU a 28-17 lead. Greg Bowcott replaced Wheeler for one play for a quarterback draw into the end zone for another touchdown, extending SFU’s lead.

Central Washington responded with a touchdown of their own with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter to make it 35-24 but it was not enough.

Wheeler went 20-for-28 with 266 passing yards and two touchdowns. Mohler was 15-for-39 or 198 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. Corrado and Pospischil each had one touchdown and combined for 168 yards. Sternau kicked all the converts for SFU, missing on one. Davis kicked all of the converts for CWU.

SFU sports info

BURNABY, B.C. (Nov. 5) — Redshirt freshman running back Levi Taylor (Spokane/Lewis and Clark HS) ran for two touchdowns, but the Central Washington University football team surrendered 29 fourth-quarter points and a 17-6 lead in falling to host Simon Fraser University, 35-24, on Saturday afternoon at Terry Fox Field.

The loss dropped the Wildcats’ record to 3-6 overall and 3-4 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, assuring the program of its first below-.500 season since 2001. Simon Fraser earned its second-ever GNAC win (in two seasons in the conference), finishing the 2011 campaign at 3-7 overall and 2-6 in the conference.

Taylor ran for 114 yards on 19 carries, marking his third 100-yard game of the season including his second against Simon Fraser. He had scoring runs of four and 12 yards in the opening three minutes of the third and fourth quarters, respectively, and the Wildcats held a 17-6 lead with 12:51 remaining in the game.

Neither team mustered much in the form of points in the first half, as Central Washington junior Sean Davis (Federal Way/Todd Beamer HS) accounted for all of the first-half scoring with a 37-yard field goal with 13:27 remaining in the second quarter.

The Wildcats extended their lead to 10-0 with Taylor’s first scoring run early in the third quarter, and led by double digits until Simon Fraser scored on a 15-yard pass play with 27 seconds left in the third quarter. The extra point missed, keeping the score at 10-6 until Taylor’s second TD run on the ensuing drive early in the fourth period. After that final score, however, things went into a tailspin for CWU as the Clan scored four consecutive touchdowns to post a 35-17 lead with 1:58 remaining in the game. The third of those four touchdowns was a 43-yard interception return by Adam Berger, and the final SFU score came after the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs at their own one-yard line.

Junior Jose Mohler (Cardiff, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS), who had thrown for 358 yards in last Saturday’s loss at West Texas A&M, struggled in his third start as a Wildcat. He completed just 15 of 39 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown, with the lone score coming on a 37-yard pass play to senior Justin Helwege (Sammamish/Eastlake HS) in the closing two minutes of the game to close the final scoring margin to 11 points.

Helwege and junior Anthony Spain (Grants Pass, Ore./North Valley HS) had four receptions apiece, with Helwege totaling 78 yards on the day.

Simon Fraser was led by freshman quarterback Trey Wheeler, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 266 yards and two touchdowns. Tore Corrado and Bobby Pospichil had six receptions each, with Corrado breaking the century mark in receiving yards with 105. Each of those two players had a touchdown catch on the afternoon.

The Wildcat defense had four quarterback sacks, and was led by a career-high eight tackles from senior nose tackle Mike Reno (Ellensburg/Kittitas HS).

Central Washington closes out the 2011 season at home next Saturday (Nov. 12), taking on Dixie State College of Utah at noon Pacific Standard Time at Tomlinson Stadium.

Central Washington sports info

FIRST DOWNS	20	19
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)	36 – 161	35 – 74
PASSING YARDS (NET)	198	266
Passes Att-Comp-Int	39 – 15 – 1	30 – 20 – 0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS	75 – 359	65 – 340
Fumble Returns-Yards	0 – 0	0 – 0
Punt Returns-Yards	3 – 18	2 – 8
Kickoff Returns-Yars	5-94	2-24
Interception Returns-Yards	0 – 0	1 – 43
Punts (Number-Avg)	4-35.2	5-34.6
Fumbles-Lost	3 – 1	2 – 2
Penalties-Yards	3 – 30	5 – 47
Posession Time	28:50	31:10
Third-Down Conversions	5 of 16	6 of 13
Fourth-Down Conversions	2 of 5	1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances	3-4	4-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards	3 – 17	3 – 23

Simon Fraser (3-7) vs. Central Washington (3-6)

[LIST]
[*]Summary
[*]Team
[*]Individual
[*]Drives
[*]Defense
[*]Box Score
[*]Play-By-Play
[*]Participation
[/LIST]
SCORING SUMMARY

Simon Fraser	0	0	6	29	35
Central Washington	0	3	7	14	24

Date:	11/5/2011
Site:	Burnaby, BC
Stadium:	Terry Fox Field
Attendance:	578
Kickoff Time:	2:00 pm
End of Game:	4:49 pm
Duration:	2:49
Temperature:	46 F
Wind:	6 SE
Weather:	Clear

2nd	13:27	CWU – Davis,S. 37 yd field goal 15 plays, 58 yards, TOP 6:15	3	0
3rd	12:57	CWU – Taylor 4 yd run (Davis,S. kick), 5 plays, 27 yards, TOP 1:41	10	0
3rd	00:27	SFU – Corrado 15 yd pass from Wheeler (Sternau kick failed) 8 plays, 55 yards, TOP 3:18	10	6
4th	12:51	CWU – Taylor 12 yd run (Davis,S. kick), 6 plays, 56 yards, TOP 2:28	17	6
4th	09:21	SFU – Palmer 15 yd run (Torkelson pass), 9 plays, 64 yards, TOP 3:23	17	14
4th	05:20	SFU – Pospischil 9 yd pass from Wheeler (Sternau kick) 7 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:33	17	21
4th	05:01	SFU – Berger 43 yd interception (Sternau kick)	17	28
4th	01:58	SFU – Bowcott 1 yd run (Sternau kick), 1 plays, 1 yards, TOP 0:04	17	35
4th	01:37	CWU – Helwege 37 yd pass from Mohler (Davis,S. kick) 2 plays, 47 yards, TOP 0:11	24	35

Officials: Referee: Mike Zender; Umpire: Dan Meyer; Linesman: Wane Dallosto;
Line judge: Terry Keister; Back judge: Mike Williams; Field judge: Brent Baumann
Side judge: Mike Patton; Scorer: