MONMOUTH, Ore. — Miguel Gonzalez intercepted Mike Proulx' pass in the endzone with nine seconds remaining, preserving Western Oregon's 31-28 homecoming win over Humboldt State on Saturday.
With the win, Western Oregon improved its record to 5-4 overall and is now 3-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Humboldt State fell to 4-5 overall while remaining winless at 0-5 heading into next week's GNAC finale against Dixie State.
The game was WOU's second win in the two-game season series, only four points separating the teams in the games combined. The Wolves claimed a 17-16 victory over the Jacks in the league-opener on Sept. 12 in Arcata.
"We needed this, and the players did everything we asked of them," HSU head coach Rob Smith said. "It just came down to missed kicks and missed opportunities."
Riddled with injuries to key personnel, Humboldt State suffered another blow when running back Corey Stollmeyer suffered a game-ending injury in the fourth quarter. Stollmeyer, the GNAC's leader in all-purpose yards, rushed for 59 yards on 16 carries while also catching four passes Saturday.
Proulx finished 30-of-45, passing for 359 yards while throwing three touchdown passes and two interceptions. His counterpart for WOU, Josh Riddell, was 25-40 for 324 yards, also throwing three TD passes and being picked off twice.
"Mike (Proulx) played a great game," Smith said. "It's just really unfortunate the way it ended for him, and for us. But he'll learn from it and improve."
Initiating the shootout, Western Oregon needed only three plays to score following the opening kickoff. All three passes were completions from Riddell to Sean Fullerton, including a 62-yard hookup that set up 5-yard connection for the touchdown.
Humboldt State immediately answered, needing only four plays of its own to finish off a 57-yard drive. Proulx's 35-yard pass to Matt Smith ended the march, and the extra point tied the score at 7-7 with only four minutes elapsed.
Another big play burned HSU and gave Western Oregon the 14-7 lead. Riddell found Ore for a 49-yard touchdown pass, finishing a 6-play, 62-yard drive.
The Lumberjacks outscored the Wolves, 12-10 in the second quarter, Proulx throwing two more touchdown passes for HSU. His first was a 32-yard strike to Matt Devlin and his second was an 8-yard pass caught by Smith, but both times the extra point failed to leave the Jacks trailing 24-19 at the half.
After the frenzied first half, the scoring quieted down in the third quarter. The first score came on Kyle Shierholt's 34-yard-field goal that cut the WOU lead to 24-22 with 10:40 left in the period.
With the quarter winding down, the Jacks forced the Wolves into their second straight turnover when Bubba Reynolds delieverd a hit, forcing Tirrell Thompson to fumble. Jacob Taylor recovered the ball on the WOU 30-yard line, and 7-play drive that included an 11-yard fourth down converstion finished with Stollmeyer's 6-yard touchdown run and HSU's first lead at 28-24.
Along with the fumble recovery and Chris Peterson's interception, the Jacks got big defensive plays from Dawiet Haile, who put the pressure on Riddell while tracking down ball carriers all day. Haile finished the day with seven tackles to tie for the team lead in that category.
HSU appeared to hold the Wolves again, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-two after WOU had moved the ball to the HSU 23-yard line. But a defensive offsides penalty handed Western Oregon one first down, and an illegal contact call on the Jacks provided another that set up DJ Jackson's 5-yard touchdown run for a 31-28 lead.
Schierholt had a chance to tie the game, but his 32-yard field goal attempt sailed right with 7:04 showing on the clock.
Humboldt State finishes the season at home Saturday, hosting Dixie State at 1 p.m. in Redwood Bowl.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Humboldt State...... 7 12 9 0 - 28 Record: (4-5,0-5)
Western Oregon...... 14 10 0 7 - 31 Record: (5-4,3-2)
Scoring Summary:
1st 13:02 WOU - Fullerton,Sean 5 yd pass from Riddell,Josh (Morgan,Kelly kick), 4-69 1:58, HSU 0 - WOU 7
10:59 HSU - Smith, M. 35 yd pass from Proulx, M. (Schierholt, K. kick), 4-57 1:56, HSU 7 - WOU 7
08:47 WOU - Ore,Justin 49 yd pass from Riddell,Josh (Morgan,Kelly kick), 6-62 2:05, HSU 7 - WOU 14
2nd 07:51 WOU - Thompson,Tirrell 30 yd pass from Riddell,Josh (Morgan,Kelly kick), 5-40 3:55, HSU 7 - WOU 21
06:10 HSU - Devlin, M. 32 yd pass from Proulx, M. (Schierholt, K. kick failed), 4-70 1:41, HSU 13 - WOU 21
03:18 HSU - Smith, M. 8 yd pass from Proulx, M. (Proulx, M. pass failed), 4-60 1:28, HSU 19 - WOU 21
00:21 WOU - Morgan,Kelly 27 yd field goal, 10-56 1:13, HSU 19 - WOU 24
3rd 10:40 HSU - Schierholt, K. 34 yd field goal, 10-57 4:13, HSU 22 - WOU 24
00:27 HSU - Stollmeyer, C. 6 yd run (Schierholt, K. kick failed), 7-30 2:15, HSU 28 - WOU 24
4th 09:38 WOU - Jackson,DJ 5 yd run (Morgan,Kelly kick), 12-68 5:42, HSU 28 - WOU 31
HSU WOU
FIRST DOWNS................... 25 17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 28-66 21-89
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 409 324
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 46-31-2 40-25-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 74-475 61-413
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 1-8
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 6-104 3-79
Interception Returns-Yards.... 2-3 2-60
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 3-37.0 4-28.5
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 1-1
Penalties-Yards............... 10-76 8-81
Possession Time............... 32:57 27:03
Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 12 9 of 15
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 3 of 3 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-5 3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-9 2-15
RUSHING: Humboldt State-Stollmeyer, C. 16-59; Proulx, M. 9-8; Thomas,
Bobby 2-3; TEAM 1-minus 4. Western Oregon-Jackson,DJ 15-92; Kaulienamoku,Shaun
1-5; Fullerton,Sean 1-3; Thompson,Tirrell 2-0; TEAM 1-minus 2; Riddell,Josh
1-minus 9.
PASSING: Humboldt State-Proulx, M. 30-45-2-359; Allen, S. 1-1-0-50.
Western Oregon-Riddell,Josh 25-40-2-324.
RECEIVING: Humboldt State-Smith, M. 8-122; Devlin, M. 6-93; Dallas, D.
5-46; Stollmeyer, C. 4-5; Souza, T. 3-70; Allen, S. 2-45; Henry, E. 2-19;
Thomas, Bobby 1-9. Western Oregon-Fullerton,Sean 6-96; Kaulienamoku,Shaun 4-47;
Jackson,DJ 4-26; Ore,Justin 3-68; Gates,Trevor 3-18; Thompson,Tirrell 2-39;
Dowd,Jon 2-25; Cuellar,Justin 1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: Humboldt State-Peterson, C. 1-3; Gatson, E. 1-0. Western
Oregon-Singleton,Caleb 1-60; Gonzalez,Miguel 1-0.
FUMBLES: Humboldt State-None. Western Oregon-Thompson,Tirrell 1-1.
Stadium: McArthur Field Attendance: 2200
Kickoff time: 2 pm End of Game: 5:14 Total elapsed time: 3:14
Officials: Referee: Bob Rose; Umpire: Paul Collard; Linesman: Eric Crone;
Line judge: Larry Staab; Back judge: Mike Baker; Field judge: T. Migchelbrink;
Side judge: Brian Burns; Scorer: Shane Van Matre;
Temperature: 55F Wind: 6 mph sw Weather: Cloudy some rain