ELLENSBURG -- Central Washington continues to show the defensive benefits of keeping its offense on the field.
Even on a day when the Wildcats struggled to score touchdowns, their long drives significantly limited the workload for a defense more than capable of holding its own. Quarterback Kennedy McGill and Tyler Flanagan wore down Western Oregon's defense, leading Central to a 13-3 win that likely secured a spot in the Division II playoffs.
A 17-play drive lasting almost 10 minutes opened the scoring for the Wildcats, capped off by reigning Lone Star Conference player of the week Cooper Britton's 22-yard field goal. He added another one from 26 yards out in the third quarter when Central's offense stalled out inside the 10 yard line for the third time, including a turnover on downs after first and goal from the 2.
Four third-down conversions kept the Wildcats moving in the first half, including a pair of huge scrambles of longer than 10 yards by McGill. The elusive sophomore ran for 154 yards and fought his way through defenders for the game's only touchdown from eight yards out.
Central receivers caught 11 passes for 94 yards, led by four receptions for 24 yards for Davis graduate Marcus Cook. The Wildcats couldn't quite connect on several deep passes and struggled to find much separation against the Wolves' secondary.
Western Oregon didn't fare much better aside from a 36-yard completion to start a crucial fourth-quarter drive. Central still kept the Wolves from reaching field goal range and they chose to punt on 4th and 18 inside the 40 despite a 10-point deficit with less than nine minutes left.
Aaron Woodard later added an interception for the Wildcats defense, which held its opponent to three points or less for the fifth time in 12 games. They spent barely 22 minutes on the field thanks in part to Tyler Flanagan, who carried the ball 21 times for 73 yards.
Playoff selections will be announced Sunday at 3 p.m. with seven teams selected for each region. The Wildcats (7-2 LSC, 8-3 overall) entered the weekend ranked sixth in the latest NCAA West Region poll.
CWU=3=0=3=7= -- =13
WOU=0=3=0=0= -- =3
CWU -- FG Cooper Britton 22
WOU -- FG Keaton Emmett 32
CWU -- FG Cooper Britton 26
CWU -- Kennedy McGill 8 run (Britton kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- WOU, Kainoa Syre 8-23, Damon Hickok 2-7, Jermaine Land 2-2, Michael Gibson 11-26. CWU, McGill 21-154, Flanagan 21-73, Cam Daniels 4-46, Marcus Cook 1-0.
PASSING -- WOU, Gibson 14-27-1-123. CWU, McGill 11-19-1-94.
RECEIVING -- WOU, Hickok 5-72, Brenden Hodge 2-25, Keyvaun Edy 2-13, London Smalley 2-13, Sayre 1-3, Dominic Hankins 1-3, Land 1-(minus-1. CWU, Cook 4-24, Darrien Gaines 2-21, Darius Morrison 2-21, Flanagan 2-16, Jackson McCann 1-12.