ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Quarterback Mike Reilly and the Central Washington Wildcats opened their season with a flair, dissecting Humboldt State with precision on the way to 44-0 win in NCAA Division II football action Saturday.

Reilly, a junior, began his quest for an All-American season by completing 19 of 28 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns to help the Wildcats open with the big win. Humboldt State dropped to 0-3 after three tough road games, their worst start since going 0-5 in 1998.

Along with Reilly's efforts, the Wildcats benefited from two defensive touchdowns while limiting the Lumberjacks to 117 total yards. HSU had a chance to prevent the shutout, working the ball to the two-yard-line with only seconds remaining, but Joevany Cueva's fumble bounced out of the endzone to give the ball back to CWU.

The demolition began with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Reilly to Johnny Spevak, capping a drive that covered 76 yards in seven plays. The extra point kick was blocked, putting the Wildcats up 6-0 with 8 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

An HSU punt following three unproductive plays began a negative pattern that characterized the Jack's early possessions. This time, Central took the ball 58 yards, working it down to the two and finishing it when Lopez bounced across for the days' second touchdown.

Reilly finished off another relatively easy drive with a 21-yard pass to Durrell Moss, and by the end of the first quarter the score stood at CWU 20, HSU 0, matching last year's final score. Conversely, the Lumberjacks efforts were a struggle, and they finally achieved their first first down of the game with 16 seconds remaining in the first quarter on a swing pass out of the backfield to Marcus Cox.

Starting the second quarter, the Jacks' defense rose up to make two big plays, but was left unrewarded when a pass interference call kept the CWU drive alive. Chris Rohrbach's 20-yard reception from Reilly put seven more points on the board.

On the Wildcats' next possession, Humboldt State finally stopped Central Washington short of the endzone, forcing a 40-yard field goal attempt with 6:03 remaining in the first half.  Garrett Rolsma connected on a side-winding field goal that snuck inside the left upright, capping an 11-play, 60-yard drive.

The Jacks achieved their biggest gainer of the day when Hubrich found a hole in the Wildcats' defense, looking left before throwing right to Cox out of the backfield for a 33-yard completion. But the next play was a disaster, Hubrich fumbling in the backfield where CWU's Mitch Reffett picked up the ball and rambled 50 yards for a touchdown to make it 37-0 at the half.

Bad news continued to mark the day when Hubrich went down with a leg injury early in the third quarter and was unable to return to the game. Brian Hildebrand took over under center, and his first pass attempt was intercepted by Brandon Kennedy, who raced 69 yards for a touchdown that increased the lead to 44-0.

Cox, making his first start at tailback for the Jacks this season, was a bright spot, carrying the ball 15 time for 62 yards rushing.

The Lumberjacks will enjoy a bye in the schedule Saturday before heading out again to play Menlo College on Sept. 22.

NCAA DIVISION II -- Northwest Region
Central Washington 44, Humboldt State 0

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Humboldt State......  0  0  0  0  -  0       Record: (0-3)
Central Washington.. 20 17  7  0  - 44       Record: (1-0)
 
Scoring Summary:
1st 08:57 CWU - Spevak,Johnny 31 yd pass from Reilly,Mike (Rolsma,Garrett kick blockd), 7-76 2:36, HSU 0 - CWU 6
    04:51 CWU - Lopez,Johnny 2 yd run (Rolsma,Garrett kick), 7-58 3:10, HSU 0 - CWU 13
    00:35 CWU - Moss,Durrell 21 yd pass from Reilly,Mike (Rolsma,Garrett kick), 8-63 3:11, HSU 0 - CWU 20
2nd 10:44 CWU - Rohrbach,Chris 20 yd pass from Reilly,Mike (Rolsma,Garrett kick), 7-67 2:47, HSU 0 - CWU 27
    06:03 CWU - Rolsma,Garrett 40 yd field goal, 11-60 2:34, HSU 0 - CWU 30
    05:18 CWU - Reffett,Mitch 50 yd fumble recovery (Rolsma,Garrett kick), , HSU 0 - CWU 37
3rd 09:59 CWU - Kennedy,Brandon 69 yd interception return (Rolsma,Garrett kick), , HSU 0 - CWU 44
 
                                    HSU      CWU
FIRST DOWNS...................       10       24
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    29-10   43-165
PASSING YDS (NET).............      107      270
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  26-14-2  32-23-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   55-117   75-435
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0     1-50
Punt Returns-Yards............      1-0     3-10
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    6-124     1-15
Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0     2-69
Punts (Number-Avg)............  10-39.1   4-29.0
Fumbles-Lost..................      3-2      2-2
Penalties-Yards...............     8-82     5-46
Possession Time...............    26:12    33:48
Third-Down Conversions........  1 of 12  2 of 10
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      0-1      2-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0     4-43
 
RUSHING: Humboldt State-Cox,Marcus 15-62; Cueva,Joevany 5-22; Perkins,Richard 1-4; Hubrich,Garrett 4-minus 35; Hildebrand,Brian 4-minus 43. Central Washington-Lopez,Johnny 12-57; Reilly,Mike 7-38; Moss,Durrell 6-35; Ford,Reggie 9-26; Whitmire,Jack 2-7; Lape,Micah 3-5; TEAM 4-minus 3.
 
PASSING: Humboldt State-Hubrich,Garrett 8-15-1-47; Hildebrand,Brian 6-11-1-60. Central Washington-Reilly,Mike 19-28-0-258; Miller,Kyle 4-4-0-12.
 
RECEIVING: Humboldt State-Cox,Marcus 5-42; Anderson,Corey 4-21; Perkins,Richard 1-28; Miles,Kevin 1-8; Thomas,Bobby 1-5; Henry,Edwin 1-5; Cueva,Joevany 1-minus 2. Central Washington-Spevak,Johnny 5-91; Bronson,Jared 4-66; Rohrbach,Chris 4-47; Moss,Durrell 2-25; Lape,Micah 2-0; Lopez,Johnny 1-18; Snell,Matt 1-7; Smith,Charles 1-6; Murphy,James 1-6; Whitmire,Jack 1-5; Ford,Reggie 1-minus 1.
 
INTERCEPTIONS: Humboldt State-None. Central Washington-Kennedy,Brandon 1-69; Rogers,Jon 1-0.
 
FUMBLES: Humboldt State-Hubrich,Garrett 1-1; Andrews,Derrick 1-0; Cueva,Joevany 1-1. Central Washington-TEAM 1-1; Lape,Micah 1-1.
 
SACKS (UA-A): Humboldt State-None. Central Washington-Bighill,Adam 1-0; Reffett,Mitch 1-0; Pirak,Nate 1-0; Martin,Tim 0-1; Rojas,Josh 0-1.
 
TACKLES (UA-A): Humboldt State-Turner,Nathan 8-4; Andrews,Derrick 6-1; Moore,Mike 3-2; Bonner,Elijah 2-3; Williams,Jeff 0-5; Mills,Lucius 3-1; Maxwell,Desmond 2-2; Perricone,Adrian 2-2; Washington,Mombroso 1-3; Gaither,Keon 1-3; Matevosian,Graeson 1-3; Iriye,Brian 2-1; Brunner,Allen 2-1; Terrell,Johnny 0-2; Thomas,Bobby 1-0; Cueva,Joevany 1-0; Hunkins,Brad 1-0; Hasan,Shadeed 1-0; Miles,Kevin 1-0; DeMarco,David 1-0; Diaz,Adam 1-0; Arenas,Lorenzo 0-1. Central Washington-Bighill,Adam 4-3; Pirak,Nate 4-3; Le,Anthony 2-5; Gran,Justin 4-2; Wood,Buddy 2-3; Scrupps,Chris 1-3; Gardner,Rueben 1-3; Rogers,Jon 2-1; Kennedy,Brandon 2-1; Nielsen,Tyrell 1-2; Stray,Bret 1-2; Lape,Micah 2-0; Reffett,Mitch 2-0; Peone,Cody 1-1; Engelbrecht,Jason 0-1; Rojas,Josh 0-1; Jamerson,J.R. 0-1; Chance,Josh 0-1; Martin,Tim 0-1.
 
Stadium: Tomlinson Stadium     Attendance: 1932
Kickoff time: 1:01 pm   End of Game: 3:43 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:42
Officials: Referee: Roger Stewart; Umpire: Craig Lemster; Linesman: Carl Del Grande; Line judge: Terry Keister; Back judge: Dennis Fields; Field judge: T. Migchelbrink; Side judge: Eric Cheatley;
Temperature: 72 deg F  Wind: 3 mph S   Weather: Partly sunny