MONMOUTH, Ore. — Josh Riddell passed for a league-record 488 yards, connecting on 25 of 43 passes, including four for touchdowns to propel Western Oregon to a 34-10 win over Humboldt State in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game
Saturday.
After suffering their fourth straight loss, the Lumbjerjacks fell to 2-8 overall and remained winless at 0-7 in the GNAC. Western Oregon, still in the hunt for a berth in the Rotary Bowl, improved to 6-4 overall and 5-3 in league.
"Our kids are giving all they've got, but we're so beat up, and quite frankly, just outmanned," HSU head coach
Rob Smith said. "But the fans of this team should be proud of the effort they continue to give. The players have a lot of pride. They're hurting physically and emotionally, but they don't give up."
Senior quarterback
Garrett Hubrich passed for 225 yards for Humboldt State, while junior running back
Corey Stollmeyer rushed for 66 and made five pass receptions for 49 more to pace a fairly productive Lumberjack offense. But with three starters and several other players missing, Humboldt State's injury-riddled defense struggled to keep the Wolves in check, only briefly delaying Riddell's achievements.
"We have guys working their tales off who shouldn't even be playing with the injuries they've endured," Smith said. "Just before the game, we didn't know if (defensive end)
Brad Hunkins could play. But he still came out here and battled with a body that would be condemned if it were a building."
Western Oregon rolled up 589 yards of offense to HSU's 263. Ben Kuenzi paced the rushing attach, carrying the ball 18 times for 72 yards.
On the game's opening drive, HSU moved the chains to the Western Oregon 25-yard line before stalling. Kyle Shierholt was successful on a 41-yard field goal attempt, moving Humboldt State ahead 3-0 with 11 minutes, 2 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Western Oregon's Juan Rodriguez answered with a 44-yard field goal before Riddell capped a 6-play, 35-yard drive with a scoring pass to Demario Ballard that gave the Wolves a 10-3 lead at the end of the first period.
HSU's
Justin Price opened the second quarter by intercepting a Riddell pass at the HSU 2-yard-line, but the Wolves' junior quarterback owned the rest of the quarter. By halftime, he had thrown for two touchdown passes and directed a 54-yard drive that ended in a field goal to give Western Oregon a 27-3 lead at the break.
HSU's first drive of the second half began with Stollmeyer's 19-yard run, but from there the Jacks took to the air. Hubrich ended it with a 27-yard touchdown pass to
Devin Stearns, cutting Western Oregon's lead to 27-10.
Stollmeyer was Humboldt State's workhorse on the Jacks' next drive, carrying the ball four times before hauling in a 31-yard pass from Hubrich that gave HSU first and goal at the 4-yard line. But the Western defense rose to stop HSU on its first three tries, and avoided damage completely when Bryan Huber broke through the line to block Shierholt's 21-yard field goal atempt.
Riddell hooked up with Justin Ore for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, and Humboldt State's attempt to answer that score came to a screeching hault when Miguel Gonzalez intercepted Hubrich's pass attempt in the end zone for a touchback. Heading towards the game's conclusion, Riddell found Ore again for a 52-yard connection before the Wolves ran out the clock.
The Lumberjacks come home for the season-finale, matching up with GNAC opponent Dixie State at 6 p.m.
Saturday in Redwood Bowl.
Western Oregon 34, Humboldt State 10
Saturday at Monmouth, Ore.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Humboldt State...... 3 0 7 0 - 10 Record: (2-8,0-7)
Western Oregon...... 10 17 0 7 - 34 Record: (6-4,5-3)
Scoring Summary:
1st 11:02 HSU - Schierholt,Kyle 41 yd field goal, 10-36 3:58, HSU 3 - WOU 0
07:52 WOU - Rodriguez,Juan 44 yd field goal, 11-43 3:03, HSU 3 - WOU 3
03:15 WOU - Ballard,Demario 8 yd pass from Riddell,Josh (Rodriguez,Juan kick), 6-35 2:58, HSU 3 - WOU 10
2nd 10:06 WOU - Smith,Isaiah 32 yd pass from Riddell,Josh (Rodriguez,Juan kick), 4-70 1:57, HSU 3 - WOU 17
06:15 WOU - Rodriguez,Juan 32 yd field goal, 7-54 1:33, HSU 3 - WOU 20
00:19 WOU - Kauleinamoku,Shaun 19 yd pass from Riddell,Josh (Rodriguez,Juan kick), 6-83 0:39, HSU 3 - WOU 27
3rd 09:58 HSU - Stearns,Devin 27 yd pass from Hubrich,Garrett (Schierholt,Kyle kick), 6-59 3:10, HSU 10 - WOU 27
4th 08:15 WOU - Ore,Justin 25 yd pass from Riddell,Josh (Rodriguez,Juan kick), 8-91 2:48, HSU 10 - WOU 34
HSU WOU
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 25
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 24-38 30-101
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 225 488
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 46-27-2 43-26-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 70-263 73-589
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 4-8 3-19
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 6-102 2-34
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-16 2-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 6-37.8 4-34.2
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards............... 6-61 13-164
Possession Time............... 32:02 26:30
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 15 6 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 2 of 3 1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-2 3-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 1-12
RUSHING: Humboldt State-Stollmeyer,Corey 21-66; Stuart,Brian 2-minus 6;
Hubrich,Garrett 1-minus 17; Smith,Matt 0-minus 5. Western Oregon-Kuenzi,Ben
18-72; Pitts,Brendan 6-12; Fuller,Patrick 2-12; Perkins,Cody 1-7; Riddell,Josh
2-0; TEAM 1-minus 2.
PASSING: Humboldt State-Hubrich,Garrett 27-46-2-225. Western
Oregon-Riddell,Josh 26-43-1-488.
RECEIVING: Humboldt State-Miles,Kevin 9-27; Stollmeyer,Corey 5-49;
Devlin,Matt 5-48; Stearns,Devin 3-54; Streck-Woodard,Mike 2-23; Smith,Matt 2-11;
Simmons,Tim 1-13. Western Oregon-Kauleinamoku,Shaun 9-129; Ballard,Demario
5-129; Smith,Isaiah 4-49; Ore,Justin 3-106; Kuenzi,Ben 3-22; Fullerton,Sean
2-53.
INTERCEPTIONS: Humboldt State-Price,Justin 1-16. Western
Oregon-Huber,Bryan 1-0; Gonzalez,Miguel 1-0.
FUMBLES: Humboldt State-None. Western Oregon-None.
