ARCATA — No 4 ranked Central Washington had all it could handle in Humboldt State, coming from behind to claim a 34-27 win over the Lumberjacks in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game played Saturday.

A blocked punt by Central's Adam Bighill finally turned the tide early in the fourth quarter, helping the Wildcats recover from a 20-13 halftime deficit and take a 27-20 lead with 11 minutes, 56 seconds remaining. After breaking through for the block, Bighill gathered up the ball on the Jacks' 2-yard line, and took it into the endzone.

Central Washington kept its season perfect at 7-0, improving to 2-0 in the GNAC. Humboldt State fell to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in league games.

"We expect to win, and we prepared to win," Humboldt State head coach Rob Smith said. "We're past the point where we show up just to feel good when we play against a quality team. We have to correct those mistakes that are costing us games we feel we should have won."

After gaining the lead, the Wildcats rode home on the legs of running back Randall Eldridge, who finished with 111 yards on 30 carries. Eldridge carried the ball nine consecutive plays on CWU's next drive after taking the lead, finishing it with a 3-yard run for touchdown that put the Wildcats up, 34-20.

HSU's second quarterback of the game, Chris Bolt, directed a 4-play, 40-yard drive, completing a 14-yard scoring pass to wideout Matt Smith to cut Central's lead to 34-27 with 3:36 remaining. The Wildcats kept the ball on the ground after recovering an onsides kick, however, running out the clock to claim the win.

"Bolt gave us a nice spark, and Matt Devlin had a couple of big catches for us," Smith said. "It really came down to our defense spending too much time on the field. Time of possession was a big factor."

Central Washington had the ball 35:25 compared to HSU's 24:35, and posted 21 first downs to the Jacks' 13. The Jacks were nearly even with the Wildcats in total offense, however, gaining 291 yards to Central's 304.

Bolt completed 9-of-17 passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, while starter Mike Proulx was 7-of-10 for 117 yards and a pair of TDs. Bolt was also the Jacks' leading rusher with 38 yards on eight carries.

Central Washington quarter back Ryan Robertson was 12-of-21 for 114 yards with one interception. Wide receiver Johnny Spevak had five catches with 45 yards and Eldrige had four for 38 yards receiving.

Humboldt State had indicated its upset intentions on its very first play from scrimmage, scoring on a 52-yard pass completion from Mike Proulx to Corey Stollmeyer. Central Washington countered with an 8-play, 69-yard drive that was stopped short of the endzone by the HSU defense, forcing a 21-yard Garrett Roisma field goal that cut the Jacks' lead to 7-3.

Roisma finished the first quarter with another field goal, this time connecting from 42 yards out. But Humboldt State opened the second quarter with an answer of its own, driving 65 yards in eight plays to take a 13-6 lead on Proulx's 10-yard pass to tight end Matt Devlin before a failed PAT kick.

The Wildcats drew even at 13-13 when Eldrige broke across from three yards out after Central had gained great field position on a fumbled punt. HSU immediately answered with a 5-play, 66-yard drive that concluded with Bolt's 38-yard touchdown pass to Devlin, moving HSU back in front, 20-13 at the half.

Central tied the game again on its first drive of the third quarter, moving the ball 59 yards on 12 plays. Key to the drive was a 19-yard completion from backup quarterback Cole Morgan to Spevak, and Eldrige finished the march with a 1-yard touchdown carry.

Humboldt State is at home again Saturday, hosting Southern Oregon in Redwood Bowl for homecoming.

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Central Washington..  6  7  7 14  - 34       Record: (7-0,2-0)
Humboldt State......  7 13  0  7  - 27       Record: (3-3,0-3)



Scoring Summary:
1st 11:05 HSU - Stollmeyer, C. 52 yd pass from Proulx, M. (Schierholt, K. kick), 1-52 0:12, CWU 0 - HSU 7
    06:52 CWU - Rolsma 21 yd field goal, 8-69 4:07, CWU 3 - HSU 7
    01:25 CWU - Rolsma 42 yd field goal, 4-2 0:54, CWU 6 - HSU 7
2nd 12:10 HSU - Devlin, M. 10 yd pass from Proulx, M. (Schierholt, K. kick blockd), 8-77 4:08, CWU 6 - HSU 13
    07:44 CWU - Eldridge 3 yd run (Rolsma kick), 3-14 1:03, CWU 13 - HSU 13
    05:09 HSU - Devlin, M. 38 yd pass from Bolt, C. (Schierholt, K. kick), 5-66 2:26, CWU 13 - HSU 20
3rd 08:16 CWU - Eldridge 1 yd run (Rolsma kick), 12-59 4:34, CWU 20 - HSU 20
4th 11:56 CWU - Bighill 2 yd blocked punt return (Rolsma kick), , CWU 27 - HSU 20
    04:43 CWU - Eldridge 3 yd run (Rolsma kick), 9-34 4:51, CWU 34 - HSU 20
    03:36 HSU - Smith, M. 14 yd pass from Bolt, C. (Schierholt, K. kick), 4-40 1:01, CWU 34 - HSU 27



                                    CWU      HSU
FIRST DOWNS...................       21       13
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   40-124    23-50
PASSING YDS (NET).............      180      241
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  34-18-1  27-16-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   74-304   50-291
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............     3-55      1-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     5-80    7-107
Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-41.0   6-28.7
Fumbles-Lost..................      1-0      2-2
Penalties-Yards...............    11-78     8-70
Possession Time...............    35:25    24:35
Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 15  3 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   1 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-5      2-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0      0-0


RUSHING: Central Washington-Eldridge 30-111; Kelly 4-14; Robertson 1-7;
Morgan 5-minus 8. Humboldt State-Bolt, C. 8-38; Stollmeyer, C. 8-9; Proulx, M.
1-5; Thomas, Bobby 3-3; Ricciardulli,N. 2-1; Henry, E. 1-minus 6.

PASSING: Central Washington-Robertson 12-21-1-114; Morgan 6-13-0-66.
Humboldt State-Bolt, C. 9-17-0-124; Proulx, M. 7-10-0-117.

RECEIVING: Central Washington-Spevak 5-45; Eldridge 4-38; Hekker 3-44;
Westmoreland 2-23; Weems 2-11; Kelly 1-12; Togar 1-7. Humboldt State-Dallas, D.
4-29; Smith, M. 3-64; Devlin, M. 3-56; Henry, E. 3-34; Ricciardulli,N. 2-6;
Stollmeyer, C. 1-52.

INTERCEPTIONS: Central Washington-None. Humboldt State-Price, J. 1-0.

FUMBLES: Central Washington-Morgan 1-0. Humboldt State-Henry, E. 1-1.

Stadium: Rodewood Bowl         Attendance: 3309
Kickoff time: 6:00 pm   End of Game: 8:54 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:54
Officials: Referee: Ken Leffle; Umpire: Craig Lemster; Linesman: Mark Koch;
Line judge: Bruce Bondi; Back judge: John Freitas; Field judge: Randy Mora;
Side judge: Ken Sarna; Scorer: Ed Mathews;
Temperature: 53        Wind: S 9mph    Weather: Clear


    #4 Central Washington vs Humboldt State (Oct 10, 2009 at Arcata, Calif.)

SACKS (UA-A): Central Washington-None. Humboldt State-None.

TACKLES (UA-A): Central Washington-Hall 7-6; Ford 1-5; Bighill 1-5; Wood
1-5; Madon 2-2; Breitzman 1-3; Germany 0-5; Stewart 2-0; Thomas 1-2; Hartwell
0-4; Smith,Co. 1-0; Berry 1-0; Smith,Ch. 1-0; Rolsma 0-1; Williams 0-1; Snell
0-1; Oney 0-1; Koopman 0-1. Humboldt State-Duley, K. 6-5; Ricciardulli, G 4-8;
Peterson, C. 3-7; Price, J. 5-1; Reynolds, B. 3-5; Montgomery, W. 4-2; Holmes,
C. 1-6; Swangler, L. 2-3; Wilson, B. 1-3; Taylor, J. 0-4; Lynch, M. 0-4;
Hiebert, A. 1-1; Skawinski, J. 0-3; Green, C. 0-2; Umeh, E. 0-2; Wyatt, D. 0-1;
Dorset, K. 0-1; Bolt, C. 0-1; Gatson, E. 0-1