ARCATA — In two years under head coach Rob Smith, Humboldt State has made up 63 points on Western Oregon. But the Jacks were still left one point short of earning equal status with the Wolves, who claimed a 17-16 win over Humboldt State in both teams' Great Northwest Athletic Conference football opener Saturday.

In 2007, the year prior to Smith's arrival, Humboldt State was on the sore side of a 64-0 drubbing administered by Western Oregon. On Saturday, the Jacks battled on even terms with the talented Wolves throughout, finishing with 368 yards of total offense to WOU's 388.

"Our football program has taken a giant leap forward, and this game shows that," HSU head coach Rob Smith said. "When you look at where we were at compared to Western Oregon a couple of years ago and where we are now, you can see the improvement."

Humboldt State dropped to 1-1 on the young season, falling to 0-1 in the GNAC. Western Oregon evened its record to 1-1 while starting league play with the win.

Humboldt State had a chance to claim the upset on its final drive, moving the ball to the WOU 45-yard line before the Wolves forced fourth down and inches. After a timeout, the Jacks chose to pass down the sidelines instead of running, but quarterback Mike Proulx's pass was just out of reach of wide receiver Matt Smith, who had beaten the defenders.

"It was obvious we'd have a one-on-one situation with Matt Smith over there," Rob Smith said. "It's a shot to take it, and if you make it you're being patted on the back. If you don't you have to answer questions and I accept that."

Proulx finished the evening 17-of-31 for 217 yards passing and one interception despite being knocked out of the game for awhile by a hard hit in the third quarter. Josh Riddell was 14-27 for 213 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolves.

Both squads also found success on the ground. HSU's Bobby Thomas rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries for his second straight 100-yard plus game, and Ben Kuenzi had 24 carries for 117 yards for Western Oregon.

Thomas achieved much of his success in the first half before the Jacks experienced several injuries along the offensive line. The senior from Lancaster scored the game's first touchdown on a 1-yard run with 8:50 left in the third quarter, giving Humboldt State a 10-3 lead after WOU's Kelly Morgan and HSU's Kyle Shierholt exchanged first half field goals to send the game into halftime tied 3-3.

Western Oregon's defense kept the game tight in the first half by forcing two turnovers, both after HSU had penetrated the redzone. Miguel Gonzalez intercepted a Proulx pass intended for Smith at the WOU 5-yard line to stop HSU's first drive, and Andy Jackson recovered a fumble forced by Erik Hochhalter at the WOU 19 when the Jacks again threatened to score on their second possesion.

Kuenzi was Western Oregon's most effect weapon during a third-quarter drive, breaking free for a 23-yard run that gave the Wolves 1st-and-goal at the seven yard line. Three plays later, Riddell found Sean Fullerton in the corner of the endzone for the touchdown that tied the game, 10-10 with 2:27 left in the period.

Humboldt marched the ball 61 yards following the ensuing kickoff, but had to settle for Shierholt's second field goal, a 34-yarder that put the Jacks back on top, 13-10. But it only took Riddell six plays to take his team 72 yards on the first possession of the fourth quarter, capping the drive with a 23-yard TD hookup with Jon Dowd to give the Wolves a 17-13 lead.

Western Oregon's defense stopped HSU's next drive at the WOU 29-yard line, forcing Shierholt's third field goal attempt of the evening. The senior maintained his perfect effort, hitting a 46-yarder to cut the lead to 17-16.

Defensive standouts for Humboldt State included Guy Ricciardulli and Kevin Duley, who tied for team leadership with 10 tackles each. Dawiet Haile had nine stops along the offensive line for HSU.

Humboldt State is back on the road next week, traveling to Atherton for a non-league game against Menlo College on Saturday.

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Western Oregon......  3  0  7  7  - 17       Record: (1-1,1-0)
Humboldt State......  0  3 10  3  - 16       Record: (1-1,0-1)



Scoring Summary:
1st 03:55 WOU - Morgan 22 yd field goal, 9-90 5:34, WOU 3 - HSU 0
2nd 00:19 HSU - Schierholt, K. 36 yd field goal, 9-60 2:37, WOU 3 - HSU 3
3rd 08:50 HSU - Thomas, Bobby 1 yd run (Schierholt, K. kick), 12-78 6:03, WOU 3 - HSU 10
    02:27 WOU - Fullerton 5 yd pass from Riddell (Morgan kick), 11-59 6:14, WOU 10 - HSU 10
    00:46 HSU - Schierholt, K. 34 yd field goal, 6-61 1:35, WOU 10 - HSU 13
4th 13:26 WOU - Dowd 23 yd pass from Riddell (Morgan kick), 6-72 2:20, WOU 17 - HSU 13
    10:17 HSU - Schierholt, K. 46 yd field goal, 8-41 3:01, WOU 17 - HSU 16



                                    WOU      HSU
FIRST DOWNS...................       15       20
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   33-155   36-171
PASSING YDS (NET).............      213      217
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  27-14-0  31-17-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   60-368   67-388
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      1-8      3-7
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     4-79     4-52
Interception Returns-Yards....      1-0      0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-37.6   3-34.7
Fumbles-Lost..................      0-0      1-1
Penalties-Yards...............     7-73     3-20
Possession Time...............    29:23    30:37
Third-Down Conversions........  7 of 13  3 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 0   1 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      3-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-15      0-0


RUSHING: Western Oregon-Kuenzi 24-117; Riddell 1-25; Thompson 6-15; TEAM
2-minus 2. Humboldt State-Thomas, Bobby 23-100; Bolt, C. 4-30; Schierholt, K.
1-21; Stollmeyer, C. 2-14; Proulx, M. 6-6.

PASSING: Western Oregon-Riddell 14-27-0-213. Humboldt State-Proulx, M.
17-31-1-217.

RECEIVING: Western Oregon-Ore 3-105; Kuenzi 3-18; Fullerton 3-17; Dowd
2-32; Wright 2-21; Gates 1-20. Humboldt State-Devlin, M. 6-92; Smith, M. 5-45;
Stollmeyer, C. 3-55; Dallas, D. 2-24; Thomas, Bobby 1-1.

INTERCEPTIONS: Western Oregon-Gonzalez 1-0. Humboldt State-None.

FUMBLES: Western Oregon-None. Humboldt State-Proulx, M. 1-1.

Stadium: Redwood Bowl          Attendance: 4801
Kickoff time: 6 pm      End of Game: 8:52      Total elapsed time: 2:52
Officials: Referee: Erick Watson; Umpire: Craig Large; Linesman: James Rinne;
Line judge: Carl Del Grande; Back judge: James Bruno; Field judge: Brian Burns;
Side judge: Matt Mills; Scorer: Ed Mathews;