ARCATA — Brian Blumberg's 18-yard field goal with 1 minute, 12 seconds remaining did much more than earn Humboldt State a 25-24 win over No. 12 ranked Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference football matchup.
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The junior transfer's boot through the uprights ended 13 years of frustration for the Lumberjacks, who hadn't defeated the Wildcats since 1997. And it also put an abrupt stop to CWU's streak of utter dominance against GNAC opponents.
Prior to Saturday, Central Washington had rolled to 34 consecutive wins over GNAC or former GNAC opponents, and had defeated Humboldt State 16 straight games. Last year's DII national runners-up also lost their grip on first place in the GNAC, falling to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in league while the Lumberjacks improved to 4-1 and 3-0 in conference games.
"We've worked hard and we've recruited hard to close the gap between ourselves and Central Washington," HSU's third-year head coach
Rob Smith said. "I have great respect for their program, and just because their streak is over don't believe for a minute that they're done. But tonight we earned a big win against a very good football team."
Living up to its billing as the biggest game of the season to date, the contest was close throughout, with CWU's 24-16 lead to start the fourth quarter the largest gap. The touchdown that opened that margin came on one of two big special teams miscues that the Lumberjacks had to overcome.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Humboldt State was first to get on the scoreboard, marching the ball 77 yards in 11 plays. Quarterback Mike Proulx hit Dirk Dallas over the middle for a 7-yard touchdown, but HSU's two-point extra point attempt failed to give the Jacks a 6-0 lead.
Central quickly countered, needing just over a minute to finish off a 3-play, 57-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Robertson to Kollin Hancock. Key to the drive was Robertson's 53-yard pass completion to Chris Smith that split two defenders down the center of the field.
The Wildcats added a 23-yard field goal by Sean Davis for a 10-6 advantage before HSU ended the first half with a 63-yard drive that culminated in Lyndon Rowells' 4-yard touchdown scamper.
Humboldt State surrendered the lead in the third quarter on a blown assignment after forcing the Wildcats into a fourth down-and-long situation. On the next play, punter Kyle Petersen faked the boot, instead passing the ball to Adam Bighill, who raced 60 yards for touchdown and a 17-13 Central lead.
Blumberg cut the lead to 17-16 with a 30-yard field goal before another special teams breakdown by HSU gave up points to the Wildcats. Backed up in their own territory, the Jacks attempted to punt, but Bighill blocked the kick and scooped it up, taking it the final four yards into the endzone.
"Those special teams mistakes, and the interception touchdown that was called back represent a 21-point swing," Smith said. The Jacks had also missed a chance when cornerback Elzie Gatson picked off a Robertson pass and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown, only to have it wiped out by an illegal block made on the far side of the field, away from the play.
Trailing 24-16 midway through the fourth quarter, the Jacks went back to work on offense. Mixing the pass and run, Proulx directed a 7-play, 64-yard drive that was aided by a Central Washington personal foul call on third-and-14. Daniel Wyatt pulled HSU within two points at 24-22 when he broke through the line and raced 13 yards for the touchdown with 7:03 remaining.
HSU tried to tie the score, but failed on the two-point conversion again when Rowells' pass to Dallas was caught just out of the endzone.
HSU's defense rose up to stop Central in three plays on the ensuing possession, and a botched punt by CWU gave the Jacks the ball back on their own 39-yard line. A big fourth-and-five conversion on a 32-yard pass from Proulx to Patrick Gondkoff kept the drive alive, and after driving to the Central 1-yard-line, the Jacks settled for Blumberg's 18-yard field goal and the 25-24 lead.
Central got the ball back with 1:09 showing on the clock, but Blumberg's kickoff pinned the Cats at the 1-yard line. HSU's defense stuffed three plays, and the Jacks offense took the ball back to run out the clock.
Statistically, HSU outgained Central Washington, 338 yards to 315, and had 21 first downs to the Wildcats' 16. Proulx finished the night 20-of-34 passing for 193 yards, one touchdown and one interception. For CWU, Robertson was 19-of-30 for 163 net yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
Central Washington's Bryson Kelly had a game-high 74 net yards rushing on 22 carries. Rowells finished with 54 yards on 19 carries, and Proulx had 53 yards on 8 carries for HSU.
Humboldt State goes on the road next week, traveling to face Azusa Pacific in a non-conference game.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score ----------------- -- -- -- -- ----- Central Washingon... 0 10 7 7 - 24 Record: (3-3,3-1) Humboldt State...... 0 13 3 9 - 25 Record: (4-1,3-0) Scoring Summary: 2nd 14:27 HSU - Dallas 7 yd pass from Proulx (Henry pass failed), 11-77 5:29, CWU 0 - HSU 6 13:08 CWU - Hancock 5 yd pass from Robertson (Davis kick), 3-57 1:12, CWU 7 - HSU 6 05:50 CWU - Davis 23 yd field goal, 9-64 4:52, CWU 10 - HSU 6 02:28 HSU - Rowells 4 yd run (Bruder kick), 6-63 3:16, CWU 10 - HSU 13 3rd 11:48 CWU - Bighill 60 yd pass from Petersen (Davis kick), 5-80 1:59, CWU 17 - HSU 13 00:52 HSU - Blumberg 30 yd field goal, 8-54 3:28, CWU 17 - HSU 16 4th 10:53 CWU - Bighill 4 yd blocked punt return (Davis kick), , CWU 24 - HSU 16 07:03 HSU - Wyatt 13 yd run (Rowells pass failed), 7-64 3:43, CWU 24 - HSU 22 01:12 HSU - Blumberg 18 yd field goal, 8-60 3:29, CWU 24 - HSU 25 FIRST DOWNS................... 16 21RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 25-92 35-145PASSING YDS (NET)............. 223 193TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 56-315 69-338RUSHING: Central Washingon-Kelly 22-74; Robertson 2-10; Stinson 1-8. Humboldt State-Rowells 19-54; Proulx 8-53; Wyatt 5-27; Bolt 1-13; TEAM 2-minus 2. PASSING: Central Washingon-Robertson 19-30-2-163; Petersen 1-1-0-60. Humboldt State-Proulx 20-34-1-193. RECEIVING: Central Washingon-Smith,C. 5-74; Guice 5-35; Weems 3-21; Hancock 3-14; Williams 2-13; Bighill 1-60; Berry 1-6. Humboldt State-Gondkoff 4-66; Devlin 4-47; Miles 3-24; Rowells 3-15; Bolt 3-9; Dallas 2-29; Wyatt 1-3. INTERCEPTIONS: Central Washingon-Langlow 1-22. Humboldt State-Gatson 1-44; Green 1-2. FUMBLES: Central Washingon-None. Humboldt State-None. Stadium: Redwood Bowl Attendance: 4612 Kickoff time: 6 p.m. End of Game: 8:52 Total elapsed time: 2:52 Officials: Referee: Mike Zender; Umpire: Bill Tilton; Linesman: John Braun; Line judge: Randy Mora; Back judge: Greg Toler; Field judge: Brent Baumann; Side judge: Brian Burns; Scorer: Ed Matthews; Temperature: 54 Wind: NW 4 mph Weather: overcast Humboldt State ends Central Washington's streak of 28 straight conference game and 34 straight against GNAC opponents. CWU HSU Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 31-20-2 34-20-1 Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0 Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-33 1--5 Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 6-115 4-92 Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-22 2-46 Punts (Number-Avg)............ 4-29.5 4-34.0 Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards............... 7-101 7-163 Possession Time............... 27:34 31:37 Third-Down Conversions........ 1 of 9 3 of 12 Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 2 1 of 2 Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-3 5-5 Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 3-11 1-3
