Box Score ARCATA — Coaches, players and fans all knew Saturday's game between Central Washington and Humboldt State was going to be a great match-up. First place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference was up for grabs, with the teams tied at the top, and the Lumberjacks were eager to avenge a decisive loss to Central Washington earlier in the year. What no one could have expected was the type of game it would be – low scoring, with an uncharacteristic lack of rushing yardage.

However the game was played, the end result was in HSU's favor, a 14-10 win over the Wildcats in Redwood Bowl. Humboldt State improved to 7-2, and Western Oregon's loss to Azusa Pacific on Saturday left the Jacks alone in first place with a 6-2 GNAC record. Central Washington fell to 5-4 overall and 5-3 in league with two games remaining.

"It was a different kind of win," Humboldt State head coach Rob Smith said. "You have the two best running backs in the league (HSU's Nick Ricciardulli and CWU's Demetrius Sumler) who were both limited by good, solid team defense. It was a good old fashioned slugfest."

Ricciardulli came into the game averaging 158 yards per game while Sumler is second in league behind him with 120 yard per game. The HSU star finished Saturday's game with only 52 yards on 22 carries, while CWU's top runner had 66 yards on 23 carries.

It was Ricciardulli, however, who accounted for the fourth-quarter touchdown that broke a 7-7 tie that had stood since the 6 minutes, 48 seconds mark of the second quarter. His 1-yard dash through a Wildcats' defensive line that held Ricciardulli and the Jacks from scoring in the same situation in the first quarter completed a 4-play, 54-yard drive that was keyed by a 47-yard pass completion from quarterback Casey Mintz to receiver Victor Spencer.

Central Washington battled back, threatening to tie the game again by moving the ball 73 yards on 13 plays following the ensuing kickoff. Humboldt State's defense rallied to the cause, ending the march at the HSU 12-yard line when Ryan Moreno reached in and broke up a pass that forced the Wildcats to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Sean Davis.

Typical of the night's defensive struggle, the teams exchanged punts after going four downs and out on both of their next possessions, and Humboldt State took over the ball at its own 28-yard line with 2:32 left on the clock. With Ricciardulli on the sidelines nursing a sore shoulder, Bryson Hodges took over, providing the Jacks with the first down they needed on runs of nine and six yards, then holding on and running out the clock on the game's final play.

Central Washington's defense and offense combined for the Wildcats' quick touchdown on their first possession of the game, the former giving the latter the ball on the HSU 36-yard line after stopping the Jacks on a botched punt. It took only four plays for quarterback Ryan Robertson to moved his team the rest of the way, connecting with Tavoy Moore on a 14-yard pass completion before Sumler took the ball in from four yards out, staking CWU to a 7-0 lead.

Moore was the toughest player for HSU to hold in check, the senior wide receiver leading his team with nine receptions for 94 yards. He also totaled 73 yards on kick returns and 59 on punt returns, totaling 226 yards on the evening.

Other than finding Moore on those nine occasions, Robertson was frustrated by the HSU defense. The senior completed 20 of 34 passes for 184 yards, but was intercepted once and sacked four times by the Lumberjacks.

That interception produced HSU's only points of the opening half. Backed up on his team's own 13-yard line, Roberson attempted a pass over the middle on third down. Moreno, a freshman linebacker, picked off the aerial and fended off would-be tacklers on his way to a 20-yard touchdown return with 6:39 remaining in the first half. Matt Bruder's extra point kick knotted the score at 7-7

"(Moreno) is a true freshman who we've seen grow tremendously this year," Smith said. "His athletic ability told us he was ready to play. He made two big plays tonight that were crucial to winning this game.

The second half was a game of field position, most of the time benefiting the Wildcats. But as the third quarter wound down, the Wildcats attempted a fake punt, and HSU strong safety Jerry Maluia read the play perfectly, intercepting Riley Wall's pass and returning it to the HSU 37-yard line.

Ricciardulli finally put the Lumberjacks in the lead with his short run with 11:04 remaining to be played. The long pass to Spencer that set up the score was one of the wide receiver's seven catches for a total of 116 yards.

"We got the ball around the 50-yard line, and we had to open it up," Smith said. "We had to turn the field around, and we did that by going back to Victor,"

After receiving the kickoff, Central Washington prepared for an answering score, but was forced to settle for the field goal. Davis missed on his other two field goal attempts, one from 37 yards out in the first quarter, and another from 30 yards early in the second quarter.

Along with Moreno and Maluia, HSU's defensive stars included free safety Tanner Webb, who topped the team with 10 tackles. Linebacker Chris Peterson made eight tackles, including one for a loss, and Colton Russi added nine.

Silas Sarvinski harrassed Robertson throughout the evening, finishing with two of the Lumberjacks' sacks. Cornerback Marcus Graves made also stood out defensively, making six tackles, including two for a loss.

Mintz completed 11 of 20 passes for 211 yards in his third start.

Humboldt State goes on the road for its final two games of the 2012 season, first traveling to Burnaby, British Columbia in Canada to play Simon Fraser University on Saturday. The Jacks complete their quest for a second straight GNAC title on November 10 in Monmouth, Ore., where they'll face the Western Oregon Wolves.