Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics

Top scoreboard

CAL POLY HUMBOLDT ATHLETICS
VISIT THE UNIVERSITY SITE
Ricciardulli Run WOU

Football

Football Hosts Hardrockers in Saturday Showdown

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE RADIO | GAME NOTES (PDF)
LUMBERJACK SOCIAL MEDIA
TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM



ARCATA, Calif. -- The Humboldt State football team celebrates Homecoming Weekend this Saturday with a home game against South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. The Lumberjacks (4-0) are the only remaining undefeated Great Northwest Athletic Conference football program and look for their first conference victory versus the Hardrockers (1-3). Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

JACKS LEAD GNAC IN DEFENSE

The Lumberjack defense leads the GNAC in several defensive categories including total defense, rushing defense, scoring defense and turnover margin. HSU is tied for second in the conference with eight takeaways and is +6 in turnover differential.   The Green and Gold sit atop the GNAC in scoring defense and have allowed an average of 10.6 points per game this season. In contrast, Azusa Pacific, the No. 2-ranked team, has allowed an average of 25 points per game.

MARKARIAN EARNS GNAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

Senior defensive lineman Alex Markarian was tabbed the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week Monday after he recorded 3.5 sacks in Saturday's win. Markarian led the way for the Lumberjack defense which collected 10 sacks en route to the team's fourth straight victory. The Jacks provided constant pressure on All-Conference quarterback Ryan Bergman and eventually knocked him out of the game. Markarian leads the Jacks with five total sacks.

Monday's honor is the second consecutive Defensive Player of the Week award for the Jacks and the third GNAC Player of the Week award this season. Travis Hansen earned the honor following week three and Ja'Quan Gardner was honored after week two.

DEFENSE RANKS AMONGST NATION'S BEST

HSU's defense also ranks amongst the top units in NCAA Division II football. The Jacks are second in third down conversion defense, fifth in red zone defense, seventh in total defense, eighth in rushing defense and ninth in scoring defense. The Green and Gold have allowed opponents to convert 19.3 percent of third down opportunities, a total that ranks five percentage points behind the national leader Shepherd University (14.3 percent).

LET'S GET IT STARTED

The Lumberjack offense has wasted no time and has struck first in every game in 2014. In the first half of games this season, HSU has outscored opponents 79-16. The Jacks built a 10-point lead in Saturday's win over Western Oregon before allowing the Wolves to put points on the board just before halftime.



SUCCESSFUL GROUND ATTACK OPENS AIR FOR JACKS

Despite the growing confidence of freshman signal caller Robert Webber, the running game continues to set the table for the Lumberjack offense. Backs Ja'Quan Gardner and Nick Ricciardulli rank second and third in the conference, respectively, in rushing yards and Gardner is tied for the GNAC lead with seven rushing scores. Gardner ranks 36th and Ricciardulli 43rd in rushing yards in the nation and both were effective in Saturday's win. Ricciardulli carried the load and rushed 26 times for 111 yards, while Gardner finished drives and had 53 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

PASSING GAME OPENS UP FOR WEBBER

Freshman quarterback Robert Webber has seen steady improvement over his first four collegiate starts. The Corona, Calif., native was 20-for-28 (71.4 percent) for 278 yards and two touchdowns versus Western Oregon. He also surpassed the previous week's long pass of 45 yards with a 73-yard toss Saturday. Webber was not sacked against the Wolves, it marked the first time this season he avoided a sack in a game. He is ranked second in the GNAC in pass efficiency (147.7) and averages 220.8 passing yards a game, good for fifth in the conference. 

White making an impact on Offense

Transfer Cass White has emerged as one of Robert Webber's favorite targets and one of the Jacks' biggest offensive weapons. White caught four passes for 122 yards and a touchdown Saturday against the Wolves. He also caught the longest pass of the season from Webber, a 73-yard touchdown pass that broke the game open in the third quarter. White leads the Green and Gold with four touchdown receptions this season and leads the team with 245 receiving yards. The transfer from Southern Nazarene University has receiving touchdowns in all four games in 2014.

JACKS EARN VOTES IN WEEKLY TOP 25 POLLS

After earning 22 votes in last week's American Football Coaches Association Div. II Top 25 poll, the Jacks increased their total to 32 following Saturday's win over Western Oregon. HSU jumped ahead of rival Azusa Pacific in the poll after trailing the Cougars the last two weeks. Tuesday's Top 25 poll on D2Football.com has the Jacks ranked 25th in the nation. The Jacks were previously unranked. HSU moved up one spot in Beyond Sports Network's weekly D2 Football Power Rankings and is ranked 19th. 

McKINNEY IS CORNERSTONE OF SD MINES OFFENSE

Quarterback Trent McKinney transferred from Division I University of Montana in the offseason and has quickly cemented himself as the leader of the Hardrocker offense. McKinney's has thrown for 1,070 passing yards, which ranks 32nd in the nation and first in the GNAC. The Miliani, Hawaii, native passed for 297 yards and two touchdowns in SD Mines' 62-44 win over William Jewell. McKinney has flashed the ability to run the football and has accumulated 344 rushing yards this season.

McKinney started the first eight games of the 2012 season under center for Montana. He threw for 1,350 yards and eight touchdowns and also ran for seven touchdowns.

SD MINES NEAR PERFECT IN RED ZONE

The Hardrockers are 17-for-18 (94 percent) converting red zone opportunities to points in 2014 and 16 of those 17 conversions were touchdowns. The percentage also ranks seventh in the nation and No. 1 in the GNAC. SD Mines converted 6-of-6 red zone chances in its first win of the season against William Jewell.

LATA IS A DEFENSIVE LEADER OF 'ROCKERS

Junior linebacker Jay Lata leads SD Mines with 34 total tackles (22 solo) and leads the conference with 5.5 solo tackles a game. Latta is the Hardrocker sack leader with three and is tied for the team lead with 4.5 tackles for loss.

FIRST TIME MEETING FOR TEAMS, NOT COACHES

SD Mines is in year one of a two-year football-only membership with the GNAC before joining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for the 2016 season. Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the two programs. 

Just because the two teams have never previously met, doesn't mean the coaching staffs are unfamiliar with each other. SD Mines' Head Coach Stacey Collins previously coached under Jacks' Head Coach Rob Smith for two seasons at Western Washington. Assistant Head Coach Zach Tinker played and coached under Smith at WWU. Another connection between the two teams is that Hardrocker offense line coach Kenny Ackerman previously coached under Smith at HSU (2010-11) and Mines' defensive line coach George Booker also played and coached under Smith.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Alex Markarian

#57 Alex Markarian

DE
6' 4"
Senior
3V
Nick Ricciardulli

#5 Nick Ricciardulli

RB
5' 8"
Senior
2V
Ja

#32 Ja'Quan Gardner

RB
5' 7"
Freshman
Robert Webber

#8 Robert Webber

QB
5' 9"
Freshman
Cass White

#15 Cass White

WR
5' 10"
Senior
TR
Travis Hansen

#29 Travis Hansen

LB
6' 2"
Senior
1V

Players Mentioned

Alex Markarian

#57 Alex Markarian

6' 4"
Senior
3V
DE
Nick Ricciardulli

#5 Nick Ricciardulli

5' 8"
Senior
2V
RB
Ja

#32 Ja'Quan Gardner

5' 7"
Freshman
RB
Robert Webber

#8 Robert Webber

5' 9"
Freshman
QB
Cass White

#15 Cass White

5' 10"
Senior
TR
WR
Travis Hansen

#29 Travis Hansen

6' 2"
Senior
1V
LB