ARCATA, Calif. – A capacity crowd cheered Humboldt State to a 29-20 victory over Western Oregon Saturday in Redwood Bowl.
Saturday's victory over Western Oregon gave HSU its first conference win and second-straight home decision over its northern rival.
"This win was very big, and it was probably the biggest home opener since I have been at Humboldt," said Head Coach
Rob Smith. "We know we will be battling with this team for a conference championship and that makes it a big game. It was hard-fought, and there were a lot of mistakes on both sides. We will learn tremendously from this game."
The Lumberjacks (1-0) scored the game's first 19 points and never trailed against the visiting Wolves (0-1).
An interception by defensive lineman
Codey Heidebrecht set the HSU offense up in WOU territory midway through the first quarter. Quarterback
Robert Webber connected with receiver
Chase Krivashei for a five-yard touchdown strike to cap the nine-play, 40-yard scoring drive and give the Green and Gold their first lead, 7-0.
"Codey is without question one of our team leaders, and he led by example tonight," said Smith. "He got two takeaways tonight, which were very big for us. We need our experienced guys to raise their level of play, and he did that for us."
A one-yard touchdown run from running back
Ja'Quan Gardner and a 39-yard field goal from
Cameron Southward extended the HSU advantage to 17-0 with 9:01 left in the second half. Gardner displayed the play-making ability that earned him Second Team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors a year ago. He carried the ball 33 times for 201 yards.
"We know we have a special talent at running back," said Smith. "He loves to play the game and has fun."
Things went from bad to worse for the Wolves during their next drive. An errant snap went 17 yards and out of the end zone for a safety, which gave HSU the ball and a 19-0 lead.
Western Oregon posted its first points of the game before halftime. Wolves signal caller Trey Shimabukuro fired a 16-yard touchdown pass to receiver Andy Avgi for their first score with 4:02 left to play before the break.
Despite leading 19-7 heading into the locker room, the Jacks came out flat in the second half. HSU was unable to capitalize on all four of its third-quarter drives, and WOU trimmed the lead to five, 19-14, with 14:09 to play.
"I felt out of sync as a play caller. Our offense just wasn't clicking early in the second half," said Smith. "We were in control for a majority of the game, and I was pleased we were able to put together a big drive after they closed it to five points."
Webber connected with Krivashei for a second time, a six-yard touchdown pass, to put the Green and Gold back on track, 26-14. Krivashei finished with a team-leading seven receptions for 63 yards.
Southward split the uprights from 23 yards out to put the Jacks ahead by 15, 29-14, with 2:59 remaining. He went 2-for-2 on field goals attempts (39 and 23 yards) and converted all three point after attempts.
The Wolves scored one final time before the conclusion of the game as Shimabukuro tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to receiver Daniel Thomas. WOU kicker Jesse Correa missed the extra point opportunity following the score.
Newcomers
Drew Dubois and
Daniel Castro made statements in their HSU debut. Dubois had a pair of sacks in the win, and Castro paced the Jacks with 12 tackles and a tackle for loss.
Smith expects the Green and Gold to take away many valuable lessons from Saturday's victory that will help the team prepare for next week's meeting with Azusa Pacific.
"I always say teams change the most from week one to week two," said Smith. "We are going down to play the two-time defending champions coming off an impressive win in Texas. It won't be a conference game, but when you play 10 games, every game is important. We beat a quality opponent in Western Oregon. You have to feel good any time you can beat the Wolves."
HSU travels to Azusa, Calif., to face the Cougars of Azusa Pacific in Citrus Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. PT.
