NW football roundup: Smith era at Western Wash. ends in loss

BELLINGHAM — Rob Smith's 17-year tenure as Western Washington coach ended on a down note Saturday as the Vikings fell to Western Oregon, 28-7, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Civic Stadium.

Western Washington finished its season 4-6 overall and 3-3 in GNAC games. It's just the third losing season for Smith, who is the winningest coach in school history with a 109-62-1 record.

The Wolves took control early, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions, and led 21-0 at halftime.

"It wasn't a normal work week ... but I'm not one to make excuses," Smith said. "Whatever it was, we weren't ready to go today and played uninspired football."

The Vikings scored with 9:44 left in the game, on quarterback A.J. Porter's 39-yard touchdown pass to Brett Upchurch. Porter, who saw extensive time with starter James Monrean hampered by an ankle injury, completed 9 of 16 passes for 159 yards. Upchurch had five receptions for 141 yards.

Running back Eliot Vinzant paced the Wolves (4-6, 2-4) with 160 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.

Other games

Willamette 40, Whitworth 34 (OT)

SPOKANE — Willamette came from two scores behind twice in the second half to force overtime, and the visiting Bearcats went on to beat Whitworth in the extra period of a Northwest Conference contest.

Matt Bicocca kicked a 21-yard field goal with three seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Tyler Gill intercepted Whitworth quarterback Joel Clark's pass in the end zone to end the Pirates' overtime possession. Brock then ran in a touchdown from 20 yards out for the victory.

Central Washington 28, Humboldt State 14

ARCATA, Calif. — Landon Hall ran for a career-high 150 yards, and the Central defense held Humboldt State to 94 yards rushing and 92 passing as the Wildcats completed a perfect GNAC season.

At 6-0, Central is the first team in the three-year history of double round-robin play to go undefeated.

Pacific Lutheran 48, Menlo 24

PUYALLUP — Pacific Lutheran rolled up 632 yards of total offense — just 21 yards shy of the school record — in a nonconference victory over Menlo College (0-9) at Sparks Stadium.

PLU quarterback Chris Maine completed 10 of 17 passes, with half of his completions going for touchdowns. His five touchdowns passes were one shy of the school record.

W. OREGON 28, WESTERN WASHINGTON 7

WOU — Knudsen 10 pass from Thorson (Voges kick), 8:57

WOU — Ramirez 2 run (Voges kick), 3:07

Second quarter

WOU — Vinzant 2 run (Voges kick), 6:46

Third quarter

WOU — Vinzant 3 run (Voges kick), 4:44

Fourth quarter

WWU — Upchurch 39 pass from Porter (Younggren kick), 9:44

A — 2,206.

Rushing — WOU: Vinzant 29-160; Ramirez 6-39; Beck 1-6; Watts 3-6; Thorson 7-1; Team 2-(-4). WWU: Carlyle 8-38; Sherrard 7-16; Porter 4-9; Jackson 3-8; Monrean 5-2.

Passing — WOU: Thorson 20-32-1-235. WWU: Monrean 10-23-3-128; Porter 9-16-1-159.

Receiving — WOU: Boss 5-72; Knudsen 5-34; Carter 4-30; Smith 3-80; Ching 2-10; Beck 1-9. WWU: Upchurch 5-141; Sherrard 4-10; Yoney 3-34; Carlyle 2-56; Dell 2-27; Olson 2-13; Williams 1-6.

WILLAMETTE 40, WHITWORTH 34 (OT)

WHTW — Allan 71 pass from Clark (Marshall kick), 10:04

WHTW — Havercroft 2 run (Marshall kick), 5:58

WU — Brock 1 run (Bicocca kick), :28

Third quarter

WHTW — Clark 17 run (Marshall kick), 11:42

WU — Hernandez 30 pass from Walton (Bicocca kick), 9:41

WU — Hernandez 4 run (Bicocca kick), 7:29

WHTW — Snell 11 pass from Clark (Marshall kick blocked), 3:34

WU — Safety, Randall PAT return, 3:34

Fourth quarter

WHTW — Ahsing 2 run (Marshall kick), 9:59

WU — Tanquary 23 pass from Walton (Brock rush), 3:22

WU — Bicocca 21 FG, :03

Overtime

WU — Brock 20 yd run, 15:00

A — 1,575.

Rushing — WU: Brock 25-144; Hernandez 8-68; Walton 10-49; Wilbon 4-9; Dean 2-1; WHTW: Havercroft 21-114; Clark 14-69; Ahsing 7-16; Team 2-(-1).

Passing — WU: Walton 13-23-1-143; WHTW: Clark 19-28-1-211.

Receiving — WU: Plank 7-58; Hernandez 2-37; Washington 2-20; Tanquary 1-23; Wilbon 1-5; WHTW: Snell 9-68; Allan 5-94; Kuntz 5-49.

PACIFIC LUTHERAN 48, MENLO 24

MENLO — Gresham 26 FG, 6:52

PLU — Washburn 71 pass from Maine (Chalmers kick), 2:03

Second quarter

PLU — Reed 18 pass from Maine (Chalmers kick), 12:03

PLU — Washburn 63 pass from Maine (Chalmers kick failed), 10:35

PLU — Bratz 1 run (Chalmers kick), 2:24

Third quarter

MENLO — Faria 3 run (Gresham kick), 5:27

PLU — Reed 46 pass from Maine (Chalmers kick), 3:46

MENLO — Eyo 44 pass from Hazel (Gresham kick), 2:42

Fourth quarter

PLU — Reed 23 pass from Iverson (Chalmers kick), 14:50

MENLO — Estes 50 pass from Hazel (Gresham kick), 10:03

PLU — Stevens 55 pass from Maine (Chalmers kick), 6:30

A — 1,000.

Rushing — Menlo: Conner 9-54; Faria 8-24; Souza 3-5; Gresham 1-2; Hazel 3-10; Lyle 2-(-3). PLU: Maine 5-80; Steiner 6-29; Bratz 4-14; Griffith 2-13; Reed 7-13; Iverson 2-10; Dahl 3-7; Absher 1-4; Peterson 1-3; Schonau-Taylor 1-2; Team 2-0; Canger 2-(-1).

Passing — Menlo: Hazel 18-46-3-304; Conner 1-1-0-9. PLU: Maine 10-17-0-347; Iverson 4-7-1-65; Bratz 2-5-0-46; Griffith 0-1-0-0.

Receiving — Menlo: Eyo 9-147; Marin 3-29; Estes 2-58; Lyle 2-21; Ledbetter 1-47; Hazel 1-9; Faria 1-2. PLU: Reed 8-167; Stevens 3-78; Washburn 2-134; Chiado 2-46; Fallert 1-33

C. WASHINGTON 28, HUMBOLDT STATE 14

CWU — Hall 4 run (Sadler kick), 9:38

CWU — Sadler 27 FG, 2:59

Second quarter

HSU — Nembhard 16 run (Martinelli kick), 3:54

HSU — Perkins 6 pass from Duke (Martinelli kick), 2:16

CWU — Sadler 31 FG, :00

Third quarter

CWU — Robertson 18 pass from Reilly (Potucek pass from Reilly), 11:04

Fourth quarter

CWU — Brookreson 17 pass from Reilly (Sadler kick), 3:43

A — 1,248.

Rushing — CWU: Hall 26-150; Bennett 5-36; Reilly 12-14; Sadler 1-(-27). HSU: Dotson 5-37; Nembhard 9-35; Smith 5-15; Duke 9-7.

Passing — CWU: Reilly 23-35-1-200. HSU: Duke 13-26-1-92.

Receiving — CWU: Hall 7-45; Potucek 6-66; Brookreson 6-52; Robertson 2-27; Boonstra 2-10. HSU: Stein 5-46; Wilson 3-23; Nembhard 2-6; White 1-7; Perkins 1-6; Messersmith 1-4.