Players find home, and a winning formula, at Central Washington

ELLENSBURG — There is still a place in the state of Washington where the football team is cause for celebration, not consternation.

You just have to look for it. You have to leave Seattle. Go east on Interstate 90. Through the pass. Down into the Kittitas Valley, into Ellensburg, where there is much more than the annual rodeo.

There you will find 87 football players and a handful of coaches on a grassy field at the far end of Central Washington University's campus. At first glance, the only thing spectacular is the panoramic view as Mount Stuart and the rolling hills of the Wenatchee Mountain Range frame the horizon.

Look closer and you'll find one of the best quarterbacks in school history, a tight end with NFL potential and a 4-0 team that ranks eighth among the 148 in NCAA Division II football.

This is a forgotten place where forgotten players find redemption.

The man in charge is Blaine Bennett. This is his team. His town. And his time to reclaim his childhood. Hired in January, he promised he would stay where nobody ever stays. Nobody makes it his life's ambition to end up in D-II football. Not when you must divvy up 22 scholarships among players and your $250,000 budget is just a fraction of the budget at the University of Washington and Washington State.

Places like Ellensburg are a rest stop for rising young coaches on the fast track to stardom, or recycled veteran coaches seeking one last shot.

Bennett's predecessor, Beau Baldwin, spent 11 months at CWU before parlaying a 10-3 record into a guaranteed three-year, $100,000-per-season job at Eastern Washington. Before Baldwin, John Zamberlin left in 2006 for a three-year, $120,000-per-season deal at Idaho State.

Everybody leaves Ellensburg. But Bennett says he's different. He's negotiating with athletic director Jack Bishop on a five-year deal, which is a rare commitment at the D-II level.

"It's really different for me because I've had a chance to bounce around at some different levels," Bennett said. "Often times when you're at this level, you don't get a chance to go to a I-AA school or a MAC school or a mid-major school, so when that opportunity comes up, you're thinking, 'Wow, I'm going to go.'

"I've already had the chance. I've been at Washington State. I've been at Idaho. I've been at Purdue. I've been at Michigan State, so it's not as attractive to me. I think they're good jobs, but this could be a great job."

He watched his father, Blaine "Shorty" Bennett, become a local legend. They love Shorty in E-burg. He was the head football coach at Ellensburg High School in the 1970s, leading the Bulldogs to a Class AA state title in 1973.

Thirty-five years later, his son, who graduated from Walla Walla High in 1983, has folks in Ellensburg thinking about another championship.

It's a familiar football tale: Boy returns home and coaches team to a title. The Wildcats, who lost in the Division II quarterfinals last year, beat Humboldt State 48-10 Saturday and took another step toward winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and securing a playoff berth.

But there's more to this story than Bennett's quest to deliver CWU its first football championship in 13 years.

Maybe quarterback Mike Reilly put it best.

"This is Central," he said. "Everybody here has a story to tell. Many of us started out somewhere else, and we came here and found a home."

Reilly began his college career at Washington State, where he was a fourth-string walk-on in 2003. He spent three semesters in Pullman before quitting the team and finding instant success at CWU.

"I'll bet the Cougars would love to have Mike Reilly as their quarterback right now," Bennett said last week. He started one year at quarterback at Idaho under Dennis Erickson before transferring to Whitworth College in Spokane, where he started two years for his father.

Admittedly, Bennett has a soft spot in his heart for castoffs. If you need a second chance, he'll listen.

"Central has been a great place for people to get a fresh start, whether it's because they got into a little bit of trouble somewhere else or because they just didn't like the situation where they were at," Reilly said. "Our coaches don't really judge people. They are fine with giving second chances as long as you come in and buy into the program."

Reilly, a 6-foot-3, 212-pound senior, has started the past four seasons for the Wildcats. He ranks second in school history behind Jon Kitna of the Detroit Lions in total offense, passing yards, passing touchdowns, completions and attempts.

"They both have good arms," said offensive coordinator John Picha, who was on the staff when Kitna led the Wildcats to an NAIA title in 1995. "Their biggest strength is their brain. They know how to attack a defense."

Reilly's favorite targets are junior receiver Johnny Spevak, a two-sport standout who stars for the basketball team, and tight end Jared Bronson.

Before Bronson became a preseason Division II All-American at Central, he was a walk-on at Washington. He started the 2005 season as first team at tight end for the Huskies, but didn't catch a pass that season and fell on the depth chart.

The decision to leave Washington was difficult for Bronson, whose father, Gordon, played for UW in the mid-1970s.

"It was kind of hard because I've always wanted to play football for the U-Dub, but that last year I felt like they didn't really want to use me," Bronson said. "I talked to my dad about it. My dad has always been supportive of whatever I wanted to do. I decided to make the move out here, keep working hard and keep my head up."

There have been days of regret and days when Bronson believes he made the right decision. Monday was one of the days for the latter, when four NFL scouts came to see the 6-4, 255-pounder, who is projected to be taken late in the draft next spring.

Reilly and cornerback Courtney Smith, a Langston University transfer, also are considered draft prospects.

"The NFL will find you wherever you play," Picha said.

The Wildcats' sports-information department likes to promote Reilly and Bronson, but Bennett acknowledges Central Washington isn't for everybody.

This year the Wildcats brought in four transfers, including former Washington Husky Jordan Murchison, a senior cornerback. He started the opener for Central and left the following week.

"There's several reasons why it didn't work," Bennett said. "He had already graduated and was just going to play football this fall. It was hard for him to buy into the team unity, buy into the big picture because he was only here for three months. And it was hard for people to accept it."

Murchison faced two assault charges during his tenure at Washington.

"He had way too many issues outside of football that he was dealing with, life issues," Bennett said. "His plate was overflowing. Too many things. Things down in California. Things in Seattle. So many things that he couldn't put all of that stuff on hold and just focus on football."

Still, Bennett will continue gambling on transfers. His roster includes 11 former junior-college players, two former NAIA players, three former Huskies and a player each from Michigan, Washington State, Idaho, Wyoming, Eastern Washington and Portland State.

To bolster a sagging defense that ranks 81st in points allowed, the Wildcats are believed to be pursuing former UW linebacker E.J. Savannah, but there has been no formal contact, according to school officials.

Former WSU defensive tackle Andy Roof will not play at Central this season, but could enroll in school and would have two years of eligibility remaining.

"I'm trying to get E.J. down here," said running back J.R. Hasty, another former Husky. "If it works out, he could play right away. He likes playing football, so that's all he should be worried about right now."

Hasty, who has rushed for 106 yards in two games, said Savannah would excel at the D-II level.

"The difference here is definitely the speed," he said. "I've seen some big boys out here, but the speed is different. You see it in the linebackers. Then you see the size difference, especially in the defensive line."

The other obvious difference is the location. Windswept Ellensburg (pop. 15,000) makes Pullman look like a booming metropolis, and when classes begin Monday, just 9,000 students will be on campus.

"There's not much to do," Hasty said. "But for me, that's a good thing. I don't need any distractions."

Bronson began his career playing in front of 70,000 fans at Husky Stadium. A crowd of 4,224 watched the Wildcats thrash Humboldt State on Saturday at Tomlinson Stadium. Central will draw roughly 20,000 fans when it plays Western Washington on Oct. 11 in the annual Battle in Seattle at Qwest Field to decide the winner of the Cascade Cup.

"It's still football," Bronson said. "It may not be as loud, but once the game starts, you don't really notice it. When you're on the field, you're playing football."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com