Central Washington remains undefeated in football

ELLENSBURG — Cole Morgan came off the bench to throw for 161 yards and two touchdowns and Garrett Rolsma kicked three first-half field goals to lead Central Washington to a 37-6 victory over Dixie State on Saturday at Tomlinson Stadium.

The nationally fifth-ranked Wildcats, who held a team to minus yards rushing for the second week in a row, improved to 6-0, winning their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener and running their regular-season winning streak to 12.

Dixie State (2-4, 1-2) did grab a 6-3 lead in the first quarter on a 49-yard pass from quarterback Judd Thompson to tight end Alex Nelson. But Morgan then came in to lead CWU on four scoring drives.

Rolsma kicked field goals from 35, 41 and 21 yards to give CWU a 9-6 lead early in the second quarter and Morgan connected for TD passes of 5 yards to Johnny Spevak and 7 yards to Sam Togar to make it 23-6 at halftime.

Central added two more TDs in the third quarter on a 14-yard pass from starting QB Ryan Robertson to Spevak and on a 15-yard return by Jamal Weems of a blocked punt by Tyler Cardin.

Spevak finished with eight catches for 71 yards. The two TD catches were the 50th and 51st of his career, putting him over the 300-point career scoring milestone, the first player in GNAC history to accomplish that feat.

Morgan completed 13 of 16 passes in the first half and finished 13 of 19, while Robertson was 10 of 21 for 80 yards. Central ended up with 385 yards in total offense, including 134 on the ground and 251 passing.

Other in-state games

Eastern Washington 38,

at Idaho State 3

Behind the rushing of Taiwan Jones and the passing of Matt Nichols, Eastern Washington remained undefeated in the Big Sky by defeating winless Idaho State.

Jones averaged 12 yards on 14 carries for the Eagles (4-1, 3-0). The sophomore rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns, including a 96-yarder.

Nichols completed 27 of 38 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite targets were Aaron Boyce, who had 10 catches for 149 yards and both TDs, and Tony Davis, who caught nine passes for 60 yards.

The Bengals (0-5, 0-2) were led by junior quarterback Kyle Blum, who completed 13 of 22 for 150 yards. Idaho State's leading receivers were Jaron Taylor, who had seven catches for 129 yards, and JD Ponciano with five catches for 43 yards.

At Pacific Lutheran 43,

Lewis & Clark 14

Pacific Lutheran scored on its first six possessions in beating Lewis & Clark in a Northwest Conference game at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.

The Lutes (1-2, 1-0) scored touchdowns on all five of their first-half possessions.

Lewis & Clark (0-3, 0-1) scored two touchdowns in the third period, but other than that managed just 257 yards against the Pacific Lutheran defense.

PLU gained 552 total yards, going over the 500-yard mark for the first time since compiling 509 yards in a 49-10 win over Chapman in 2005. The Lutes scored five of their six touchdowns on drives lasting at least five plays.

The Lutes opened the game with an eight-play, 63-yard drive culminated by junior quarterback Jordan Rasmussen's 1-yard keeper. The next time they had the ball, they went 94 yards on five plays with Rasmussen hitting a wide-open Kyle Whitford on a 58-yard scoring pass.

Backup QB A.J. Palazzolo came in and took the Lutes 72 yards on six plays with Alec Simmons scoring from the 10-yard line.

Palazzolo then hooked up with Greg Ford on a 61-yard TD play.

At Willamette 42,

Whitworth 13

Deon Horne from Issaquah rushed for 92 yards on 16 carries and opened the scoring with a 26-yard touchdown run in the first quarter as Willamette built a 21-0 halftime lead on its way to a victory over Whitworth in the Northwest Conference opener for both teams.

Scott Schoettgen scored two touchdowns for Willamette (4-1) on catches of 20 yards and 14 yards.

Whitworth fell to 2-3.