Defense Leads Western Oregon to Rotary Bowl Win

The Wolves finished the season with a 9-2 record, only the fourth time in 78 years of college football that they have reached nine wins in a season.

The Wolves defense surrounds J.T. Baum from Colorado Mines. Photo courtesy: Richard M. Isom, Dixie Rotary Bowl Association

ST. GEORGE, Utah - Like a lot of Western Oregon football games in 2007, the Wolves defense was stingy good, the special teams made big plays and the offense was good enough when it had to be to secure the win.

Western Oregon had 75 yards in quarterback sacks, scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone and had 300 yards in total offense to defeat Colorado School of Mines 26-12 in the 22nd annual Dixie Rotary Bowl at Hansen Stadium in St. George, Utah.

The Wolves finished the season with a 9-2 record, only the fourth time in 78 years of college football that they have reached nine wins in a season. The Orediggers finished the year 7-5.

Slot back Shaun Kauleinamoku was named one of two Most Valuable Players in the contest, returning four punts for 59 yards, running a reverse in for a score from 24 yards out, and he also caught three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. AJ Montalvo was named the MVP for the Orediggers. He had an interception and 3.5 tackles for loss.

The Wolves defense, which did not give up a score until just less than 10 minutes remained in the game, took down Mines quarterback David Pesek eight times for 75 yards in losses.

Victor Felipe had three of those sacks for 29 total yards, and fellow defensive end Justin Cuellar had a pair for a total of 10 yards in losses.

Western also had interceptions by JT Gilmore and Zach Christopherson and fumble recoveries by Gavin Romanick and Matt Buche.

There were eight turnovers in the game, as the Orediggers picked off WOU quarterback Mark Thorson four times, two of them by Drew Ferrin. Montalvo and Ben Tiller had the other pick-offs.

Defenses from both sides ruled the day early and WOU's stop group set up the first score of the football game. A combined sack by Felipe and Matt Cox pushed the Orediggers back to their own two-yard line.

After the ensuing punt gave the Wolves field position on the 30-yard line, Thorson found Kauleinamoku six plays later for a one-yard score to make it 7-0 at the end of the quarter.

WOU special teams set up the next Wolves score after Tom Kastens fumbled a punt and Romanick recovered at the 24-yard line. On the very next play, Kauleinamoku scored on a reverse to give the Wolves a 13-0 lead.

Western would add another score before the end of the half with a four-play, 48-yard drive and a 17-yard DJ Jackson touchdown run to make the score 19-0 at halftime.

Defensive sacks and interceptions were the rule in the third quarter before the Orediggers put together their best drive of the football game early in the fourth stanza.

After nine plays and 68 yards, Derek Dykstra caught a four-yard score from Pesek to make it 19-6. Mines went for two and did not score.

On their next possession, CSM would drive to the Wolves 20-yard line, only to have sacks by Felipe and Anthony Marin push them back to the 38-yard line. The Orediggers went for it on fourth and 23 and failed.

Western Oregon would drive into Mines territory on their next possession, but had to punt. Dystra attempted to field it on the two-yard line, fumbled and Buche recovered it in the end zone to seal the game.

Colorado School of Mines would get one final score with 15 seconds remaining on a two-yard run by defensive end-turned tailback Marin Richardson.

Dykstra finished with nine catches for 87 yards to lead all receivers. Pesek was 26 of 40 for 228 yards with two interceptions. WOU's Thorson was 15 of 27 for 180 yards with a scoring toss and a season-high four intereptions.

Brad Ching had three catches for 55 yards and Kauleinamoku had three for 49. Jackson led the Wolves on the ground with 50 yards on nine carries.

The Wolves finished the year on a five-game win streak and with the best record for a WOU team since the 1976 squad went 9-1.

Source: WOU Athletics

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