Western Oregon Routs Humboldt State; Eyes Rotary Bowl Bid

A berth in the Rotary Bowl on December 1 in St. George, Utah is a strong possibility now for the Wolves.

Western Oregon QB Mark Thorson was 21 of 29 for 236 yards and four touchdowns as the Wolves moved to 8-2 on the season following a 64-0 win over Humboldt State on Saturday.

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Going into the 2007 regular season finale, 7-2 Western Oregon was certainly the favorite against 2-7 Humboldt State. But no one could have foreseen that they were 64-point favorites.

In the final home game of the year, Western Oregon sent out 18 seniors on a high note with a 64-0 win over Humboldt State in front of 2,500 fans at McArthur Field.

With the win, the Wolves improved to 8-2 on the season and the Lumberjacks finished its year at 2-8.

While the record for Coach Arne Ferguson's team is the best for the Western Oregon program since the 1985 Wolves went 8-2, they hope to have one more game to play before the year is complete.

A berth in the Rotary Bowl on December 1 in St. George, Utah is a strong possibility.

After the NCAA playoff field is announced on Monday, Rotary Bowl officials will determine the top two available participants for their game. One squad will come from the west, while the opponent will be from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

On a sunny day at McArthur Field, Western Oregon rang up 562 yards of total offense and held Humboldt State to minus five yards on the day: including -55 yards on the ground.

The Wolves scored 64 points, the most since they defeated Saint Martin's 101-0 in 1934, and it could have been more. The Wolves turned the ball over four times on fumbles, including twice inside the HSU five yard line.

In fact, the Wolves fumbled away the opening kick-off to give the Lumberjacks good field position for their first possession.

But WOU's defense pushed HSU backwards, a trend that would continue throughout the day. Two possessions later, Western Oregon would start the scoring barrage on a three-yard pass play from Mark Thorson to Brad Ching.

Thorson would connect with Ching again in the first quarter for an eight-yard score, and one minute into the second quarter the senior quarterback would throw his third touchdown pass of the young afternoon, this time to Shaun Kauleinamoku for 17 yards.

The WOU defense would next get into the scoring act when Jay Darden picked up one of four Humboldt State fumbles and ran 30 yards to pay dirt.

A safety and a DJ Jackson 13-yard touchdown run would put the score at 37-0 at the break, securing WOU's eighth win of the season early.

Thorson, who finished 21 of 29 for 236 yards, threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day in the third quarter to Sean Fullerton (11 yards).

The Wolves cleared the bench but still found the end zone three more times in the final period. Brady Lovell threw a 20-yard TD pass to Justin Ore, and Steven Vedder ran for 13-yard and 74-yard scores to make the final count 64-0.

Vedder finished with eight carries for 99 yards, while Tyler Wilson had 95 yards rushing on 24 carries. Jackson finished with 65 yards on nine rushes. 12 different players caught passes for WOU, led by Fullerton's four for 63 yards.

17 different WOU defensive players were involved in tackles for losses. Matt Cox had three for 14 yards, including 1.5 quarterback sacks. Gavin Romanick and JT Gilmore had interceptions for WOU, who notched their first shutout of the season.

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