Western Oregon Accepts Dixie Rotary Bowl Bid

You can hear The Dixie Rotary Bowl live in Salem on 1220 KPJC-AM.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Western Oregon's football season has been extend to Dec. 1, as it was announced yesterday that the Wolves will play Colorado School of Mines in the 22nd annual Dixie Rotary Bowl in St. George, Utah.

The Dixie Rotary Bowl, played at Dixie State's Hansen Stadium, matches the top NCAA Division II independent team from the west and the top Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference squad not playing in the NCAA playoffs.

It has been awhile since the Wolves (8-2) have played in a bowl game. In its' football history, Western Oregon has made NAIA national playoff appearances in 1975, 1978, 1985 and 1997. They also twice played in the Oregon Bowl in 1976 and 1979.

Colorado School of Mines won six of its final seven games of the season to finish 7-4 overall and 6-2 in the RMAC. After a 1-3 start, their only blip was an 18-0 loss to playoff bound Mesa State on Nov. 3.

The Orediggers averaged 248 yards of passing per game, riding the arm of sophomore quarterback David Pesek. The 6-3, 185-pounder has connected on 63 percent of his passes (248-396) for 2,699 yards and 15 TD's. A pair of 6-3 receivers are Pesek's favorite targets in Adam Saur and Derek Dykstra. Saur has 44 catches for 653 yards and four scores while Dykstra has hauled in 43 grabs for 715 yards six touchdowns.

The Oredigger defense and special teams are aggressive.

The defense has 89 tackles for loss and 55 quarterback sacks on the season, tops in the nation, led by Marc Schiechl's 16.5 and 13 respectively. Mines special teams have blocked 11 kicks on the year.

Under head coach Bob Stitt, the Orediggers have posted winning seasons in six of the last seven campaigns, including the 2004 squad that finished 12-1 falling only to Pittsburg State in the second round of the NCAA playoffs. That CSM team featured Harlon Hill Trophy winner Chad Friehauf, who threw for a Division II single-season record 4,646 yards.

Coach Arne Ferguson on invite:

"We feel very privileged to be invited to this game. It is a great honor for our program and the university. We are excited for our fans to experience St. George and the tradition that the bowl game brings. We are really looking forward to playing a team from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to see how we match up. It's especially nice for our 18 seniors, who have had such a huge part in the development of our program, to be able to finish their careers at a bowl game."

Festivities And Tickets:

The Dixie Rotary Bowl festivities include the Junior Bowl on Nov. 28 (Wednesday), a banquet on Nov. 29 (Thursday), a golf tournament (Friday), a parade (Saturday) and large tailgate party (Saturday).

For more information, go to www.rotarybowl.com. For tickets, call the WOU Athletic Office at 503-838-8252. Western Oregon will receive an allotment of tickets to sell, from which the proceeds go to the WOU football program.

Salem-News.com will have complete coverage as Western Oregon prepares for the 22nd annual Dixie Rotary Bowl

Adding comments to these stories has been disabled. View the current sports stories Salem-News Sports