ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Midwestern State takes on Central Washington in a Lone Star Conference battle Saturday night at Tomlinson Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. (Central Time).
 

MIDWESTERN STATE (3-3, 2-2 LSC)
at CENTRAL WASHINGTON (3-2, 3-1 LSC)

Saturday, Oct. 15 | 8 p.m. (Central Time)
Tomlinson Stadium | Ellensburg, Wash.

SERIES HISTORY | Midwestern State and Central Washington meet for the second time on the gridiron Saturday night at Tomlinson Stadium. The Wildcats capitalized on six MSU turnovers to beat the Mustangs 30-20 on Oct. 2 last season in Ellensburg. Midwestern State highlights included a 65-yard touchdown pass from Dillon Sterling-Cole to Ja'Juan Mason and a 39-yard Trenton Kennedy TD run -- both in the first half. Central Washington scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to provide the different. The Wildcats 20 of their 30 points off of turnovers.

THE DEAN OF THE LSC | Bill Maskill became the first six-time Lone Star Conference Coach of the Year while leading the Mustangs to their fifth league title. Maskill's 166 career coaching victories are the fourth most by active NCAA Division II head coach and ninth most amongst all active NCAA football coaches. His 153 wins as a head coach at a Lone Star Conference institution are the second most in league history. Ron Harms won 172 games at Texas A&M-Kingsville in 21 seasons from 1979-99.

HIGH OCTANE MUSTANGS | Midwestern State ranks third in the Lone Star Conference and 27th in NCAA Division II averaging 433.0 yards of total offense per game. The Mustangs are second the LSC ranking 17th nationally with 220.5 rushing yards per game.

HOLDING THE LINE | Midwestern State's offensive line has permitted four sacks this season with one coming on a bobbled flea flicker against Simon Fraser. The Mustangs also lead the LSC and rank 10th in NCAA Division II allowing a mere 3.67 tackles for loss per game.

SEE YOU AT THE CROSSROADS | Freshman running back Devin Cross boasts 100-yard rushing performances in three of the last four weeks which includes a season-high 139 at Eastern New Mexico (9/10), 111 against Simon Fraser (9/24), and 110 at Western New Mexico (10/1). Cross ranks fourth in the Lone Star Conference and 33rd in NCAA Division II with 547 rushing yards, while ranking second in the league and 29th nationally at 6.44 yards per carry.

TRENDING TRENTON | Senior running back Trenton Kennedy ran for a career-high 103 yards with a touchdown last week against West Texas A&M. The fifth-year senior from Cypress ranks 10th in the Lone Star Conference with 283 rushing yards. He enjoyed a stellar effort last year against Central Washington running for 80 yards on eight carries including a 39-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

OPPORTUNISTIC DEFENSE | Midwestern State is one of 11 teams in NCAA Division II including three Lone Star Conference programs to score three defensive touchdowns this season joining Angelo State and UT Permian Basin. The Mustangs produced pick sixes in each of the first three games with Justin Guillory going 63 yards against Colorado State-Pueblo, Dylon Davis going 43 yards at Eastern New Mexico, and Melik Owens went 52 yards versus Michigan Tech.

MUSTANGS TRACKS | Senior wide receiver Kylan Harrison became the 10th player in program history to amass 100 career receptions against Simon Fraser and is eighth with 110 career receptions... Harrison is closing in on Andre Kelsick (113 receptions from 2001-05/7th), Tyrique Edwards (114 receptions from 2015-19/6th), Statron Jones (115 receptions from 2013-16/5th), and Andy Tanner (120 receptions from 2006-09/4th)... Harrison, who is MSU's all-time leader with 22 career TD receptions, ranks third in all-time receiving yards at 1,883... Harrison needs 340 receiving yards to move past David Little (2,222 yards from 2008-11) to move into second place... Harrison also ranks fifth on MSU's all-time list with 830 kick return yards and needs 97 yards to move past Henry Johnson (926 kick return yards from 1992-95/4th) and 110 to pass BeeJay Mathis (939 kick return yards from 2007-09)... Harrison is the only player in MSU history to return two kicks for touchdowns during his career...Senior quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole moved into 10th place on MSU's all-time passing yards list on Sept. 17 against Michigan Tech and now has 2,681... Sterling-Cole is eighth with 24 touchdown passes and is in range of Rahsaan Bell (26 TDs/6th), Jake Glover (25 TDs/7th), and Brandon Kelsey (24 TDs/8th)... Senior defensive end Melik Owens is MSU's all-time leader with 41.0 tackles for loss and yards from tackles for loss (185)... Owens is second all-time with 17.5 quarterback sacks and trails Russ Grissom, who had 32.0 sacks from 1989-91... Sophomore Ritse Vaes has converted all 25 of his point-after attempts this season and is 6-of-7 in field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards at Western New Mexico... Vaes converted a school single-game record of 11 point-after attempts last week against Simon Fraser... Vaes has connected on his last 39 PAT efforts and has been successful on 55-of-56 PAT attempts in his career with his lone miss being blocked last season against Texas A&M-Kingsville... Midwestern State efforts to avoid just its third three-game losing streak during the Bill Maskill era. The Mustangs dropped three straight in 2005 before routing No. 6-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville 41-14, then dropped three consecutive games in 2019 before routing the Javelinas against, 70-35. Ironically, MSU ended its previous three-game slide with a 10-7 win over TAMUK in 1999...

UP NEXT | Midwestern State takes on UT Permian Basin Saturday night at Grande Communications Stadium in Midland. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.