ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Midwestern State lost to Central Washington 44-29 on Saturday night at Tomlinson Stadium. The Mustangs tied the game at 21 on a 40-second scoring drive in the second quarter, but the push was not enough as CWU finished with 506 yards of offense.
MSU is 4-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play. CWU is 4-2 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
The Mustangs answered an early deficit with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that
Kaden Brown finished with a 6-yard touchdown pass to
Dominic Cox, and
Ryan Ostboe's extra point tied the score at 7-7 with 5:35 left in the first quarter. Earlier, the Mustangs moved quickly on their opening possession behind Brown completions to
Dexter Stigall IV,
Dalton Bailey and Cox, plus two
Joseph Dodds runs for first downs, before CWU intercepted at its 33 and converted the short field into a 7-0 lead. MSU's scoring response included a fourth-and-9 conversion on and 18-yard run on a fake punt at the CWU 49, followed by back-to-back Dodds runs of 11 yards that pushed the drive inside the 10. CWU went back in front with a 74-yard touchdown drive, but Brown moved MSU back across midfield in the final 1:33 with completions to
Aanjay Feliciano and Stigall before the first quarter ended with CWU leading 14-7 and the Mustangs at the CWU 27.
The Mustangs' quickest answer came while facing a 21-14 deficit, with Dodds breaking a 61-yard run and finishing a 40-second, 75-yard drive on a 3-yard touchdown before
Ryan Ostboe's kick tied the score at 21-21 with 6:14 left in the second quarter. Earlier, MSU finished its possession to start the second quarter when
Kaden Brown converted third-and-4 with an 18-yard completion to Feliciano, ran to the 1 and then threw a 1-yard touchdown to
Dexter Stigall IV, with Ostboe's extra point making it 14-14. CWU put pressure on the Mustangs with an 81-yard drive capped by Ryder Bumgarner's 5-yard touchdown run, and later went back ahead 28-21 on Justin Brennan's 41-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Torres with 2:10 remaining.
Louis Hickman gave MSU field position with a 31-yard kickoff return and a CWU personal foul moved the ball to the MSU 46, but the possession ended on fourth-and-1 at the CWU 45. CWU used the final 52 seconds to reach field-goal range, and David Weber's 47-yard field goal as time expired sent the Mustangs into halftime behind 31-21.
CWU opened the third quarter with an 81-yard scoring drive capped by Ryder Bumgarner's 1-yard run at 11:24, though
Ethan Dishman blocked David Weber's PAT to leave the Mustangs facing a 37-21 deficit. MSU moved from its 30 to midfield behind
Kaden Brown completions to Cox and
Fabian Baez, but a sack and Joseph Jefferson II's interception ended the drive. The defense gave the Mustangs another chance when
Kylan Egerson dropped Antoine Lee for a loss and Dishman intercepted Justin Brennan at the MSU 36 after pressure from
Isaiah Watters. After MSU was forced to punt, Egerson and
Kameron Griffin combined on an 8-yard tackle for loss that helped force a short CWU punt, setting up the Mustangs at the CWU 40. That short-field opportunity reached the CWU 19 on Brown's 12-yard completion to
Dalton Bailey, but Bailey fumbled and the Wildcats recovered before ending the third quarter with the ball and MSU trailing 37-21.
The Mustangs' fourth-quarter push centered on a 70-yard scoring drive that began at its 17 with 5:51 left, as
Kaden Brown hit
Malakai Matthews for 52 yards before
Ace Traylor finished it with an 11-yard touchdown run at 3:11. Earlier, CWU opened the fourth quarter with a touchdown to make it 44-21, and MSU moved from its 25 to the CWU 22 before turning it over on downs. After forcing a punt, the Mustangs struck on the Matthews gain and Traylor score, then converted the two-point try to make it 44-29. CWU took over at the MSU 20 after the onside kick, but the Mustangs stopped the drive on fourth-and-4 at the 14 with 1:40 remaining. MSU's final possession ended on downs at its 16, and CWU ran out the clock to finish off a 44-29 result.
Kaden Brown completed 23 of 37 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Dodds rushed 16 times for 114 yards and a touchdown and added two catches for 11 yards.
Brycen Lewis led the Mustangs with 14 tackles. Dishman recorded nine tackles, an interception and a blocked kick.
Justin Brennan completed 20 of 29 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns and added 28 rushing yards with a touchdown. Isaac Torres caught eight passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. Ryder Bumgarner rushed 22 times for 89 yards and three touchdowns and added two receptions for 9 yards. Trishion Sullivan recorded three tackles, including two sacks.
MSU hosts Angelo State on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 8 p.m. in Wichita Falls, Texas.
-- MSUMustangs.com --
