Central Washington Defeats West Point
Central Washington Defeats West Point
Central Washington defeated West Point 36-14 to cap off Army's two-game West Coast tour.
The Black Knights were coming off a competitive loss to to Cal and played tough throughout. But Central Washington's team approach and consistent adherence to their pattern saw them through.
Army were on the attack around midfield in the first couple of minutes of the game when Mitchell Hirose intercepted a pass and took off for the corner. That was a big blow but West Point came right back to equalize at 7-7, bashing it over with the forwards with flanker Connor Fay finishing it off. The Wildcats looked good through the rest of the half and tries from Isaiah Simera-Saldana and Calvin Liulamaga made it 17-7.
With time winding down in the first half a brilliant counterattack was capped off on the wing with Hirose setting up hooker Jona Auvaa. Jac Tregoning's second touchline conversion made it 24-7 at the break.
Army scored right after halftime with Fay blasting through and sidestepping one tackler to stretch over under the posts. But CWU clamped down after that.
Drew Farrington's try extended the lead and Rhys Jones finished the scoring late in the game.
It was a huge result for Central Washington, which is making a serious run for the #1 ranking.
"We held onto the ball well at times and then managed to win some big moments under pressure defensively," said CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley. "That gave us momentum. In the second half they made some uncharacteristic errors that allowed us to keep scoreboard pressure on them."
CWU had the measure of the kicking game and were just superbly consistent. The victory makes the Wildcats 7-0, with wins over UBC, Western Washington, Trinity Western (twice), UCLA, Saint Mary's, and now Army.
Next up is BYU on March 18 in Provo, and after that CWU hosts Arizona and Lindenwood. For Army, meanwhile, they host Navy and Arkansas State March 24 and April 1.
