Central Washington looked very strong Thursday in the opening day of the Las Vegas Invitational CRC Qualifier.

The Wildcats shut out Buffalo 34-0, Tulane 50-0, and beat Georgetown 34-5 on their way to the second-best points difference of the day (Lindenwood was a little better).

“It was a good team performance and defense was working well for us,” said Head Coach Todd Thornley, adding that his players did well to trust each other and not over-pursue attackers.

“We made some good decisions and when we had a good one-on-one matchup we made it work,” said Thornley, who added that his team’s 50-0 defeat of Tulane was possibly his team’s strongest performance.

The Wildcats were very strong at the point of contact, as would be expected. They have a number of athletic, mobile big men.

“We have four or five guys who can go out there and do the job, and they did,” said Thornley.

Scrumhalf Corey Nuti kept the attack moving and continually put his teammates in good position to make ground. Ian Wright was dangerous in open field, while in tight captain Vili Toluta’u set the ton physically.

It all added up to a very good day for Central Washington, which looks ahead to Dixie State in the quarterfinals, and if they win that game, a semifinal date with either Clemson or Santa Clara.