WA college football recap — Week 13

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Nov. 25—MOSES LAKE — As college football reaches the end of the regular season, most Washington teams are nearing key rivalry games. As they aim for a strong finish, see how they fared in week 13.

Washington State (5-6) at James Madison

Washington State built a 17-10 halftime lead on the road Saturday afternoon, but No. 21 James Madison used a pair of explosive second-half plays to edge the Cougars 24-20, according to a statement by WSU athletics.

"This one was extremely tough, in so many ways we played well enough to win the game, but a couple of explosive plays got us on defense," head coach Jimmy Rogers said.

Senior quarterback Zevi Eckhaus accounted for two touchdowns, connecting with junior wide receiver Tony Freeman for a 48-yard score midway through the second quarter before adding a 4-yard rushing touchdown just before halftime.

JMU tied the game late in the third quarter on a 68-yard touchdown pass, then moved ahead early in the fourth with a 58-yard scoring run. Stevens briefly put WSU back in front 20 — 17 with a field goal at the 9:24 mark, but the Dukes responded on the ensuing drive and held on over the final minutes.

The Cougars finish the regular season at home against Oregon State on Nov. 29 at 3:30 p.m.

Eastern Washington (5-7) at California Polytechnic State University

The Eagles' season came to an end in a 43-34 shootout loss to Cal Poly. They finish the season 4-4 in the Big Sky and 5-7 overall, according to a statement by EWU athletics.

"We knew it wasn't going to be a pretty game, but we made it a contest until about four minutes left. It's frustrating, but we had those momentum-building plays that were called back. We just have to play a little bit cleaner game. This team still battled," head coach Aaron Best said.

The game was an offensive track meet, with the teams combining for 818 yards of total offense. EWU had 318 yards of offense while the Mustangs put up 500.

Cal Poly opened with a two-possession lead in the first quarter, but Eastern stayed close throughout the game. EWU tied the game in the third quarter and took the lead late in the quarter. The Mustangs would score 13-straight points to go ahead for good in the game.

Making his first collegiate start, Kaden Rolfsness rushed for 71 yards on 19 carries, scoring three touchdowns. Rolfsness completed 23-of-43(53.4%) of his passes for 236 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Washington (8-3) at UCLA

Demond Williams Jr. scored on two quarterback keepers and threw for two touchdowns, and Alex McLaughlin returned a fumble for a 59-yard TD to help Washington rout UCLA 48-14 on Saturday night, according to a statement by UW athletics.

"Good win by the team, excited by the way our guys competed. From the very beginning, I thought our defense played outstanding. They were aggressive, physical; they went after the ball," head coach Jedd Fisch said.

Williams was 17-of-26 for 213 yards passing, hitting Dezmen Roebuck with an 18-yard score and Decker DeGraaf with a 24-yard TD. Williams ran for TDs of 25 and 11 yards. The Huskies piled up 212 rushing yards to 58 for UCLA. They had 25 first downs to 10 for the Bruins and were 4 of 11 on third down to 2 of 13 for UCLA. Adam Mohammed finished with a career-high 108 yards on 21 carries.

The Bruins lost their fourth game in a row, tying their season-worst skid, while playing what could have been their final regular-season game at the historic Rose Bowl because of an imbroglio between the university and the City of Pasadena involving UCLA's lease.

The Dawgs also cashed in on a fake field goal at the Washington 41. McLaughlin recovered the ball and returned it for a TD, extending the Huskies' lead to 20-0 in the second.

The Huskies are in line for a bowl game for the second year in a row under Fisch. The Huskies host No. 6 Oregon on Nov. 29 at 12:30 p.m.

Central Washington (10-2) vs Western Colorado

The Wildcats' season came to an abrupt end after falling 27-20 to Western Colorado in the first round of the Division II playoffs. Despite the loss, it was still a historic season for CWU as they won their first-ever Lone Star Conference championship in school history.

"Our guys fought really hard but I think that the better team won today, they played cleaner, they converted on third down at a better clip than we did, they didn't turn the ball over like we did in crucial moments in the game and you have to tip your hat to them, they played cleaner football than we did today," head coach Chris Fisk said.

Western Colorado took a commanding lead 14-10, over the Wildcats by halftime. CWU struck early as McGill connected with Taylor for a 60-yard gain and Taylor took it the final 13 yards for the touchdown two plays later and with Weber's PAT, made it 17-14 CWU with 13:17 left in the third.

The CWU defense used the momentum and stuffed Western Colorado into a punt and once again the 'Cats made their way downfield with a big boost from Beau Phillips' 31-yard rush as Weber tacked on a 41-yard field goal to make it 20-14 CWU with 5:13 left in the third.

The Mountaineers used the remainder of the quarter to make their way downfield and eventually Ramon Ruiz broke through for a three-yard touchdown and with Tasei's PAT once again gave Western Colorado the lead, 21-20.

Another fumble by the 'Cats to begin the fourth quarter gave the ball back to the Mountaineers.

Back-to-back punts saw Western Colorado take possession again, but the WCU offense made quick work with a 41-yard connection from Nash to Joshua Dixon, but King blocked the PAT to make it 27-20 WCU with 6:58 left. WCU was able to hold the lead until time ran out to eliminate the Wildcats from the playoffs.

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