Weber State football: Defense, special teams lead the way in 41-5 win over Western Oregon
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- Weber State tight end Justin Malone (88) reaches out to stiff-arm Western Oregon linebacker Anthony Mack Jr. (1) in a college football game Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State offensive lineman Noah Atagi (79) and tight end Hayden Meacham (96) celebrate with Damon Bankston (26) after Bankston’s rushing touchdown against Western Oregon on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State defenders Jack Kelly (17) and Maxwell Anderson (3) sack Western Oregon quarterback Kainoa Jones in a college football game Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden.
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- Weber State receiver Haze Hadley (80) takes a hit from Western Oregon’s Ryan Minniti (24) during a college football game Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State running back Damon Bankston stumbles after trying to stay inbounds near the end zone during a game against Western Oregon on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State quarterback Bronson Barron escapes pressure during a college football game against Western Oregon on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State running back Dontae McMillan (28) rushes the ball as Western Oregon defensive back Daron Ulrich Jr. (7) approaches during a college football game Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Western Oregon receiver Thomas Wright (11) just misses a long pass attempt as Weber State’s Maxwell Anderson (3) defends during a college football game Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State receiver Haze Hadley (80) tries to leap over the tackle of Western Oregon’s Tiwfaluk Umulap (37) during a college football game Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Weber State quarterback Bronson Barron throws a pass in a college football game against Western Oregon on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- A wide view of Stewart Stadium is seen during a college football game between Weber State and Western Oregon on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, in Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
OGDEN — The first sequence of Weber State’s 2022 football season saw Josh Davis fumble a kick-return catch, WSU lose yardage on a negative rush and a penalty, and Western Oregon’s Anthony Mack Jr. block a punt out of the end zone to give the Division II visitors a 2-0 lead.
While that didn’t portend anything important about the final score, it was one of several moments or themes head coach Jay Hill said the Wildcats would need to address going forward.
Weber State spread five rushing touchdowns to four running backs, Haze Hadley starred in the punt-return game and the Wildcats pulled away for a 41-5 victory Thursday night at Stewart Stadium.
“Lot of good … the field position the offense had all game was maybe as good as I’ve ever seen in my career,” Hill said. “The reality is we have tons to clean up, tons to improve upon but very excited about the potential of this football team if we continue to find ways to build on what we did. We’ve still got to get better throwing the ball, and we can be a bit more efficient running it.”
Defensive back Maxwell Anderson intercepted two passes for Weber State’s defense, which allowed a total of 95 yards to Western Oregon — helped by two bad snaps on WOU punts that netted at least 40 negative yards to the Wolves’ rushing tally. Western Oregon’s minus-34 rushing yards represent a Weber State single-game school record in fewest rushing yards allowed.
“We still have a lot of things we can work on but I feel like we came out and executed for the most part, made a couple turnovers. The D-line allowed us to get picks in the back end,” Anderson said. “I like the way we came out with aggression, we started from the jump, big play the first drive that got us kind of rolling on offense as well. We got the game started.”
Damon Bankston, Josh Davis and Kris Jackson (twice) punched in short rushing touchdowns. Steven Shoats-Thomas capped the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard scoring run.
Davis led with 53 yards on 11 carries, and Bankston totaled 42 yards on 10 carries. Colter May (nine carries, 35 yards) and Shoats-Thomas (five carries, 33 yards) added some yardage in the fourth quarter.
Jacob Sharp led receivers with 43 yards on two big slant plays. Hadley added two catches for 33 yards.
Bronson Barron threw 16 of 28 for 152 yards. He escaped two would-be interceptions off the hands of WOU’s best defender, linebacker Jaylin Parnell, in the first quarter before settling in as the Wildcats operated Micky Mental’s new offense for the first time in a game.
The Wildcats totaled 343 yards on 77 offensive plays, scoring just two touchdowns in the second half. The third quarter saw plenty of missed opportunities, with Barron misfiring on two big-potential throws to Ty MacPherson and, on a rollout to the left, missed seeing freshman Marvin Session running free down the sideline for what would’ve been an easy touchdown.
“We need to block them a little bit better and then we’ve got to get the yards that are there that are blocked for us,” Hill said. “That, in a new offense, and as they continue to hone in on what the tempo of this thing is like and what we’re really trying to hit, I think that will only get better. We need the passing game to be a little bit more productive than it was today, and we need the run game just to be a little bit more productive.”
Hadley had punt returns of 47, 45 and 33 yards on his way to 131 punt return yards, the second-best single-game total in WSU history. His first big return set up a short, 14-yard scoring drive that put Weber State up 14-2 in the first quarter.
“Today was awesome because I felt like every time I caught the ball, I just had a gap, I had a lane to run to,” Hadley said. “Knowing that I’ve got Max and Ed (Heckard) and T-Mac (MacPherson), all those guys back there to protect me, it’s honestly just making one guy miss and I know if I make that one guy miss then it’s going to be open field. Having the opportunity to be back there and do punt returns was awesome tonight, but I give all credit to the guys blocking for me.”
Hadley’s other two big returns, however, went to the Western Oregon 9- and 23-yard lines where the offense only netted three more points.
Defensive end Shad Pulsipher led WSU with seven tackles and safety Naseme Colvin, who racked up most of his tackles in the first quarter, had six tackles including three for loss. Defensive tackle Zeke Birch had two tackles for loss.
“I thought Max played very good,” Hill said as he gave a first-blush assessment of the defensive standouts. “I didn’t see them get hardly anything on Kam Garrett. Desmond Williams, it’s really good to have him back in there. Zeke Birch had a huge game. Kalisi Moli continues to be one of our best players. Winston Reid I saw do a lot of good things. Garrett Beck had the interception. I think that side of the ball did a lot of really good things.”
Anderson missed adding to his big individual night early in the fourth quarter when he blocked a Western Oregon punt right off the punter’s foot and had an easy touchdown, but the play was whistled dead and referees ruled that the punter had put his knee down when collecting the snap.
That gave the ball to Weber State at the WOU 20, which resulted in a Kyle Thompson 39-yard field goal.
Senior receiver Thomas Wright was the star for Western Oregon, hauling in four catches for 80 yards and just missing a pair of other potentially big plays.
Though the bad punt snaps pushed the Wolves’ yardage totals backward, their run game had no answer for Weber’s defensive line either. Top running back Omari Dixon-Land totaled 2 yards on 14 carries, for example.
The Wildcats next play Sept. 10 at Utah State.
AROUND THE BIG SKY
Portland State just missed an FBS upset in a 21-17 loss at San Jose State. The Vikings staged a goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter only to see a punt return and several pass interference penalties set SJSU up deep in PSU territory. The Spartans scored with 1:11 left to take the lead.
Fresno State beat Cal Poly 35-7 and Arizona State topped Northern Arizona 40-3.