BYU Makes Statement in Win Over Central Washington
BYU Makes Statement in Win Over Central Washington
BYU defeated Central Washington 24-23 over the weekend to shake up the rankings and the D1A landscape.
After close losses to Life in the fall and Saint Mary's in the winter, the Cougars managed to hold off a CWU team that has beaten Saint Mary's and Army.
"Central is a great team and we knew we had to play our best game of the year to win," said BYU Head Coach Steve St. Pierre. "But we made it plenty hard on ourselves."
BYU started strong and scored early—a penalty and maul putting hooker Lilo Clark over for a 5-0 lead. Central answered with a penalty goal from Oliver Clark—the result of some dogged defense from the Cougars that prevented them the Wildcats from breaking through.
Midway through the first half, a powerful, bullocking run from prop Gabe Mahuinga got BYU within 12 meters and from that ruck scrumhalf Strider Fountaine dummied to create a little gap and then scampered right through. Captan Taysan Hammer slotted the conversions for a 12-3 lead.
Central Washington inched closer but just before halftime with a try from Tia'i Vavao, bringing CWU to 12-10 with Cline's conversion.
BYU, however, kept CWU at at arm's length. A burst through the midfield from wing Connor Olvera powered through to the line, and with a good clearout from Brook Vaitohi, there he was again ... Fountaine picked up and dove over to score his second try. Hammer converted and it was 19-10.
Cline added a penalty and it was 19-13 at halftime.
The second half started with Vavao's second try. After a somewhat iffy time at Central, where he wasn't starting regularly, Vavao has blossomed since his tour with the USA U20 team in the summer.
Vavao Sees Positives in U20 Task Ahead
He continues to score key tries and this one, taking an offload close in and putting his head down to finish it off, put his side ahead, with Cline's conversion, 20-19. Cline added a penalty and Central might have been forgiven for thinking they were ready to take control.
But it was BYU that scored next ... and last. Midway through the second half they got into the Central Washington 22 and worked a few phases before some space opened up on the wing. A nice catch-pass from Mahuinga (something he unleashed on the third BYU try as well) and then a nice catch-pass from center Cole Semu set up No. 8 Ben Austin to take the edge. He did and offloaded to Fountaine in support who was stopped just short. Lock Kyle Klintworth picked up and stretched over.
That would do it, 24-23. BYU defended their line through much of the final 20 minutes, just as they had through other periods of the game, and Centra just couldn't finish it off.
They did get over the line with five minutes to go, but the try was called back when the AR saw a forward pass.
"It was a slow start by us today and we did not quite catch up in time," said CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley. "We certainly had multiple chances in the last 15 minutes to finish the job but sadly did not get the rub of the green. Credit to BYU, they are certainly a good team that is so hard to beat on their turf in front of a big crowd. We wish them all the best in their season going forward."
St. Pierre praised his team's work ethic.
"I was proud of the way the guys stuck together and fought for the win," said St. Pierre. "The guys are getting a better feel for each other and how they want to play. They have been working hard to get ready for these big games."
And the big games are still to come. The Cougars are heavily favored against rivals Utah, but it's still a rivalry game. Then they take on Cal March 31 in Provo (rescheduled from April 1 due to an LDS conference). After that will be the playoffs. Where they sit for that is a huge question after this result.