Let's stop short of calling Humboldt State's win over Central Washington a thumping, but the Lumberjacks were clearly the better team on Saturday in Ellensburg. Fans may point to HSU's 512 yards of total offense and Lyndon Rowells's 223 yards on the ground as dominance - and it was - but other thoughts can counter with the fact that CWU lost by only 10 points and threw for 300-plus yards.
At the end of the day, the only stat that matters is the scoreboard, which told the tale of Humboldt's 30-20 win in front of a CWU Homecoming crowd of nearly 5,000 fans.
The Lumberjacks ended CWU's GNAC homefield dominance for a decade and more importantly took another step toward a GNAC title while blowing out the faint glimmer of hope CWU had at re-entering the conference race.
At first, it looked as though the game would pick up right where September's contest left off, each team matching each other blow for blow like a fight. Humboldt opened the game with a 53-yard drive, only to watch Mike Proulx throw a red zone interception. Later, CWU would take advantage of a short-field situation to gain the first lead of the game, but HSU responded to tie the game.
The telling series of events took place midway through the second quarter. CWU took the 14-7 lead and then looked as though the Wildcats would add to that by starting their next drive in Lumberjack territory only to run out of gas just outside of the red zone. Luckily for CWU, Josef Kistler's punt pinned the Lumberjacks at their own one-yard line. However, that didn't deter the 'Jacks from marching 99 yards on just five plays to get back into the end zone. Perhaps the biggest controversy of the day was when HSU's Dirk Dallas looked to be stopped near the 30-yard line after what looked to be a nice first-down completion. To some, the play looked dead, but apparently it wasn't. Kudos to Dallas for playing through the whistle as there didn't appear to be a whistle blown, although the CWU defense backing off of the play would indicate otherwise. Was the play dead? Who knows and at this point, who cares? But Dallas did score, and despite a blocked PAT by CWU's Taylor Tanasse, that seemed to take a little bit of the wind out of CWU's sails.
To add insult to injury, CWU couldn't run out the clock to end the half, punting to Humboldt and the 'Jacks marched another 35 yards to put Brian Blumberg in FG range, where he split the uprights to claim the lead going into halftime, 16-14.
Obviously, there is plenty more than just one half of play, and while Humboldt never really put CWU away, the Wildcats never really could do much more than play catch-up.
CWU hits the road to Dixie with a new quarterback taking snaps. Late in the fourth quarter on Saturday Ryan Robertson was hurt with a hip injury (no official word on the extent of the injury) but based on the fact that Robertson was carried from the field after about 15 minutes of observation on the playing field from medical personnel, it's safe to say that North Dakota State transfer Jose Mohler (who threw for a touchdown on the very next play) will get the nod.
Humboldt State now has to travel to Western Oregon. WOU has been tested already this year by solid teams, including at Grand Valley and at Abilene Christian.
Humboldt State came into the weekend ranked 18th in last week's D2football poll. Four teams ranked above HSU lost last weekend, so the 'Jacks may continue to move up in the poll. The regional rankings are what determine the playoff picture and fans new to paying attention to rankings may be surprised to see Humboldt's regional ranking not reflect the recent national ranking respect the Lumberjacks have been receiving. Simply put, though, win and you're in, but given the fact that the MIAA and LSC have a few very good teams that all have better strength of schedules, Humboldt's Lumberjacks may still find themselves yearning for regional ranking respect.
But that issue is for another day when the regional rankings are released later this month.

Western Oregon turned a close game after three quarters into a fourth quarter rout as the Wolves turned a three-point advantage into a 34-10 win in Monmouth.
WOU scored three times on its first four fourth-quarter possessions while Simon Fraser countered with two punts and three turnovers in that same span.
Trevor Gates had another outstanding performance for Western Oregon, hauling in eight receptions for 135 yards and one score. Kenneth Haynes had two scores on 90 yards rushing for the Wolves.
Conversely, SFU's Bo Palmer was corralled for just 43 yards on 16 carries. What kept the Clan in the game until late in the fourth quarter was its ability to pass the ball for the second straight game. Trey Wheeler connected with five different receivers for 286 yards with Bobby Pospischil catching 10 passes and Tore Corrado netting 123 yards receiving.
The most glaring statistic of the day however, was points off of turnovers. Western Oregon made Simon Fraser pay big time. The Clan suffered two fumbles and two picks and WOU scored 21 points off of those miscues, including its last score when DB Bryce Peila scored on a 48-yard pick-6 (Peila had both interceptions for the Wolves).
At 4-1 in GNAC play, Western Oregon now hosts Humboldt State (4-0 in the GNAC) on Saturday. An upset and the Wolves are very much in the GNAC race.
Simon Fraser takes on NAIA member Southern Oregon.

Azusa Pacific continued to do what the Cougars do best, by punishing the Dixie State defense with a potent rushing attack. Dixie continued to have the same problems that have been plaguing the Red Storm all season by not protecting its quarterbacks.
APU had 442 yards in total offense - check that, it was 442 yards just in rushing, as part of 531 yards of offense on the day. DSC countered with a very balanced rushing and passing game, unfortunately the balance was 109 yards on the ground and 136 yards in the air. Azusa's John van den Raadt (145 yards rushing, two TDs) and Johnell Murphy (142 rushing yards) both had more yards on the ground than the Red Storm team.
Defensively Azusa did what other teams have done as well - get to the quarterback - as three DSC signal callers were sacked a combined nine times while completing just 12 of 30 pass attempts.
Dixie now hosts Central Washington this weekend.