Oct. 25, 2008

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

by Joe Sunnen, The Bellingham Herald

Sending Western Washington's 16 seniors off with a win in their final home game would be the perfect end to a sometimes difficult past few years for the Vikings' football program.

Getting that last home win against former WWU coach Rob Smith as he leads Humboldt State into Civic Stadium for the first time would make it even better. That the win would also keep WWU in the race for a spot in the Rotary Bowl, well, that's just great, too.

Subplots, side stories, and emotions will be swirling around Civic Stadium when WWU (3-4, 3-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) meets the Lumberjacks (2-6, 0-5) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25. The game that was once billed as Smith's return to Bellingham after 17 years as the Vikings' head coach, now has postseason implications for WWU.

"This is all about our seniors," WWU coach Robin Ross said. "This is their last home game at Civic. A lot have been here five years and have done a lot and been through a lot for our program."

If Western is going to reach the Rotary Bowl this season they'll likely have to win at least two of their final three games. The Vikings will also have to hope that Central Washington earns an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II national playoffs. The bowl berth is awarded to the top team from the GNAC that doesn't reach the NCAA Division II national playoffs.

Despite having dropped its last two games, the bowl is still very much within reach for the Vikings. And even in defeat the Vikings have played well this season, Western is coming off a 42-32 loss to NCAA Division I-FCS North Dakota last week.

The first step toward reaching that bowl game will be beating Humboldt State on Saturday. Western defeated the Lumberjacks earlier in the season, 30-14, in Arcata, Calif., but the game was closer than the score would indicate. Western led 17-14 going into the fourth quarter before scoring 13 unanswered points.

"It seemed like that game was 17-14 forever," Ross said. "It was a tight game all the way through. All of a sudden we score a couple of touchdowns in the fourth quarter and open things up, but for three quarters it could have gone either way."

Even with a win against the Lumberjacks already this season Western isn't taking them lightly. The Vikings learned that past success doesn't predict future success already this season when they defeated Western Oregon on the road three weeks after losing to the Wolves at home.

"Getting that second win is never easy," Ross said. "Western Oregon is something that we talked about earlier in the week. You can't look past anyone just because you won that first game.

The Vikings also can't afford to be distracted. Humboldt State doesn't have a great record, but they've played teams tough this season. And there's no doubt Smith will have his team ready.

"They make some big plays," Ross said. "Rob will run his trick plays. There are some halfback passes in there, reverses, reverse passes, and there is a lot to prepare for. You know we've worked on all of them, and there are probably a few we haven't worked on, but we'll be ready for them. It should be a good game."