Central steamrolls Western in Seattle

By Todd Milles | The News Tribune • Published October 12, 2008

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SEATTLE - Mike Reilly isn't a guy who gets stuck on one play, or one game, even as important as the "Battle in Seattle."

But it was quite a night for the Central Washington quarterback, who not only helped his 11th-ranked Wildcats' team take home a convincing 50-28 victory over Western Washington in front of 12,258 at Qwest Field, he also collected a few important marks:

With 371 passing yards and four touchdown passes, Reilly zoomed past Lincoln High product Jon Kitna for the all-time TD record. Reilly now has 103; Kitna 99.

With his 10-yard TD first-quarter strike to Sam Togar, not only did the senior break the tie with Kitna, he broke a tie with Mount Union's Bill Borchert for the NCAA record for consecutive games with a TD passes - now with 41.

Reilly is 4-0 in "Battle of Seattle" games since he came to Central (6-1, 5-0 in GNAC) from Washington State in 2005. The Wildcats won their sixth in a row over Western on Saturday night, too.

"I'm proud of it, but I'm proud of our team," Reilly said. "That's not a one-night thing. That's four years of work by a lot of people."

Western (3-3, 3-2) tried everything to disrupt Reilly, who's considered a possible late-round NFL draft selection. Coach Robin Ross played half the game with six defensive backs, yet blitzed Reilly at will.

But Reilly's experience proved too valuable. After his 10-yard TD strike pass to Togar in the first quarter, he immediately got another chance when Western's Anthony Zackary fumbled after a hit by Ryan Dyer on the kickoff, and the Wildcats recovered at the Western 30.

On the first play, Reilly pump-faked to bring in Western's defensive backs, and that left receiver Jamal Weems plenty of room to streak down the right sideline for a 30-yard TD reception, and Wildcats' 16-0 lead with 45 seconds remaining in the quarter.

"(Reilly) has such a calm attitude about everything," Central receiver Johnny Spevak said. "Not (being) cocky, but we feel we're very efficient that nobody is going to stop us but ourselves."