CHS grad Nick Streubel (left) was an All-Conference lineman on a Central Washington University football team which won a league title and finished 11-1. (Photo courtesy Nanette Streubel)
It was there. Then it wasn’t.
Unable to hold on to a three-touchdown lead, and unable to stop the best quarterback in NCAA D-II football on the (disputed) final play of regulation, Central Washington University saw its season end Saturday afternoon.
The undefeated Wildcats, roaring behind an offensive line which includes Coupeville grad Nick Streubel, built a 28-7 halftime lead on visiting Texas A & M-Commerce, but couldn’t stick the landing.
Luis Perez, the front runner for the Harlon Hill trophy (the D-II version of the Heisman) tossed a game-tying “touchdown” on the final play of regulation, then his defense stood tall in a 34-31 win in double overtime.
With the loss, Central finishes 11-1 and joins Fort Hays State as the second #1 seed to be knocked out of a wild-and-woolly playoffs.
Of the remaining eight teams with national title hopes, only three (#1 seeds Indiana, PA and West Alabama and #2 seed Minnesota State-Mankato) were supposed to still be alive at this point.
Central, making its first trip to the playoffs since 2009, was coming off a bye week and looked phenomenal in the first half.
Sparked by a defense which picked off Perez three times before the break (he had just six interceptions against 38 touchdowns entering the day), the Wildcats dominated.
While he doesn’t have the eye-popping numbers of his Texas counterpart, Central QB Reilly Hennessey held his own in the early going.
He opened the scoring on a 10-yard sprint to the end zone, then came back to fire a five-yard TD strike to Christian Stafford.
After Perez got Texas on the board with a 56-yard scoring bomb right at the end of the first, Central responded with back-to-back scores early in the second.
Hennessey tossed another short TD pass, this one a 3-yarder to Kyle Self, before Austin Pernell followed his line in on a 1-yard scoring run.
Up 28-7 at the half, Central was rolling.
The second half, however, wouldn’t be quite as peachy, as the Wildcats forced their fans to chew some fingernails down the stretch.
Texas sliced away at the lead, getting a third-quarter score on a run, then tacking on a fourth-quarter TD on a Perez pass.
Still, it looked like Central would hold tough. Up 28-21, the ‘Cats had Texas facing a fourth-and-seven from the CWU 37 with under a minute to play.
If Perez was ruffled, though, he didn’t show it, pegging a 16-yard strike to the left to keep his team’s season going.
After another pass pushed the ball all the way down to the two-yard line, Central’s defense stiffened. The Wildcats flattened Perez on a run from the four, and pushed Texas to another fourth down.
A & M passed its final test, partially due to the lack of instant replay.
The game-tying four-yard TD pass was ruled a catch on the field, despite some legitimate question from viewers as to whether the receiver truly had the ball.
If this was the NFL, I would bet money the call would have been overruled and Central would be celebrating.
Instead, they were off to overtime, where the two teams traded possessions starting at the 25-yard line, and, eventually, dueling field goals.
Overtime #2 started with Central in possession of the ball, but Hennessey was almost picked twice and the Wildcats, who would have been facing a very long field goal, went for it on fourth-and-15, but failed.
Perez, who finished with 394 yards on 41-65 passing, handed the ball off three straight times, setting up All-League kicker Kristov Martinez.
The Texas booter split the uprights from 38 yards out, putting the (sour) cherry on top of the sundae.
While the loss was disappointing, it shouldn’t take away from the season Streubel had.
The former Wolf three-sport star returned from an injury which cost him last year and was an All-Conference First-Team offensive lineman as a red-shirt sophomore.
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