Colorado School of Mines and Western Washington to Square off at 23rd-Annual Dixie Rotary Bowl

The Colorado School of Mines Orediggers and the Western Washington University Vikings have accepted invitations to play in the 23rd-Annual Dixie Rotary Bowl Game, as announced by bowl director Gary Benson announced Monday afternoon in a press conference held during the St. George Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon held at the Holiday Inn. The game will be played Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008, at 12 noon (MST), at Hansen Stadium in St. George.

The 2008 Dixie Rotary Bowl match-up will mark the first-ever meeting between the Orediggers and Vikings on the gridiron. For WWU, the 2008 Dixie Rotary Bowl will be the Vikings’ first postseason bowl game in school history, while CSM will be making its second-straight Dixie Rotary Bowl appearance. In the 2007 Dixie Rotary Bowl, the Orediggers faced Western Oregon and came up on the short end of a 26-12 loss to the Wolves (12/01/07).

The first-ever Dixie Rotary Bowl played with NCAA Division II teams took place in 2006, when Fort Lewis College defeated Dixie State College of Utah, 24-14. Prior to that, the bowl game was the premiere junior college bowl game in the country for 20 years, beginning in 1986, when Dixie (UT) College defeated Butler (KS) CC, 36-33.

The Dixie Rotary Bowl began a transition to the NCAA Division II level in 2006, to coincide with Dixie State College of Utah’s move from NJCAA competition to four-year NCAA status. In 2007, the Dixie Rotary Bowl finalized a participation agreement with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), which officially welcomed back football as a conference sport this past season, with league members Central Washington, Dixie State, Humboldt State, Western Oregon and Western Washington. Under the agreement, each conference will send its top-placing team that does not receive an NCAA Division II football playoff bid.

Colorado School of Mines, representing the RMAC, won four of its final five games of the season en route to an 8-3 overall record, including a 7-2 conference mark, which was good for a t-second finish with Nebraska-Kearney. However, the Orediggers earned the Dixie Rotary Bowl berth by way of a 37-20 home triumph over Nebraska-Kearney in CSM’s penultimate game this past Nov. 1. Oredigger head coach Bob Stitt (Doane College; 59-41 at CSM) is in his ninth year at the helm at CSM.

The Oredigger offense is paced by junior quarterback David Pesek (6-3, 200; Centennial, Colo./ Arapahoe HS), who led the RMAC in total offense (248.8 ypg) and passing (227.9 ypg) for the second-straight season. Pesek completed a league-best 65.2 percent (225-for-345) of his pass attempts for 2,507 yards and a career-high 21 touchdowns. Pesek’s favorite target is junior wide receiver Adam Saur (6-3, 190; San Antonio, Texas/Clark HS), who caught 67 passes for a team-high 873 yards (13.0 ypc) and a team-leading 13 touchdowns. CSM also boast a pair of 500-yard rushers on the season, led by senior running back Corey Huck (5-7, 190; Westminster, Colo./Monarch HS), who rushed for 599 yards on 130 carries and one touchdown, while Pesek gained 521 yards on 132 carries with five TDs.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebacker Nick Haniszewski (6-2, 220; Honey Creek, Iowa/Roncalli Catholic HS) returns to the Dixie Rotary Bowl as one of CSM’s leading tacklers with 70 total tackles, including 35 solo stops, to go with 14 TFLs, 5.0 sacks and two forced fumbles. Meanwhile, sophomore defensive lineman Marc Schiechl (6-3, 250; Lakewood, Colo./Bear Creek HS) leads the RMAC with 19 TFLs and 13.0 sacks. Senior safety Drew Ferren (6-3, 205; Lyons, Colo./Lyons HS) and sophomore defensive back Kyle Goracke (6-3, 189; Tecumseh, Neb./Tecumseh HS) co-lead the team with four interceptions apiece.

GNAC representative Western Washington earned its first-ever Dixie Rotary Bowl appearance after finishing second in league play with a 5-3 record (5-5 overall). The Vikings enter the Dixie Rotary Bowl having lost three of their last five games, including a 49-21 setback at GNAC champion and then No. 8-ranked Central Washington last Saturday in Ellensburg. A Dixie Rotary Bowl victory would give the Vikings a winning record for the first time since 2004. Third-year head coach Robin Ross (Washington State, 1977) is 12-19 in his tenure at WWU.

“Getting to the post-season is a very positive step for the program,” Coach Ross said. “Last spring, one of our primary goals was to get to the Rotary Bowl, and we’ve been able accomplish that.”

Senior quarterback Adam Perry (6-0, 190; Long View, Wash./R.A. Long HS) is currently second in the GNAC in total offense (299.2 ypg) and passing yards (296.9 ypg), having connected on 219-of-342 (.640) of his pass attempts for 2,969 yards and 26 touchdowns, including a career-best 423 yards with three TD passes in a 29-27 win over Dixie State Sept. 27. Perry is complemented by a pair quality receivers, led by senior wideout Pat McCann (6-2, 205; Olympia, Wash./Olympia HS/College of the Canyons) with 52 receptions for a GNAC-best 971 yards and 13 touchdowns, including a 96-yard TD catch vs. Dixie State Sept. 27, which is a GNAC record for the longest TD pass play and second-longest in school history. In addition, fellow senior Travis McKee (6-5, 210; Bothell, Wash./Bothell HS) caught 50 balls for 742 yards and three TDs. On the ground, junior running back Randall Eldridge (5-10, 200; Lynnwood, Wash./Lynnwood HS/Chabot JC) gained 671 yards on 174 carries this season with three 100-yard efforts, including an even 100 yards on 21 carries last Saturday at CWU. Eldridge also co-led the team with four rushing touchdowns and had three more scores as a receiver.

On defense, Western Washington is led by the GNAC’s leading tackler in junior linebacker Caleb Jessup (6-0, 220; Kemore, Wash./Inglemoor HS), who racked up a league-best 114 total tackles, including 59 solo stops, to go with 6.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks. Meanwhile, sophomore defensive lineman Nick Rocco (5-1, 225; Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) led WWU with 12.5  TFLs and 6.5 sacks, which are good for fourth-overall in the GNAC individual defensive rankings, respectively.

Kick-off for the 23rd-Annual Dixie Rotary Bowl is slated for Saturday, Dec. 6, at 12 noon at Hansen Stadium, located at 700 East 500 South in St. George, Utah. This year’s Dixie Rotary Bowl will be broadcast live by FANZ-TV, which will distribute the game across its affiliates nationally reaching over 12.5 million homes. FANZ-TV has reached agreements with the Lone Star Network (2.3 million) and Altitude Sports (5.4 million) to broadcast this year’s Dixie Rotary Bowl, adding an additional 7.7 million homes. The games will also appear on the Altitude’s DirecTV Ch. 644 & 661 and DISH Network’s Ch. 410, bringing another 30 million homes to the footprint. The network will update the complete list of coverage areas on its website at www.fanz-tv.com.

Other events include the third-annual Junior Rotary Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 7 p.m., at Hansen Stadium, featuring a pair of youth all-star teams from Washington County. The Dixie Rotary Bowl Banquet will be held at the Dixie Center on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m., emceed by KSL-TV sportscaster Rod Zundel, and featuring keynote speaker Phil Tuckett, a 30-year veteran of NFL Films, for which he worked as a producer, director, editor, and cameraman, and was named Vice President of Special Projects in 1982. During his career at NFL?Films, Tuckett won 30 Emmy Awards for shows like “Football America,” “The 100 Yard Universe,” “Autumn Ritual,” and “Lost Treasures of NFL Films.”

In addition, the annual Dixie Rotary Bowl Golf Tournament will be held at Sunbrook Golf Course Friday, Dec. 5, at 10 a.m., as will the 23rd-Army Band Concert later that evening in the Dixie State College Cox Auditorium at 7 p.m. Prior to the kick-off Saturday, the annual Dixie Rotary Bowl parade will take place along Tabernacle Street in St. George, followed by a tailgate party at Hansen Stadium at 11 a.m.

Tickets for the game are $25 for reserved seating, $10 for general admission, and can be purchased at the DSC Avenna Center Box Office or by calling (435) 652-7800. For additional information on all Dixie Rotary Bowl activities, visit www.rotarybowl.com or call (435) 688-9282.  

The Dixie Rotary Bowl was initiated as a community service project of the Rotary Club of St. George. The bowl was conceived in an effort to further the club’s service goals and objectives. The Dixie Rotary Bowl was born in 1986 and remains a service project of the Rotary Club of St. George to this day.

The bowl became prominently recognized throughout the country as one of the top junior college bowl games in the nation. Beginning in 1991, the annual bowl game was broadcast around the world on Armed Forces Radio Network, while the 1996 game was televised live to 33 states and millions of homes by Prime Sports Network, the first live broadcast of a junior college bowl game in history.