Collins comes up big for Broncos

In the Western Michigan University football team’s annual “Battle for the Cannon” with Central Michigan, Justin Collins had a blast.

The Fairfield High graduate caught just two passes, but they went for 28- and 22-yard fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Broncos (4-6, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) rallied for a 42-31 win over the Chippewas. It was the first road win over CMU since 2002 and just the second since 1973.

Collins has 12 catches for 78 yards on the season and ranks second on the team with four TD grabs and an average of 14.8 yards per catch.

Every play is big in a one-point game, but Jason Verrett (Rodriguez) came up huge for Texas Christian (6-3, 3-3 Big 12) in the Horned Frogs’ 39-38 win over West Virginia in double overtime. The former Mustang blocked a 36-yard field goal in the first overtime after TCU had missed during its possession. He also had four tackles and returned an interception 16 yards. On the season Verrett has 35 tackles, including four for loss and leads the team with five interceptions, 12 pass breakups and 17 passes defended.

Terrance Alston (Vanden, Solano) saw action for Utah State (8-2, 4-0 Western Athletic Conference) as the Aggies burried Texas State 38-7. On the season, Alston has one interception and 19 tackles, 11 of those solo and two for losses with one sack and seven pass breakups.

In Pacific University’s heart-breaking 35-31 loss to Willamette, Craig Bailey (Fairfield) had six tackles, three of them solo, and two pass breakups for the Boxers (3-5, 2-3 Northwest Conference). On the season the former Falcon has 27 tackles, 11 solo, one interception and has has broken up five passes and defensed six others.

Basil Bandy (Rodriguez) had four tackles and broke up two passes as Fort Hays State (4-6, 3-6 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association) was edged 14-12 by Central Missouri. Bandy leads the team with three sacks and has 34 tackles, 15 of which are solo and 5.5 for losses to go with two quarterback hurries and four pass breakups.

In Fresno State’s 45-10 humbling of Hawaii, Marcel Jensen (Rodriguez) hauled in a 31-yard pass for the Bulldogs (7-3, 5-1 Mountain West Conference). He has 13 catches for 222 yards and one TD on the season.

Deone Bondurant (Fairfield, Solano) had one tackle as West Texas A&M (8-2, 6-1 Lone Star Conference) dropped a tough 52-48 decision to Midwestern State. The Buffaloes remain the LSC co-leader as Bondurant has 13 tackles on the season, two for losses, and a quarterback hurry.

Younger brother Tra’Mayne Bondurant (Fairfield) had seven tackles, including one for loss, as Arizona (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) was crushed 66-10 by UCLA. Bondurant is third on the team with 57 tackles, 37 of them solo, and leads the squad with 11.5 tackles for loss, which ranks ninth in the conference. He’s also intercepted a pass.

Dixie State dropped a 23-21 heartbreaker to Azuza Pacific as Myles Burton (Rodriguez) rushed 17 times for 76 yards and caught two passes for 24 yards for the Red Storm (3-7, 3-6 Great Northwest Athletic Conference). Erik Bonn (Vacaville Christian played for the Cougars (3-7, 3-6).

Markell Williams (Vacaville) had seven tackles, three solo and one for loss, as Sacramento State (6-4, 4-3 Big Sky) fell 20-17 to Montana State. The former Bulldog is fourth on the Hornets with 63 tackles, including 33 solo and five for losses with 2.5 sacks. He also has an interception.

In Washington State’s 49-6 loss to Utah, Deone Bucannon (Vanden) made six tackles for the Cougars (2-7, 0-6 Pac-12), three of them solo. Bucannon leads the team with 76 tackles, 16 more than the runner-up and tied for fourth in the Pac-12), 46 of them solo. He also tops the team with four interceptions, which is tied for third in the conference.

Myles Carelock (Vanden, Rodriguez) played for Southern Utah (4-6, 3-4 Big Sky) as the Thunderbirds lost 33-29 to North Dakota.

West Liberty (5-5, 4-4 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) dropped to .500 with a 21-3 loss to Concord as Tristen Devers (Armijo, Solano) caught a pass for 27 yards. On the year he’s hauled in 16 passes for 261 yards and one TD, leading the team with 16.3 yards per catch.

In a battle of nationally-ranked teams, No. 7 Eastern Washington doubled up No. 16 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 34-17 as Quincy Forte (Vacaville) ran 15 times for 83 yards for the Eagles (7-2, 5-1 Big Sky). He’s rushed 101 times for a team-high 432 yards and caught 11 passes for 91 yards. Alex Hubbard (Fairfield) led the Mustangs (7-2, 5-1 Big Sky) with 11 tackles, four of them solo, with 51 tackles and one interception on the season.

With quarterback Chad Hurst (Vanden) essentially taking the night off, Redlands 5-3, 5-1 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) pulverized Pomona-Pitzer 70-0. The former Viking completed six of seven passes for 111 yards and a 46-yard TD toss in the second quarter. He’s hit on 99 of 202 passes for 1,365 yards and 12 touchdowns with eight interception on the season while rushing for 225 yards and two more TDs.

In Army’s 41-21 upset of Air Force, Kyler Martin (Vacaville) had an assisted tackle for the Black Knights (2-7). He has five tackles on the year with two pass breakups and two passes defended.

Jordan Morrow (Rodriguez) caught two passes for six yards as Murray State (4-5, 3-3 Ohio Valley Conference) zapped Tennessee State 49-28. On the year, he’s caught 26 passes for 145 yards and two TDs.

Idaho State has dropped seven straight games, the latest a 50-10 loss to Northern Arizona in which Cameron Richmond (Rodriguez) caught five passes for 36 yards for the Bengals (1-8, 0-6 Big Sky). Richmond leads the team with 63 catches, is second with 698 receiving yards and third with four TD grabs.

Damon Treat (Vanden) caught a team-high six passes for 75 yards and ran three times for 28 yards as St. Cloud State (6-4, 4-2 Northern Sky Intercollegiate Conference North Division) mauled Minot State 57-10. Treat is third on the Huskies with 25 catches and fourth with 262 receiving yards.

Women’s soccer

Barbara Bakh (Solano) played one game for University of Mary (10–8), which saw its season end with a 2-1 loss to Minot State in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Bakh received a yellow card in her one outing.

With three former area players in action, Nyack (8-8-2) lost a shootout with Georgian Court in the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference tournament after the teams had tied after two overtimes. Sabrina Caires (Solano) scored the first goal for the Warriors in the 20th minute, while Sandy Garcia (Solano) and Alexsa Gonzalez (Solano) also saw action.

On the season, Caires has four goals on 21 shots to go with five assists, while Garcia has two goals on 30 shots with one assist and Gonzalez has one assist with five shots.

Columbia College reached Thursday’s American Midwest Conference title game at Park University with a 1-0 win over Hannibal-LaGrange in the semifinals. Erica Ramirez (Armijo, Solano) pitched the shutout in goal with four saves. In 11 games, Ramirez has a 6-2 record with 22 saves.

With Natalie Guerrieri (Solano) seeing action, Biola blanked Hope International 3-0 in the first round and edged Westmont 2-1 in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament. The Eagles (12-6-1) advance to Friday’s title game at Vanguard.

Texas A&M International had its best season ever come to an end with a 4-0 loss to Dallas Baptist in the Heartland Conference tournament. Kirsten Jennings (Solano) played for the Dustdevils (11-7-1), who set school records for most wins, goals and assists in a season and qualified for the playoffs for the first time. Jennings finished with two goals, one assists and 22 shot attempts, 13 of them on goal.

Missouri  Valley knocked off Avila 4-1 in the first round of the Heart of America Athletic Conference with Cecilee Kidd (Fairfield, Solano) saw action for the Vikings (10-7-1), who played at top seed Graceland in Tuesday’s semifinals.

Anna Nisperos (Solano) took four shots, two on goal, as Kansas Wesleyan (17-1, 9-0 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) closed out the regular season with a 6-1 defeat of Southwestern. She’s tied for second on the team with four assists, tied for third with six goals, three of them game winners, and has taken 36 shots, 20 on goal.

Volleyball

Mariah Christensen (Rodriguez) had 18 assists, 12 digs and an ace, while Tatum Bales (Wood, Solano) added 23 digs and two assists to lift Holy Names (11-13, 8-5 PacWest) to a 25-20, 25-12, 25-20 win over Dominican. Christensen leads the Hawks with 461 assists and 28 aces with 146 digs and 19 kills, while Bales is tops with 351 digs and has 35 assists and 12 aces.

In UC Davis’ nail-biting 26-24, 25-20, 27-25 win over UC Irvine, Devon Damelio (Rodriguez) contributed 12 kills, 10 digs and five aces. On the season, the former Mustang is second with 316 kills and has 225 digs, 59 assists and 20 aces.

Women’s cross country

Ally Rosemond (Rodriguez) wrapped up her career for Dominican by finishing 49th in the PacWest Conference Championships at Kahuku (Hawaii) Golf Course in a time of 21 minutes, 10.75 seconds. On the same course she later took 101st out of 160 runners and 15th among those from the PacWest in the NCAA Division II championships. finishing in 24:38.18.

Men’s golf

Aaron Beverly (Vanden) turned in the best round of his freshman season at Sacramento State by shooting a third-round 68 as the Hornets took 11th in the SCVB Pacific Invitational at Stockton’s Brookside Country Club. He shot a first-round 75 and followed it with a 69 before carding his 68, which included four birdies and no bogeys, tying for 36th overall.

Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646, ext. 264, or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pfarmer.