Another dimension — Reilly steps up when Wildcats fall behind

YAKIMA — By now, most among the Division II football fraternity are familiar with Mike Reilly.

They are aware of his strong arm, quick feet, sharp mind and ample amounts of intestinal fortitude. Such collective talents have inspired those charged with sorting the nation’s elite to tab Reilly as a first-team All-American and possible NFL draftee next spring.

Central quarterback Mike Reilly drops back against Mesa State Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. (Andy Sawyer/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Of late, however, the Central Washington senior has added yet another credential — albeit not by design. In two of the Wildcats’ first three games, Reilly has overseen comebacks that, in all likelihood, have saved Central’s season.

First, at Dixie State, there were four consecutive completions that moved Central 32 yards in 21 seconds and enabled Garrett Rolsma to kick a 44-yard, game-tying field goal as time expired. CWU won 44-38 in overtime.

Last week at Western Oregon, the Wildcats trailed 24-10 in the third quarter before Reilly brought them back.

“It was a little strange, being down like that,” Reilly said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “But against Dixie State and again against Western Oregon, it was the same feeling we had my freshman year when we were down 21-0 at halftime at Western (Washington).

“There was no sense of panic. It was more just a matter of waiting for our team to get started. And we did.”

Central won the aforementioned game at Western, 31-28 when Reilly, who’d been recruited by the Vikings after leaving Washington State, was only beginning to make his mark.

This year Reilly is off the best three-game start of any quarterback in Wildcats history, including 11-year NFL veteran Jon Kitna.

His 72 completions in 98 attempts for 969 yards and nine touchdowns with two interceptions computes to a stratospheric quarterback rating of 182.75.

Kitna threw for 920 yards through the first three games of his senior season in 1995, when CWU went on to an NAIA co-national championship. But while passing for five TDs he was also picked four times, and his completion percentage was a comparatively low 63.9 percent. Thus, a QB rating of 134.25.

Saturday at Western Oregon, Reilly finished 29 of 35 for 330 yards and two scores, including a 71-yard, fourth-quarter strike to Johnny Spevak that became the difference. His .829 completion percentage was the best in school history.

Reilly was also Central’s leading rusher with 67 yards on 12 carries, and his 53-yard third-quarter scramble at WOU jump-started the Wildcats’ comeback.

As a result of his team-best 172 rushing yards on the year, Reilly ranks second in all of Division II in total offense at 380.3 yards per game.

“We’d had some problems in the red zone early in the game,” he said. “I had a couple of fumbles that I recovered, but they kept us from scoring touchdowns (Central got one field goal out of the two possessions inside the Wolves’ 15 yard line). And there was one play where me and Spevak weren’t on the same page — one in a million shot, that happening with me and Spev.

“So when they scored in the third quarter to go up by two touchdowns, I felt like I needed to do something to get us going. After that scramble, the rest of the guys just sort of followed my lead.”

During the comeback Reilly was 9 for 10 for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his last eight throws, and also had running plays of 53, 11 and 7 yards.

“Mike has one flaw,” said Shorty Bennett, CWU coach Blaine Bennett’s father and a renowned authority on quarterbacks. “He likes to run over linebackers. But he’s very good — he’s tough, runs hard with good speed and of course he has a nice, active arm and he is very accurate.

“The numbers he had at Western Oregon were unheard of. It’s one thing when you’re always throwing short in a possession passing game. But he’s throwing on the run, hitting guys on deep corner routes and stuff like that.”

Said Reilly, “We knew even when we were down 14 that we could put up 21 to 28 more points. We still had 28 minutes to play, and in football that’s basically a lifetime.”