CWU cleans up in Viking country

YAKIMA, Wash. — Western Washington’s loss was rival Central Washington’s gain Wednesday.

Four weeks after WWU disbanded its football program because of budget strains, the Wildcats received eight letters of intent from players north of Seattle, along the Interstate 5 corridor, the former hotbed of Vikings recruiting.

Blaine Bennett

The recruits from Washington’s four northwestern-most counties accounted for nearly a quarter of the record-setting class of 36 players CWU signed.

The Wildcats had just five players from the same area on last season’s 86-man roster. More than 20 athletes on the 2008 Vikings roster were from that region.

“In the past years those student-athletes would’ve had the choice and we might’ve gotten half of them,” said second-year CWU coach Blaine Bennett, crediting assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Joe Lorig who is recruiting point-man for that area.

And it wasn’t just northwest Washington that the Wildcats cleaned up in Wednesday. All 36 players, representing 13 counties, are from Washington.

“I think that’s big — we want to continue to recruit the state,” Bennett said.

Of particular pride to Bennett were the seven players from eastern Washington the Wildcats signed.

“We did a much better job on the eastern side of the mountains,” he said. “We think the Big Nine is really, really good and the GSL (Greater Spokane League) is really, really good.”

Pardon Bennett if he’s a bit biased. He is a 1983 graduate of Walla Walla High School, a longtime member of the Big Nine, and the Wildcats’ recruiting leader for the region, linebackers coach Peter Sirmon, starred at Wa-Hi before going on to the University of Oregon and the NFL.

Included in those seven players are Eisenhower wide receiver Jordan Gaut and Prosser quarterback Jordan Dubin.

Bennett said of Gaut: “He’s physical, he’s got great speed and I think he’ll be a great outside receiver. He will be a huge contributor, I think, early.

Durbin, who earned Class 2A all-state first-team honors for the second straight year, will likely redshirt this season with Nick Lomax having transferred to CWU from Boise State. It was at least in part the success of Durbin’s former Mustangs teammate Kellen Moore at BSU that led Lomax to Ellensburg.

“The neat thing about Jordan is he’s had experience in the spread offense and I do believe he has the arm strength,” said Bennett also noting the intangibles the 5-foot-10 Durbin possesses. “He makes plays in critical situations, he make decisions in critical situations. He could be something special.

The gems of CWU’s include linebacker Tony Heard of Edmonds-Woodway and Sumner’s Grant Cisneros, both of whom had offers from the University of Washington when Ty Willingham was the coach. New Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian did not honor the offers.

Issaquah High’s Sean Stuby and offensive lineman Justin Taylor of Hoquiam each had offers from Big Sky scholarship offers and Bennett believes the two could have an early impact.

All four of the players were among the 14 CWU recruits who appeared on The Seattle Times’ white-chip list, the third tier of the top-100 recruits in the state.

Seven of the recruits also earned academic scholarships in addition to their football financial aid.

With such a big class and just 11 seniors from last year’s team, Bennett said there will be plenty of competition for the 25 or so roster spots that will be open.