Aug. 19, 2005

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

JOE SUNNEN, THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Now that the preseason is over, the Western Washington University football team is ready for a game that counts.

Senior Jake Carlyle rushed for two scores and sophomore Matt Wilson and freshman Rick Copsey each caught a touchdown pass as the Vikings wrapped up their final preseason scrimmage with a humdrum performance Friday at Civic Stadium.

"We have a ways to go yet," coach Rob Smith said. "I think we have a chance to be a good team, but it's going to take time. The problem is we have to be a good team in seven days."

The Vikings' offense completed several long passes during the scrimmage, but had trouble sustaining drives because of penalties or interceptions.

"It's been a tough two weeks," Smith said. "It's nice to have this behind us so we can move on."

The offensive line showed flashes of good things to come, consistently pushing the defensive line down the field on running plays and limiting the number of sacks allowed.

"The offensive line made things easy on me," Carlyle said. "They were pushing people four or five yards down field on every play."

The Viking also got a better look at their kicking game. Freshman kicker Bobby Peck made field goals of 37 and 25 yards and made good on his extra points, possibly getting an edge over freshman Ace Younggren in the competition for starting kicker.

"It's still just practice," Smith said. "It's hard to simulate the pressure that a game has. We'll need to get together as a staff and see where we are at with our kicking situation."

On defense, the Vikings grabbed three interceptions and nearly had two others, but occasionally let people slip behind the secondary for big plays.

"Our No. 1 defense did what they were supposed to do," Smith said.

Both of the starting units came out of the scrimmage without injury, but third-string defensive lineman Joe Samuels left late in the practice with a knee sprain. He will likely be out for a few weeks.

"These scrimmages are really just a necessary evil," Smith said. "We have to do it because you have to prepare your team, but I know we have a lot of players that just want to get this over with and get out of it healthy."

The Vikings have an off day today before beginning to prepare for Mesa State College on Sunday. WWU opens the regular in Colorado on Aug. 27.