Football Roundup - Sept. 20
Officially, Big Sky Conference football games don't start until next Saturday. But, Eastern Washington and Montana State gave fans a taste of what's to come.
No. 2 Eastern Washington rallied for a thrilling 52-51 road win over No. 14 Montana State in Bozeman on Saturday in a non-conference matchup. Vernon Adams Jr. ran for a two-point conversion with 27 seconds to play after putting the Eagles in position to win by engineering a 75-yard, nine-play drive in 1 minute and 28 seconds
Cal Poly notched its first win of the season, downing Portland State 42-14 in a non-conference game.
In other games on Saturday, North Dakota beat Stony Brook 13-3, Sacramento State moved to 3-1 with a 59-14 win over Menlo, No. 4 Montana fell to No. 1 North Dakota State 22-10, No. 22 Northern Arizona lost at South Dakota 28-21, Northern Colorado lost to No. 11 Northern Iowa 46-7, Weber State dropped a 35-20 decision to Stephen F. Austin, and Southern Utah lost to Fresno State 56-16.
Eastern Washington 52, Montana State 51: Adams Jr. threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns, while Quincy Forte gained 190 yards and scored four touchdowns on the ground to lead the Eagles.
Adams Jr. had an up-and-down day, throwing two interceptions and completing just 25-of-43 passes. He saved his best play for late in the game. Facing a fourth-and-10 on the game-winning drive, he completed a 40-yard pass to Kendrick Bourne. Two plays later, Adams Jr. hit Shaq Hill for 18 yards to set up a 1-yard TD run by Mario Brown.
EWU head coach Beau Baldwin opted to go for two points and the win. Adams Jr. ran for the game-winning points.
The game-winning drive came just after Montana State sophomore Dakota Prukop threw a 9-yard TD pass to Shawn Johnson. Prokop threw for 284 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson rushed for 150 yards and scored on a 70-yard run in the third quarter to give the Bobcats a 44-30 lead.
Sophomore Cooper Kupp caught nine passes for 152 yard and two touchdowns for EWU. Tanner Roderick had five catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns for Montana State.
Eastern Washington finished with 582 yards of total offense. Montana State netted 547.
Cal Poly 42, Portland State 14: Quarterback Chris Brown rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass to lead the Mustangs to the win in their home opener.
Cal Poly built a 21-0 halftime lead with the help of scoring runs of 3 and 32 yards in the second quarter by Brown. The Mustangs extended the lead to 35-0 with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns by Brandon Howe.
The Mustangs finished with 470 rushing yards, including 103 from Kori Garcia and 81 from Howe. Cal Poly's defense held Portland State to 286 total yards.
North Dakota 13, Stony Brook 3: North Dakota rode its defense to a big non-conference home win over the CAA club.
Defensive back Alex Tillman made the play of the game, intercepting a Stony Brook pass and returning it 92 yards for a touchdown with 4:42 left in the third quarter to put UND up 13-3.
UND's defense had seven sacks, two forced fumbles, and held Stony Brook to 49 rushing yards and 172 through the air.
Dev Ferguson hauled in a 68-yard touchdown in the first half for UND's other touchdown.
No. 1 North Dakota State 22, No. 4 Montana 10: Kicker Adam Keller made five field goals as North Dakota State won its 28th staight game.
Montana's defense limited NDSU to four first-half field goals, and trailed the three-time defending national champions 12-10 at the half. Jordan Canada scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter, and Daniel Sullivan made a 20-yard field goal.
Montana's offense managed just 256 yards and nine first downs as NDSU held the Grizzlies scoreless in the second half.
Sacramento State 59, Menlo 14: Eight different players scored touchdowns in the Hornets' victory over Menlo.
Sacramento State amassed 551 yards of total offense. Senior QB Garrett Safron threw for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Jordan Robinson went over 100 rushing yards for the second straight game, finishing with 114 on 10 carries with a touchdown.
The Hornet defense intercepted four passes.
No. 11 Northern Iowa 46, Northern Colorado 7: David Johnson rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown to lead the Panthers to the home victory.
Northern Iowa amassed 473 yards of offense and led 36-0 at halftime.
Northern Colorado was limited to 11 first downs and 199 yards of total offense. Darius Graham scored on a 4-yard TD run for the Bears in the third quarter.
South Dakota 28, Northern Arizona 21: Quarterback Ryan Saeger rushed 14 times for 108 yards and scored two touchdowns in a win over the Lumberjacks.
Saeger scored on a pair of 1-yard runs in the first half as the Coyotes built a 20-0 edge at intermission. Casey Jahn scored on a 3-yard run and Nick Butier caught a 6-yard TD pass in the third quarter as NAU closed to within six.
Early in the fourth quarter, Saeger hooked up with with Eric Shufford Jr. on a 9-yard TD pass. Jahn added a touchdown for the Lumberjacks with 4:16 left on a 3-yard run.
Northern Arizona was hurt by three turnovers.
Stephen F. Austin 35, Weber State 20: Quarterback Zach Conque and running back Gus Johnson each scored two rushing touchdowns to lead Stephen F. Austin to the win.
Weber State's Shaydon Kehano caught 12 passes for 122 yards and hauled in a pair of third-quarter touchdown passes that closed Stephen F. Austin's lead to 21-13.
Three turnovers and 15 penalties cost Weber State a chance at the road win. Zach Smith rushed for a career-high 147 yards in the loss.a
Fresno State 56, Southern Utah 16: Aamon Olsen threw for 309 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the loss to Fresno State.
Olsen connected with Mitch Jessop on a 4-yard score with 5:55 to play in the second half to give the Thunderbirds a 9-7 lead. Fresno State responded with 35 straight points after that.
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