Weber State Falls 30-17 to Portland State
OGDEN – The Weber State football team suffered another tough loss as the Wildcats fell 30-17 to Portland State Saturday afternoon at Stewart Stadium, dropping the ‘Cats to 0-8 on the season.
The Wildcats turned the ball over three times and did not force a Portland State turnover. The Vikings totaled 475 yards of total offense, compared to 388 yards for Weber State. Portland State rushed for 303 yards on the ground. Portland State dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 40:18.
“This was another difficult loss for us and we have to be a tougher and more demanding football team,” said WSU head coach Jay Hill. “We are making too many mistakes and we have to get things fixed, and that starts with the coaches. We gave up way too many rushing yards, our offense was not consistent enough and turnovers continued to hurt us.”
Portland State scored first but the Wildcats came right back and tied the game in the first quarter after a trick play saw Shaydon Kehano find Jadrian Clark for a 20-yard touchdown. The Vikings added two field goals in the second quarter and led 13-7 at halftime.
After a Wildcat turnover to start the third quarter Portland State marched down for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 20-7. Josh Kealamakia’s 38-yard field goal made the score 20-10 after three quarters.
After another PSU field goal Billy Green found Darryl Denby for a 36-yard field goal to make it 23-17 with 9:31 to play. Portland State secured a key third down late in the fourth quarter and then continued for an eight yard touchdown by Kieran McDonagh to make the game out of reach.
Jadrian Clark got his first collegiate start at quarterback and finished the game 7-of-13 passing for 97 yards but had one interception and one fumble. Billy Green came in for the Wildcats in third quarter and finished the day 14-of-24 passing for 196 yards and a touchdown but also had one interception.
Senior Shaydon Kehano had seven catches for 89 yards and freshman Darryl Denby had five catches for 100 yards and touchdown. The Wildcats struggled again to rush the ball finishing with just 75 yards on the ground. Bo Bolen had nine carries for 38 yards and Zach Smith had eight carries for 25 yards.
Defensivley, Tre’Von Johnson led the Wildcats with a career-high 14 tackle, while Felix Woods had 11 and Roman Valenzuela added 10. Freshman Emmett Tela left the game early in the first quarter after a collision with teammate Jawian Harrison.
The Wildcats fall to 0-8 on the season and 0-4 in conference play while Portland State improves to 3-5 overall and 2-2 in the Big Sky.
The Wildcats will be right back home next week to take on Northern Arizona next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Stewart Stadium.
