SUU heads to Portland for another huge game

By Tom Zulewski

Sports Writer

As the race for the Big Sky title and automatic berth into the FCS playoffs hits the crucial point with two weeks remaining, Southern Utah sits alone in first place. The T-Birds will be facing one of the teams that suffered a loss at the worst possible time in PortlandState on Nov. 14 for its final road game of the regular season.

Eastern Washington also lost a hold of its share of first with SUU when it lost to Northern Arizona at home last week. Here’s the full roundup from Big Sky football on Nov. 7.

NORTHERN COLORADO 35, PORTLAND STATE 32: Trae Riek rushed for 145 yards on 25 carries, including the game-winner on a 2-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds left, to lead the Bears to a comeback win over the Vikings at Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo.

Northern Colorado (3-4 Big Sky, 5-4 ovcrall) led 28-17 as the fourth quarter began, but Portland State (4-2, 7-2) rallied behind a 64-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Alex Kuresa to Darnell Adams and a 25-yard TD run by Steven Long to lead 32-28 with 5:17 left.

Kuresa finished 18-of-27 for 250 yards passing with two touchdowns and an interception.

The Vikings host Southern Utah on Saturday at ProvidencePark in a 3 p.m. kickoff.

NORTHERN ARIZONA 52, EASTERN WASHINGTON 30: The Lumberjacks’ defense forced four turnovers and added three fourth-down stops to put an end to the Eagles’ 19-game regular-season winning streak at Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.

Corbin Jountti rushed for three fourth-quarter touchdowns and Casey Jahn added two more as Northern Arizona improved to 4-2 in the Big Sky and 6-3 overall. Marcus Alford returned an interception 70 yards for a score as the Lumberjacks put the win away with 28 points in the final period.

With the loss, Eastern Washington fell to 5-1, 6-3.

MONTANA 33, IDAHO STATE 27, OT: Eric Johnson ran 40 yards on a fumble return for the winning score as the Grizzlies (4-2, 5-4) survived losing a 24-13 fourth-quarter lead to beat the Bengals on the road.

Idaho State (1-5, 2-7) scored twice in the final period to take a 27-24 lead, but Montana got a 26-yard field goal from Daniel Sullivan to tie the game with 5:43 left.

The Grizzlies had turned the ball over on a fumble by quarterback Makena Simis on the first possession of overtime. The Bengals lined up for a potential game-winning 27-yard field goal, but the snap went awry and J.R. Nelson got to the loose ball before pitching it to Johnson, who won the foot race to the end zone.

WEBER STATE 23, UC DAVIS 3: Freshman Treshawn Garrett ran for 152 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns, and the Wildcats defense shut down the Aggies for the home win at Stewart Stadium.

WeberState (4-3, 5-5) held UC Davis (1-5, 1-8) to 174 yards of total offense and racked up 479.

CAL POLY 36, SACRAMENTO STATE 14: Chris Brown threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes and the Mustangs (2-4, 3-6) built a 26-0 lead on the way to the victory over the visiting Hornets.