Eagles' playoff hopes dashed
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 14 years, 5 months AGO
<p>Weber State quarterback Jordan Adamczyk, left, is sacked by Montana defensive end Chris Bradford (51) during the fourth quarter Saturday at Missoula, Mont.</p>
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Connor Kavanaugh had 147 yards passing and 154 yards rushing as Portland State beat Eastern Washington 43-26 on Saturday at Cheney, effectively ending the defending FCS champion's playoff hopes.
Shaquille Richard had a pair of rushing touchdowns for the Vikings (5-3, 3-2 Big Sky). Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 440 yards and four touchdowns for the Eagles (4-5, 4-3), who had won four straight after opening the season with four straight losses.
Leading 22-20, Portland State put the game out of reach in the third quarter with two touchdowns in the span of six seconds. Richard's 1-yard scoring plunge put the Vikings up 29-20. On the first play of the Eagles' ensuing possession, Joel Sisler returned an interception of a Mitchell pass 24 yards for a 36-20 Portland State lead with 5:17 left.
Portland State outgained Eastern Washington on the ground 338 to minus-1.
Montana 45, Weber State 10: At Missoula, Mont., Jordan Johnson tied a school record with six touchdown passes - four of them to Jabin Sambrano - as Montana defeated Weber State.
Johnson threw five TDs in the first half to stake Montana (7-2, 6-1 Big Sky) to a 38-3 lead. Johnson left the game early in the third quarter, shortly after connecting with Sambrano for the fourth time on a 25-yard score. Sambrano also caught second-quarter touchdowns of 11, 17 and 8 yards, and finished with seven receptions for 94 yards.
Johnson's other TDs covered 31 yards to Peter Nguyen and 18 yards to Josh Dennard. He was 23 of 32 passing for 299 yards.
Weber State (3-5, 3-2) got its only touchdown on a 2-yard run by C.J. Tuckett with 42 seconds to play in the game.
Montana State 54, Idaho State 13: At Bozeman, Mont., Cody Kirk rushed for 184 yards and four touchdowns, and Tray Robinson added a career-best 154 yards and two TDs as Montana State remained in first place in the Big Sky Conference with a trouncing of Idaho State, spoiling first-year Bengals coach Mike Kramer's return to Bobcat Stadium.
Kirk scored on runs of 2, 1, 72 and 1 yards, and Robinson cashed in from 1 and 34 yards as the Bobcats (8-1, 6-0) rolled to a 37-6 halftime lead and then scored two quick touchdowns in the third quarter before substituting liberally. Elvis Akpla caught a touchdown pass for the eighth consecutive game, a 23-yarder with 8:26 to play in the third quarter to give Montana State a 51-6 lead.
Idaho State fell to 2-7 on the year, including 1-5 in Big Sky play.
Carroll College 46, Montana Western 17: At Dillon, Mont., The NAIA No. 3 Saints (8-1, 7-1 Frontier Conference) rushed for 320 yards and scored 23 points in the third quarter to rout Montana Western.
Whitworth 25, Willamette 24, 2OT: At Salem, Ore., Bryan Peterson connected with Austin Ehlo on a 2-point conversion after the two hooked up on a 25-yard TD pass play and Whitworth (3-5, 2-2 Northwest Conference) beat Willamette (3-5, 2-2).