GREELEY — Connor Kavanaugh had 270 total yards and threw for a touchdown, Zach Brown kicked three field goals and Portland State hung on to beat Northern Colorado 23-17 on Saturday to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Seth Lobato threw for 293 yards and one touchdown for Northern Colorado, which finished 0-11 under first-year coach Earnest Collins Jr.
“You know, they came down and should have won the game, and it didn’t happen,” Collins said. “The only thing I can say is we’re going to feed off this big time.”
The Bears nearly pulled off the upset when Lobato drove his team to the Portland State 17 in the final minutes. A touchdown pass to Patrick Walker was called back on an illegal block with six seconds left, and Lobato’s last pass into the end zone was knocked down.
“Immediately, I saw the flag, so I was just waiting to hear what the call was,” Lobato said. “It’s tough to have it end like that. It’s a heartbreaking loss just how it ended.”
The Vikings (5-2, 7-3 Big Sky) managed only one touchdown, a 6-yard pass from Kavanaugh to Justin Monahan late in the first half, and field goals of 51, 46 and 30 yards by Brown.
Portland State’s DeShawn Shead stepped in front of a Lobato pass and ran it into the end zone with 3:54 left.
Dave Eden kicked a 37-yard field goal with 2:28 left to pull the Bears to within six.
Kavanaugh set a Big Sky record for career rushing yards by a quarterback with a 4-yard scramble early in the second quarter. He finished with 132 yards rushing, and his 1,930 career yards on the ground moved him past Idaho’s Ken Hobart (1,826 yards from 1980-83).
The Vikings finally got their offense going with an 18-play, 98-yard drive late in the second quarter. Kavanaugh finished the drive with a 6-yard scoring strike to Monahan with 54 seconds left to tie it.
