GREELEY, Colo.—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 Saturday to keep its playoff hopes alive.
Justin Monahan had nine catches for 71 yards and a touchdown and DeShawn Shead had a 74-yard interception touchdown return for the Vikings, who have won four straight.
Seth Lobato threw for 293 yards and one touchdown for Northern Colorado.
The Bears nearly captured the upset when Lobato drove the Bears to the Portland State 17 in the final 46 seconds. A touchdown pass to Patrick Walker was called back on an illegal block penalty with 6 seconds left, and Lobato’s last pass into the end zone was knocked down as time expired.
The Vikings (5-2, 7-3 Big Sky) struggled offensively against the Bears (0-8, 0-11). They managed only one touchdown, a six-yard pass from Kavanaugh to Monahan late in the first half, and field goals of 51, 46 and 30 yards by Brown.
They didn’t seal the win until Shead stepped in front of a Lobato pass and ran it into the opposing endzone 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 Conference record for career rushing yards by a quarterback with a four-yard scramble early in the second quarter. He finished with 132 rushing yards on the day, and his 1,930 career yards on the ground moved him past Idaho’s Ken Hobart, who ran for 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 six-yard scoring strike to Justin Monahan with 54 seconds left before halftime to tie it.
Northern Colorado took the opening kickoff of the game and went 80 yards in eight plays. John Burnley ran it in untouched from nine yards out to give the winless Bears the early 7-0 lead.
Portland State is fighting for an at-large spot in the Football Subdivision playoffs that start later this month. The Vikings are third in the Big Sky Conference and need a win in next week’s regular season finale at home against Weber State to stay alive in the race.
