Running back Rey Vega rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries to lead No. 4 Southern Oregon (2-0, 2-0 Frontier) to a 35-28 win over The College of Idaho (0-3, 0-3) on Saturday afternoon at Raider Stadium in Ashland.
Vega, a senior from Modesto, California, had a 35-yard run to open scoring in the first quarter and a 22-yard scamper in the fourth that put the Raiders up 35-21 with five minutes remaining.
The Yotes outgained the Raiders 392-306, but Southern Oregon's Xavier Smith picked off Darius-James Peterson for his first career interception with 5:32 to play. Two plays later, Vega exploded up the middle and skated into the end zone untouched. Vega eclipsed 100 yards for the second game in a row and has tallied a rushing touchdown in eight consecutive games.
Southern Oregon clinched the win when Dareion Bell recovered Kyle Mitchell's onside kick with 1:14 left.
Southern Oregon quarterback Wyatt Hutchinson finished 17-of-27 for 141 yards and ran for a 14-yard score that put the Raiders ahead 21-7. Bronsen Ader's six receptions and 62 yards led SOU receivers. Marcus Montano's 34-yard field goal just before halftime made it 24-14 and his 23-yard conversion accounted for the only scoring in the third quarter.
Defensive end Sean Rogers had two sacks to move into third on SOU's career list with 24.5 and Tyson Cooper posted a team-high seven tackles.
The Raiders have won 12 consecutive regular-season games, two shy of a 71-year-old school record. Southern Oregon hosts Montana Tech next Saturday.
Carroll (Montana) 21, Linfield 14: Carroll (2-1) wide receiver Joe Farris scored on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Kolby Killoy with 1:29 left to play, sending the Fighting Saints past Linfield (0-1) at Nelson Field in Helena, Montana.
In the schools' first meeting since 1986, running back Major Ali gained 121 rushing yards and scored touchdowns from 12 and 15 yards, staking Carroll to a 14-0 lead.
Linfield countered with two second-half touchdowns, knotting it at 14-14 with 11:39 remaining. Quarterback Wyatt Smith passed four yards to Dawson Ruhl to cut the lead in half with 2:33 left in the third. Six minutes later, the two Wildcats switched roles with Smith pulling in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Ruhl.
Linfield forced Carroll to punt twice in the closing 6.5 minutes. But the game turned on a two-play sequence as Smith was intercepted on first down from the Wildcats' 33-yard line. The Saints followed with Killoy's 35-yard game-winning strike to Farris down the right sideline. Farris slipped behind the Linfield coverage and broke a tackle on his way to the end zone.
Smith passed a career-high 54 times but completed just 25 throws for 279 yards. He was intercepted and sacked three times each. Two of Smith's interceptions were inside the Carroll end zone.
Linfield receiver Keegan Weiss hauled in seven passes for 76 yards, Ruhl caught five passes for 25 yards and J.D. Lasswell had four receptions for 42 yards. Linfield outgained Carroll 382-304.
Wildcats linebacker Patrick Pipitone recorded a career-high 10 tackles, including two for loss, and picked off a pass in his first career start. Defensive end Travis Swanson recorded four tackles for loss among eight total stops, Duke Mackle had seven tackles, plus an interception, and Taulelei Toledo finished with six tackles.
Linfield hosts Redlands in its home opener next week at Maxwell Field.
George Fox 35, Howard Payne (Texas) 3: The George Fox Bruins (1-1) bounced back with a blowout win over the visiting Howard Payne Yellow Jackets (0-1) in a nonconference matchup at Stoffer Family Stadium in Newberg on Saturday.
Junior running back Anthony Garcia plunged in from two yards out to give the Bruins an early 7-0 lead.
Early in the second quarter, freshman quarterback Jaden Sheffey connected with Kenny May, who went 74 yards to open up a 14-0 margin. Senior Wesley Riddell punched in a two-yard run as George Fox took a 21-0 lead into halftime.
Rudy Hughes, Austin Taylor, Chris Gray and Richie Hauser had an interception apiece in the second half for the Bruins. Taylor's interception set up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Josh Kibbey to James Nguyen in the third quarter. Hughes grabbed the second interception, which he returned for a 48-yard score.
Kibbey finished 8-of-15 for 83 yards and one touchdown. Garcia led the rushing attack with a team-high 14 attempts for 71 yards and a touchdown. Riddell tallied 10 attempts for 57 yards and a touchdown. Daniel Campos led the George Fox defense with a team-high six tackles, including one for loss.
The Bruins hit the road next week and will face off with Pomona-Pitzer in Claremont, California.
Pomona-Pitzer (California) 34, Lewis & Clark 21: Lewis & Clark (0-1) quarterback Caden Voges threw for 343 yards and two touchdowns to tight end Dallas Garreaud, but visiting Pomona-Pitzer (2-0) pulled away in the second half on Saturday afternoon at Griswold Stadium in Southwest Portland.
After Pomona-Pitzer took a quick 7-0 lead, Voges found Garreaud for a 13-yard touchdown to tie it at 7-7. The Pioneers took their first lead in the second quarter on a one-yard plunge from Cory Hincks. It was Hincks' second career touchdown run.
The Sagehens scored 14 of their 20 second-half points in the third quarter and led 28-14 entering the fourth. Lewis & Clark made it 34-21 with 4:15 remaining as Voges connected with Garreaud on a 33-yard scoring play.
The Pioneers were led by Dejour Williams with nine receptions for 80 yards, Heisman Hosada had six receptions for 94 yards and Garreaud caught six balls for 95 yards. Pete Lahti led Lewis & Clark with eight tackles and Aidan Verba-Hamilton totaled 77 yards on four returns.
Lewis & Clark next week travels to southern California to take on Whittier.
Central Washington 50, Western Oregon 17: The Western Oregon Wolves (0-2, 0-1 GNAC) lost their second consecutive home game, falling to the 16th-ranked Central Washington Wildcats (1-1, 1-0 GNAC) at McArthur Field in Monmouth.
Central Washington outscored the Wolves in each quarter and led 12-3 after the first. On its first possession of the game, Western Oregon was forced to punt out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
Western Oregon's first touchdown came on its longest throw of the day. With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, Ty Currie found Anthony Bradley for a 44-yard touchdown pass. Bradley also sprinted 27 yards for a touchdown in the second half. Currie threw for 125 yards on 11-of-25 passing.
Western Oregon running back Omari Land led all rushers with 110 yards on 20 carries. Nico Jackson added 49 yards on 11 attempts. Dominic Akina led the defense with 11 tackles.
Reilly Hennessey, a senior from Camas, Washington, went 17-of-28 for 275 yards and one touchdown for CWU.
Western Oregon hosts Azusa Pacific next week.
Montana Tech 24, Eastern Oregon 17: The visiting Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (1-2, 1-2 Frontier) wasted a 14-0 halftime lead, falling to the Montana Tech Orediggers (2-0, 2-0 Frontier) on Saturday night in Butte, Montana.
After first quarter touchdown runs by Victor Dias and Kai Quinn, the Mountaineers could muster little second-half offense aside from a Nathan Harden 44-yard field goal that gave them a 17-7 lead.
The Orediggers reeled off three touchdowns in the third quarter to seize control and send Eastern Oregon to its second loss in a row after a season-opening win over The College of Idaho.
Quinn threw for 163 yards and added 33 on the ground. Dias paced the running game with 19 carries for 64 yards. John Lesser had four catches for 69 yards and senior wide receiver Brenden Kelly caught three passes for 51 yards.
The Mountaineers have an open week, followed by a home game against Montana Western on September 22.
Dubuque (Iowa) 21, Pacific 10: JT Greenough threw for 306 yards, but the Boxers' one-dimensional offense couldn't keep pace with the visiting Spartans.
Pacific (0-2) rushed 20 times for minus-21 yards, and Dubuque (1-1) sacked Greenough five times.
Dubuque's Dwayne Allen Jr., meanwhile, had 37 carries for 228 yards and two touchdowns.
Zack Saros' 20-yard field goal in the third quarter cut Dubuque's lead to 13-10, but that was as close as Pacific would get. Dubuque sealed it with Allen's six-yard touchdown run with 3:43 to play.
Open week: Willamette
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Next week
Saturday, September 15
Frontier Conference
Montana Tech at Southern Oregon, 1 p.m.
Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC)
Azusa Pacific (California) at Western Oregon, 1 p.m.
Nonconference
Lewis & Clark at Whittier (California), noon
Willamette at Occidental (California), noon
Cal Lutheran at Pacific, 1 p.m.
Redlands (California) at Linfield, 1:30 p.m.
George Fox at Pomona-Pitzer (California), 5 p.m.
Open week
Eastern Oregon