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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Big Sky roundup: Sacramento State holds off North Dakota

Southern Utah wide receiver Ty Rutledge (13) runs with a reception against Eastern Washington during a Big Sky game on Saturday. (Jordan Allred / Associated Press)
Associated Press

Andre Lindsey hauled in four passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns as Sacramento State scored 24 points in the third quarter, then held off North Dakota for a 34-27 win in Grand Forks, North Dakota on Saturday.

Roman Ale threw for 263 yards and the two scoring tosses to Lindsey as Sacramento State (4-3, 3-1 Big Sky Conference) picked up its first road win of the season.

Ale connected with Lindsey on a 56-yard scoring strike on Sacramento State’s third play after the break to go ahead 17-10. Lindsey caught a 69-yard touchdown toss earlier.

Dariyn Choates sacked North Dakota’s Keaton Studsrud on the next series, causing a fumble that Marcus Bruce scooped up and ran in from 25 yards out for the score.

North Dakota (2-6, 1-4) rallied to close within a touchdown after Noah Wanzek hit Andrew Zimmerman on an 18-yard scoring strike.

The Hawks had three more shots at scoring but could not mount a drive.

Weber State 17, Cal Poly 3: Stefan Cantwell had 236 total yards and passed for two touchdowns to help the Wildcats (5-2, 3-1) defeat the Mustangs (0-7, 0-4) in San Luis Obispo, California.

Cantwell was 14-of-23 passing for 182 yards with one interception and had 11 carries for 54 yards.

Montana State 27, Northern Colorado 24: Gabe Peppenger hit a 27-yard field goal as time expired and the Bobcats (3-4, 3-2) edged the Bears (3-3, 2-2) in Greeley, Colorado.

The kick culminated a 13-play, 73-yard drive which drained the final 2 minutes, 42 seconds.

Tied at 24 late in the game, UNC mustered a long drive but eschewed a 34-yard field goal attempt and went for it on fourth down at the MSU 17. Patrick Stephens’ pass fell incomplete and the Bears turned it over on downs.

The Bobcats rallied from a 21-7 halftime deficit and made it a four-point game in the fourth quarter following Troy Anderson’s 15-yard touchdown run. On its next possession, a 10-play, 94-yard drive resulted in Chris Murray’s 4-yard scoring run and a 24-21 lead.

Hakeem Deggs returned the ensuing kickoff 56 yards to the MSU 9, but a personal foul knocked the Bears back to the 26. Montana State held its ground though, and UNC settled for Colin Root’s 34-yard field goal to tie it at 24.

Idaho State 59, Portland State 30: Tanner Gueller threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns and the Bengals (4-4, 2-3) collected 697 total yards of offense to beat the winless Vikings (0-7, 0-4) in Pocatello, Idaho.

Ty Flanagan ran 21 times for 108 yards and four touchdowns, James Madison had 23 for 160 and a score while Mitch Gueller had four receptions for 195 yards and a touchdown for Idaho State.

Portland State posted its only lead of the game at 2-0 when the Vikings defense forced a safety after the Bengals fumbled and recovered the ball in their own end zone on Idaho State’s first offensive play.

Northern Arizona 45, UC Davis 31: Cory Young and Joe Logan each ran for two touchdowns and the Lumberjacks took over the top spot in the conference with a a win over the Aggies in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Lumberjacks (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky) are the only team without a conference loss following Eastern Washington’s 46-28 loss at Southern Utah.

NAU took control in the second quarter with four unanswered touchdowns. Young scored on runs of 43 and 4 yards for a 14-7 lead and Case Cookus added touchdown passes to Elijah Marks and Hunter Burton.

Logan scored from a yard out to push the NAU lead to 35-7 early in the second half before the Aggies got a 100-yard kick-off return for a touchdown by Namane Modise to kickstart a 17-point third quarter comeback to cut their deficit to 11, 35-24.