Aug. 31, 2002

Final Stats

Portland, Ore. - After a sluggish start the Portland State Vikings righted the ship and took control of their season-opening game with Stephen F. Austin, winning 31-23 at PGE Park.

The Vikings defeated the Lumberjacks for the second straight year in the season opener. Last season PSU won at Nacogdoches, 16-13. It was the fifth straight win for PSU overall and sixth in a row at PGE Park, dating to last season.

The Vikings went scoreless in the first period after turning the ball over twice. But, Juston Wood led two scoring drives during the second quarter, hitting Zach Foster for a 17-yard touchdown pass and Ryan Fuqua on a 19-yard scoring strike.

PSU took advantage of a late turnover before intermission. Following an SFA fumble on their own 11 yard line, the Vikings got a 29-yard Mike Cajal-Willis field goal to go into the locker room ahead 17-7.

Fuqua broke the game open in the second half with a pair of third-quarter touchdown runs. The first came on a one-yard option play, and the second on a 54-yard burst over the right side.

The Viking sophomore had 142 yards for the game on 33 carries, extending his string of 100+yard games to five in a row. He also caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown

PSU led 31-10 going into the fourth period, but the Lumberjacks scored two late touchdowns to draw within 31-23. SFA had the ball in the final, but fumbled, and PSU cornerback Nick Swanegan covered it to seal the game.

In all, the Vikings recovered three SFA fumbles. Darius Brown and Agatupu Sagapolutele also picked up Lumberjack miscues. Benjamin Tucker led the Vikings with 12 tackles in the game. Brown had eight and Marcus Green had seven.

Wood completed 14 of 23 passes for 156 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Vikings have a bye next Saturday then host North Carolina A&T on Sept. 14 in the Vanport Invitational. Kickoff is 6:05 p.m. at PGE Park.