When Head Coach Chris Fisk made seven blasts on his coaching whistle – the signal indicating the end of the Portland State Vikings lengthy Saturday morning scrimmage - it was a fitting end. Junior college transfer kicker Joshua Hossman Lees had just knocked through a 51-yard field goal to "tie" the situational scrimmage at 10-10.
 
Portland State ran more than 70 plays during its two hours in a "road game" at Vancouver's Kiggins Bowl. The defense, laden with a significant number of newcomers, flexed its muscles for much of the scrimmage. The offense added some highlights, including a rushing touchdown and a pair of passing touchdowns by sophomore quarterback Tyrese Smith.
 
The day consisted of 18 separate drives, starting from a variety of locations on the field. The offense had four total touchdowns, but three came in short-field situations (+25-yard line drive starts). PSU's defense amassed two fumble recoveries, a safety, a blocked field goal and four touch-sacks.
 
Which brings us to that "tie" game… late in the scrimmage, PSU's offense was given a 10-0 deficit with six minutes remaining on the clock and a pair of timeouts. The offense had to try to win the game from that point. Ultimately, they were able to tie the game with just a few ticks of the clock left, but it took five possessions and some smart clock management to do so.
 
"I'm proud of the defense as a whole," said Fisk. "I thought they really showed up and dominated the day early in the scrimmage. When we moved down to the red zone that increased the chances for the offense to score, but I liked everybody's effort and the way they played hard today."
 
Portland State's offense features three quarterbacks with experience from last season, battling for the number one role: juniors Gabe Downing and John-Keawe Sagapolutele and sophomore Tyrese Smith. The battle will be joined by junior transfer Hunter Herrera and freshman Jackson Presley in the fall, but for now those three continue their competition to emerge on top of the heap. For his part, Smith impressed with a 55-yard touchdown run, and completed two TD passes to Tanner Beaman. The return of Beaman's impact was a welcome site as the former All-Big Sky Conference tight end – fittingly from Vancouver – missed last season with a foot injury.
 
Overall, Fisk liked what he saw from his returning skill players on offense.
 
"I'm really excited about Delon Thompson's ability to run the ball. We pulled him early but he did a great job. Tyrese and Gabe Downing had really nice days and moved the ball when we needed to move it," he said.
 
More than individual performances though, Fisk wanted to see the groups – offense and defense – handle specific game situations, whether the defense was backed up in a red zone situation, or the offense was backed up to start a drive on its own one-yard line.
 
"We are starting to get into game situations, which we haven't had much of a chance to do in spring ball. We want to see the players' mental capacity and how they handle the scenarios. It was great to get out here with a game clock out and roll with some officials," said Fisk.
 
"We need to see where we are at with some of these clock scenarios and continue to grow that way. We need some more two-minute opportunities, as you saw, to close out some of those drives.
 
"It's extremely valuable and every rep we can get is valuable. It doesn't matter what time of the year we get them. We need to maximize our opportunities in the spring. We are in a progression of improvement and working our process (in the spring)," said Fisk.
 
Portland State will have two more practices, at 8 a.m. this coming Tuesday and Thursday, to prepare for next Saturday's Spring Game.
 
The Spring Game will begin at 1 p.m. at Stott Community Field. There will be a pre-game tailgate at 11 a.m. featuring food and music. Bleachers will be brought in to accommodate up to 1,000 fans.
 
OTHER SPRING STORIES ON VIKINGS FOOTBALL
SEE THE VIDEO: ON THE PARK BLOCKS – CHRIS FISK TALKS PORTLAND STATE FOOTBALL
 
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Portland State Offensive Preview
Portland State Defensive Preview
Vikings Football Officially Enters The Fisk Era With First Spring Practice