Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
North Dakota
Wildcats win first game of the season 24-12 at UND
11/8/2014 9:29:00 PM | Football
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Weber State never trailed in route to picking up its first win of the season with a 24-12 victory at North Dakota Saturday afternoon at the Alerus Center.
Jadrian Clark threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns as the 'Cats snapped their nine-game losing streak to earn the victory.
Weber State jumped out to a 17-3 lead at halftime after Clark had two touchdowns passing. He found Shaydon Kehano for a 3-yard touchdown early in the second quarter for his first passing touchdown of his career. He followed that up a few minutes later when he found Jake Kahawaii for another 3-yard touchdown to make it 17-0 for the Wildcats. It was just the second halftime lead of the season for Weber State. It was Kahawaii's first touchdown of his career.
WSU extended the lead to 24-3 on its first possession of the third quarter after Clark found Zach Smith for an 8-yard touchdown pass. UND scored its first touchdown of the game on a fourth down play later in the quarter to cut the lead to 24-10.
The only scoring in the fourth quarter came on a UND safety in the final seconds. The WSU defense made several big stops in the second half to seal the win.
“I'm so proud of our team for their effort today,” said WSU head coach Jay Hill. “We got off to a great start which was huge for us and the offense and defense both made big plays today. We put together a great game plan and were able to execute when we needed to. It was a great team win.”
WSU finished the day with 276 yards of total offense and held North Dakota to 237 yards of offense. The 'Cats struggled to run the ball and finished with just 41 rushing yards but threw the ball for 235 yards. UND had just 115 yards passing. The Wildcats also won the turnover margin for just the second time this season.
Jadrian Clark finished the day 19-of-31 passing for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He also finished with 10 yards rushing. Cameron Livingston had five catches for 116 yards and Shaydon Kehano added six catches for 63 yards. Bo Bolen and Zach Smith each rushed for 27 yards.
Defensively Deontae Florence and Tyron Morris-Edwards each recorded seven tackles. Florence and Josh Burton both had first half interceptions. The WSU defense had a season-high eight tackles for loss and recorded three sacks.
The win improves WSU to 1-9 on the season and 1-5 in Big Sky play. It also snapped a 12-game road losing streak for the Wildcats. North Dakota falls to 3-7 overall and 1-5 in conference play. It was WSU's first game ever against North Dakota.
The Wildcats will be back home next Saturday for the final home game of the season as they take on Northern Colorado at Stewart Stadium. The game will be Senior Day for the Wildcat seniors. WSU will also retire the jersey of former quarterback Jamie Martin.
