Wildcats rally for incredible win at Southern Utah

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Weber State	0	6	8	23	37
Southern Utah	14	9	13	0	36

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Weber State

Southern Utah

CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Wildcats just wouldn't quit. Weber State scored 23 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to rally back from a 22-point deficit to pull out a wild 37-36 win at Southern Utah Saturday night at the Eccles Coliseum.

The win is the fifth straight for the Wildcats who move to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in Big Sky play and set up a big game at Big Sky unbeaten North Dakota next weekend.

"I'm so proud of our team for how they fought and found a way," said WSU head coach Jay Hill. "Our offense made some great plays down the stretch and did a great job. There was a mindset that switched in the second half that we need to get corrected but they pulled it out and now we'll move on to the next one."

Southern Utah dominated in the first half and held a 23-6 lead at the break. SUU scored twice in less than eight minutes of the first quarter. The 'Cats scored a touchdown early in the second quarter when Jadrian Clark found Treshawn Garrett for 33 yards but the two-point conversion was blocked and returned 98 yards by SUU to make it 16-6. The Thunderbirds added a touchdown to make it 23-6 at halftime.

Weber State started the second half with a touchdown as Clark found Cameron Livingston for a 15-yard score and then, Stefan Cantwell converted a two-point conversion to make it 23-14. SUU came right back for a TD and then a 36-yard field goal to make it 36-14.

It was 36-14 midway through the fourth quarter when the Wildcats took over. Cantwell scored on a 10-yard run with 7:15 to play to make it 36-21. The 'Cats then forced a Southern Utah safety for two more points to make it 36-23 with 5:47 to play.

Wildcats win! Weber State scores 23 unanswered points in the 4th to rally and win 37-36. 'Cats are 4-0 in #BigSkyFB play! #WeAreWeber pic.twitter.com/vbuENAQQBh
— Weber State Football (@weberstatefb) October 23, 2016

Clark found Andrew Vollert for an 11-yard TD with 2:21 to play to make it 36-30. SUU recovered the on-sides kick but the 'Cats defense forced them to punt. Clark found Darryl Denby for a 40-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left to seal the wild comeback win.

Jadrian Clark finished the day 31-of-52 passing for a career-high 416 yards and four touchdowns. The 416 yards is the 13th highest performance in WSU history and he's the first Wildcat to throw for over 400 yards since Cameron Higgins in 2009. Clark also rushed for 50 yards, which led the Wildcats on the ground, giving him 466 yards of total offense in the game, the seventh most in a game in school history.

Nine different Wildcats caught passes with Haini Moimoi finishing with five catches for a career-high 126 yards. Vollert had seven catches for 81 yards, Livingston had six for 74 yards and Denby had five for 70 yards.

Moimoi also rushed for 33 yards and Treshawn Garrett had 23. Landon Stice led the defense with 11 tackles, while Jonah Williams had nine and LeGrand Toia had seven. WSU had eight tackles for loss and two sacks.

Jacob DeMaio had five punts for 256 yards, an average of 51.2 yards per punt, the sixth best in WSU single-game history. In the first quarter, he set a school record with a 91-yard punt.

WSU totaled a season-high 539 yards of total offense, while SUU totaled 469 yards. The Wildcats had nine penalties for 65 yards and had two turnovers.

Southern Utah dropped to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in Big Sky play and saw their eight-game home winning streak snapped. It was Weber State's first win against the Thunderbirds since 2012.

The Wildcats will be back on the road next week as they play at North Dakota Saturday at 12 p.m. MT. The Fighting Hawks are 5-0 in Big Sky play and have won six straight games.

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Team Stats

Clark Jadrian

Players Mentioned

Stefan Cantwell

Jadrian Clark

Jacob DeMaio

Darryl Denby

Treshawn Garrett

Cameron Livingston

Haini Moimoi

Landon Stice

Andrew Vollert

Jonah Williams