Issue date: 9/27/08 Section: Sports

Offensive Line Coach Jeff Remington celebrates a touchdown during the Hornet's win over Portland. [Click to enlarge]

The Hornet football team defeated the Portland State Vikings 41 to 31 on Saturday for the first time since 1999. This is also the Hornets first time it has started the season with a record of 3-2 since 2000.

The Hornets started out a little shaky at first, giving up two fumbles that were recovered by the Vikings and each ended in touchdowns. The team came back and started the drive down the field with sophomore quarterback Jason Smith completing a 38-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Chase Deadder. The team made two more first down plays after that. Smith then ended the drive by rushing for a touchdown.

The Hornets tried to tie the game with sophomore running back Evander Wilkins catching a 30-yard pass from Smith for a touchdown, but the extra point was no good. That was Wilkins first career long reception and first career long touchdown reception, but it came with a price because he ended up with a left knee injury and was out for the game. Head coach Marshall Sperbeck was unsure of Wilkins' status.

The the team took revenge on the fumbles made by recovering a fumble in the beginning of the second quarter and freshman cornerback Deionte Gordon intercepted a pass to make his first career touchdown. The Vikings ended the quarter with another touchdown to up the Hornets by one point.

The Hornets closed out the game by making two more touchdowns in the third quarter and the last winning touchdown in the beginning of the fourth quarter. The drive in the fourth quarter that ended in a touchdown totaled to 79 yards with 69 of those yards rushed by Hilliard. He made one of the touchdowns in the third quarter and the one in the fourth quarter totaling 135 yards rushing in the whole game.

"We ran the same play over and over and they couldn't stop him," said Smith.

Last week the team didn't have very many options for quarterbacks. Sophomore Mcleod Bethel-Thompson injured his knee when playing against Weber state and the MRI results showed he had a sprained ligament. Sperbeck said he will continue to go through rehab until he gets better. Sophomore Duncan White replaced Bethel-Thompson in that game since Smith wasn't suited up. Freshman Nick Andersen was the other possible back-up quarterback and broke his leg in practice before the game against Weber State. So, coming into the game against the Vikings, Smith and White were the only quarterbacks available.

Smith ended up starting and threw for 307 yards with two touchdowns to senior wide receiver Tony Washington and Wilkins. Smith was glad to be back on the team, but did like the two weeks off. Sperbeck said there were some drawbacks to Smith being out so long and it took Smith a while to get his head back in the game.

"It's tough to come back from an injury and he needed to get his rhythm back," said Sperbeck.

There were more than 8,000 fans in the stadium who cheered the Hornets on throughout the whole game. The team will be on the road for the next two games against Northern Arizona University and University of Montana and will have to come up with a way to motivate themselves.

"It depends on the chemistry within the team and we have a close bond. We pump each other up," said Washington.

The next home game for the Hornets will be against Montana State University on Saturday Oct. 25 at 2:05p.m.

Taylor Collis can be reached at tcollis@statehornet.com

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