PORTLAND, Ore. (Sept. 3) – The Central Washington University football team held a 26-21 lead over 12^th ranked Portland State, but a fourth quarter rally by the Vikings washed away the lead as the Wildcats fell 26-43 at Providence Park.
 
The Wildcats scored on its opening possession and never trailed in the first three quarters, but the Vikings scored three times in the fourth quarter to take the victory.
 
"We are never going to back down, we learned that today,"  CWU Head Coach Ian Shoemaker said.  "I am so proud of what our guys were able to do today.  Losing is never fun, regardless of who the opponent is, but there are a lot of good things we can take from this game and I am excited to see how these guys respond going forward."
 
Preseason all-American wide out Jesse Zalk and quarterback Justin Lane both had outstanding days for the Wildcat offense.  Zalk set a career high with 181 receiving yards, including three scores.  Lane connected on 19 of 37 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns.
 
"Big time players do big things in big games, and that is what we got from Jesse and Justin today," Shoemaker said.  "But it was not a two man show, we had an entire team play their hearts out today, and they were a part of that."
 
The Wildcats also netted 124 yards on the ground, led by Quincy Carter's 81 yards on 19 carries.
 
Defensively the Wildcats controlled the Viking for the majority of the game.  Jackson Huerta led the team with 15 tackles (14 solo), followed by 12 tackles by Kevin Haynes.  As a team, the Wildcats had 10 tackles for loss with Haynes, Bo Banner and Uso Olive each recording 1.5.
 
"Our front line was very good today, and did a really good job controlling the line of scrimmage," Shoemaker said.  "We had a lot of young freshman out there today who stepped up in a big game, I think we just got a little tired late in the game, but that happens when you give maximum effort for an entire game."
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In the game's opening drive the Wildcats took the ball 80 yards in 2:10, finishing with a 32-yard connection between Lane and Zalk.  The Viking defense got a steady dose of running back Quincy Carter in the opening plays, as the sophomore accounted for 43 of the team's yards on the drive.
 
The Vikings responded with a four-yard td run by Nate Tago to level the score at 7-7 early in the first quarter.
 
Carter continued to find success, plowing through the Viking defense for a 16 yard touchdown run to give the Wildcats a 13-7 lead after a missed PAT.
 
Lane found Zalk, again, late in the second quarter on a 63 yard completion to give CWU a 19-7 lead.  Because of the earlier missed PAT, CWU went for two but could not covert.
 
Tago again came up huge for the Vikings, taking a handoff 43 yards for a score.  After a stalled CWU offensive possession the Vikings got the ball back on the CWU 32 yard line and scored from one yard out six plays later to enter halftime with a 21-19 lead over the Wildcats.
 
The Wildcats forced a fumble, thanks to Jackson Huerta, and was recovered by Max McIntosh at the eight yard line.
 
Central Washington took full advantage of the opportunity, as Lane found Zalk for the third time on a 31-yard strike, allowing the Wildcats to regain the advantage at 26-21, a lead they held heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Things fell apart for the Wildcats in the final stanza as the Vikings scored three times, and the CWU offense was unable to get things rolling.
 
Vikings quarterback Alex Kuresa three for 222 yards and two scores and ran for another 123 yards.  Tago finished the day with 24 ruches for 136 yards and three scores.
 
The Wildcats will look to earn their first win of the 2016 season next weekend when they take on Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Western Oregon for at 1 p.m. in Monmouth, Ore.