Josh Davis ran for 177 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead No. 10/13 Weber State to a 24-17 victory over Cal Poly in a non-conference football game between Big Sky Conference rivals Saturday night inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
Jake Constantine replaced starter Kaden Jenks in the second quarter and completed nine of 15 passes for 84 yards and a score as the visiting Wildcats improved to 1-1 on the year.
Playing its home opener, Cal Poly fell to 0-2.
Trailing 24-10, Cal Poly drove 75 yards on 13 plays to pull within seven points with 8:12 to play. Joe Protheroe ran one yard for the touchdown.
The Mustangs forced a Weber State punt and had the ball at its own 44-yard line with 2:33 remaining, but on the third play quarterback Jake Jeffrey fumbled and Weber State’s Adam Rodriguez recovered at the Wildcat 39-yard line. Weber State was able to run out the clock.
Davis carried the ball 23 times, scoring on runs of three and five yards. Constantine hit Rashid Constantine with a 20-yard scoring pass with six second left in the third quarter.
The Wildcats led from start to finish.
Davis scored on his three-yard run for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. Cal Poly’s Alex Vega kicked a 22-yard field goal nine second into the second quarter and Trey Tuttle answered with a 21-yard field goal for a 10-3 Weber State lead at halftime.
Jeffrey tied the game at 10-10 for Cal Poly with a seven-yard run before Weber State built its 24-10 advantage with Constantine’s scoring pass and Davis’ second touchdown run.
Weber State compiled just three more yards than Cal Poly, 324-321. The Wildcats rushed for 193 yards and passed for 131 more while the Mustangs accumulated 188 yards on the ground and 133 more through the air.
Cal Poly had the ball one more minute than Weber State.
Protheroe rushed for 60 yards on 22 carries and J’uan Campbell added 69 yards on 10 trips for Cal Poly. Jeffrey completed nine of 17 passes for 133 yards and junior wide receiver J.J. Koski made seven catches for 127 yards.
Landon Stice made 12 tackles for Weber State while Jawian Harrrison and Rodriguez each recovered fumbles for the Wildcats.
Cal Poly’s Nik Navarro notched 11 tackles (10 solo), including two for lost yardage, and also forced a fumble. Matt Shotwell, the last of four Shotwell brothers to play football at Cal Poly, added 10 stops. Kitu Humphrey recovered a Weber State fumble and broke up two passes.
Cal Poly plays at home again next Friday night, hosting Brown of the Ivy League for a 7:05 p.m. kickoff. The Bears will be playing their season opener.
-Provided by Cal Poly
