WFC ROUNDUP : Portland St. Beaten by UNLV, 51-14

Rebels running back Kirk Jones rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns Saturday to power Nevada Las Vegas to a 51-14 romp over Portland State in a nonconference football game.

Las Vegas scored on four of their first five possessions to take a 27-0 lead and control of the game midway through the second quarter.

The victory evened UNLV’s record at 1-1. Portland State dropped to 0-2.

The Rebels rolled up 493 yards total offense, with quarterbacks Steve Stallworth and Eugene Bowen combining to pass for 232 yards. Stallworth connected on 11 of 17 throws for 152 yards, including a 2-yard scoring pass to Chris Bridges.

Portland State quarterback Chris Crawford completed 17 of 28 passes for 227 yards and hit former Newbury Park High receiver Brian Coushay with a 10-yard scoring pass.

Jones scored UNLV’s first touchdown on a 10-yard run and later scored on a 2-yard run.

Reserve running back Rod Emery also scored twice for the Rebels, on runs of 1 and 3 yards.

Fullback Darrin Brightmon had a seven-yard scoring run, and Jim Cook kicked a 43-yard field goal for the Rebels.

Curtis Delgardo closed out the Vikings’ scoring on a two-yard run, and Gene Cimorelli tallied UNLV’s final touchdown on a one-yard run in the final period.

Santa Clara 31, Southern Utah 18--Sophomore running backs Matt Shaw and Dominic Fortino scored on short fourth-quarter runs to give Santa Clara a come-from-behind 31-18 victory over Southern Utah State in the Western Football Conference opener for both teams.

Santa Clara, 1-0, trailed, 18-17, until Shaw bulled into the end zone from two yards out and Fortino ran for a nine-yard touchdown.

Junior quarterback Greg Calcagno completed 14 of 32 passes for 188 yards for Santa Clara, while Shaw and Bryan Smith, another sophomore, combined for 150 yards rushing. The Broncos also forced three fumbles and two interceptions.

Southern Utah wide receiver Troy Moynier caught four passes for 83 yards. The visitors dropped to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in conference.

Sacramento State 29, Mesa (Colo.) 29--Freshman kicker Tracy Bennett kicked a 38-yard field goal with two seconds left to earn Mesa College a tie and cap a comeback from a 26-14 halftime deficit.

Bennett also kicked field goals of 29, 50, 25 and 21 yards. He missed a 33-yard field goal attempt early in the game.

Mesa Coach Bob Cortese said that despite the blown halftime lead, he was proud of his NAIA Division I team’s showing against Sacramento State, a NCAA Division II school.

Mesa running back Lonnie Williams rushed for 143 yards on 16 carries, including a 60-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter.