CS Long Beach Falls Short, 17-14

Cal State Long Beach’s season came to a frustrating end Saturday when the 49ers were stopped at the goal line by Utah State in the final seconds.

The Aggies won the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game, 17-14, at Veterans Stadium.

Starting from its 27-yard line with 3:41 to play, Long Beach drove to the Utah State 3 and had a first-and-goal with 52 seconds left and with no intention of playing for a tie.

Three cracks at the middle got the 49ers to the one. Then, on fourth down with the clock at :09 and with 2,659 fans standing, quarterback Jeff Graham ran to the right and pitched back to Karlos Kirby. But Kirby was tackled at the four by defensive backs Darrin Long and Tony Brown.

The 49ers ended the season with four losses in a row and a 4-7 overall record. Their 2-5 PCAA record landed them in seventh place.

But first-year Coach Larry Reisbig, who lost seven players because of injuries during the season, praised his team.

“That’s as good as we can play at this point,’ said Reisbig, who was upset only with the mistakes that cost the 49ers 95 yards in penalties.

“We should have won the game,” he said.

But the Aggies (5-6 and 4-3) came away with their fifth victory in the last six games and wound up in a second-place tie in the PCAA.

They were led by quarterback Brent Snyder, who became the Aggies’ season passing leader by throwing for 270 yards on 24 completions in 39 attempts.

His six-yard touchdown pass to Petey Maiden with six seconds left in the first half broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Aggies the lead for good.