Portland State Disarms Hapless Cal Lutheran With All Guns Blazing

Jim Bees threw a couple of passes Saturday that not only earned him a place in the Cal Lutheran record book but cost him his job as Kingsmen quarterback.

Freshman Tim Zeddies, however, who replaced Bees midway through the first quarter after the 2 interceptions, was equally ineffective in the Kingsmen’s 49-0 loss to Portland State in a Western Football Conference game at Cal Lutheran.

Cal Lutheran (2-7, 0-5 in conference play) lost its seventh consecutive game and was shut out for the first time this season. The Vikings (7-2-1, 6-0), ranked fifth in NCAA Division II, have won 6 in a row.

Bees has thrown 21 interceptions to tie a dubious school single-season record held by Dan Hartwig and Russ Jensen.

Portland State, which clinched its second consecutive WFC title last week, took advantage of Bees’ errant throws and every opportunity that Cal Lutheran provided. The Vikings scored on their first 8 possessions, including all 7 in the first half.

Despite Portland State’s lopsided victory, Coach Bob Shoup said he didn’t think that the Vikings tried to run up the score.

“I think Portland was very kind to us,” Shoup said. “They played mostly backup people in the second half. There was no attempt by Portland to rub it in.”

Coach Ernest (Pokey) Allen said that the game served as a tuneup for Portland State heading into its regular-season finale against Montana next Saturday.

“We weren’t as sharp as I would have liked to be, but we did what was expected,” Allen said. “They showed a lot of character, but they were just a little outmanned.”

Chris Crawford threw 2 touchdown passes and completed 15 of 22 for 271 yards to pace a balanced Viking offense. Kevin Johnson scored 2 touchdowns and led all rushers with 118 yards in 9 carries.

Junior tailback Curtis Delgardo, the WFC’s leading rusher who sat out the second half, scored Portland State’s first touchdown on a 3-yard run with 8:38 left in the first quarter. Safety Joe Rodgers intercepted a Bees pass to set up the Vikings’ 36-yard drive.

Linebacker Kevin Wolfolk intercepted another Bees pass at the Cal Lutheran 11-yard line to set up the Vikings’ next touchdown. Two plays later, fullback Ioasa Sione scored on a 1-yard run. The first quarter ended with Portland State ahead, 18-0.

Crawford threw 2 touchdown passes in the second quarter and Johnson scored the first of his 2 touchdowns to give the Vikings a 39-0 halftime lead.

Cal Lutheran came close to scoring only once. The Kingsmen drove to the Portland State 9 midway through the fourth quarter, but penalties killed the drive.

Zeddies completed 15 of 26 for 157 yards and Dan Blatt completed 5 of 8 for 31 yards. Bees failed to connect in 3 attempts.

John Bankhead, who had only 1 reception in the first half, led Cal Lutheran receivers with 5 catches for 60 yards.

Portland State held Cal Lutheran to 2 yards rushing. The Vikings outgained the Kingsmen, 541-190.