Saturday, September 3, 2011

Simon Fraser bounced back from an 11-point third quarter deficit scoring 19 points in the fourth period and then snuffing out a late Pacific rally to complete a 36-28 come-from-behind victory over the Boxers Saturday at Lincoln Park Stadium in Forest Grove.

In Saturday's only other GNAC football game, Dixie State lost its home opener to Adams State 24-14.

Pacific led Simon Fraser 14-10 at halftime and built the advantage to 21-10 on a Jordan Fukumoto 36-yard touchdown reception early in third quarter.

The Clan, however, responded with four unanswered touchdowns, taking the lead on 72-yard run by Bo Palmer with 11:12 left in the fourth quarter.

Backup quarterback Greg Bowcott scored the next two touchdowns making it a 36-21 lead when he strolled into the end zone on a two-yard run with 2:40 to go.

Pacific came back with a quick 1 minute, 57 second drive, cutting the deficit to eight points when Campbell found Matt Nyberg 11-yard pass with 43 seconds left.

The Boxers recovered the onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, taking over at midfield. Campbell worked quickly, finding Fukumoto for a 23-yard pass play, who then lateraled to Nyberg for nine more yards to put the ball on the Clan’s 25-yard line with two seconds left.

Campbell then found Fukumoto in the right corner of the end zone for the final play, but a high pass and solid coverage by the Simon Fraser defense kept the receiver from making the catch.

Campbell put together an impressive passing effort to begin his second season with the Boxers, completing 23 of 38 passes for 343 yards and two touchdowns.

Fukumoto made seven catches for 117 yards while Davis Jacobs had 24 carries for 59 yards. The Boxers finished with 383 yards of total offense and dominated time of possession, holding onto the ball for over 41 minutes.

Palmer led the Simon Fraser ground attack with 181 yards and two touchdowns.

In all, 259 of the Clan’s 311 yards came on the rush. Quarterback Trey Wheeler completed six of 14 passes for 52 yards.

Simon Fraser’s string of four unanswered touchdowns started with the defense. Adam Berger scored when he intercepted Campbell and returned the ball 54 yards to cut the lead to 21-17.

In the fourth quarter, the Clan rushed for 145 yards. After Palmer gave SFU the lead at the 11:12 mark and after a three-and-out by Pacific, the Clan used three plays to take the 29-21 lead on Bowcott’s eight-yard run.

After another Pacific three-and-out, the Clan marched 50 yards in seven plays as Bowcott waltzed in on a two-yard run for a 36-21 lead with 2:40 remaining.

Defensively, SFU was led by Kyle Miller who had 14 tackles and Justin Capicciotti who had three tackles for losses, including two of SFU's six sacks. Berger and Nigel Palma each had 10 tackles.

Adams State 24, Dixie State 14

Running back Terjean Saffold rushed for 179 yards, including a clinching one-yard touchdown run with 2:14 left as Adams State defeated Dixie State before 3,916 fans at Hansen Stadium in Saint George.

Adams' final touchdown came after the Grizzlies had taken the ball over on downs at Dixie's 42-yard line with 4:25 remaining.

In addition to Saffold's TD, Adams State scored twice on TD passes of three and 30 yards from Trevor Eggleston to Dustin Bolt to overcome a 7-3 deficit.

Dixie had taken a 7-3 lead in the first quarter on a GNAC-record 100-yard kickoff return by Cache Morgan. The previous record had been 98 yards by Courtney Smith of Central Washington against Western Oregon in 2008.

The Red Storm's only offensive touchdown came early in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard pass from quarterback Cody Stevenson to wide receiver Zack Fox.

That score came on the first offensive play immediately following a fumble recovery by Blake Hansen, which was forced by Morgan.

In addition to figuring in both of Dixie's touchdowns, Morgan had 17 tackles. Nine of them were solos and one of them resulted in a 16-yard loss. Also in double figure tackles was linebacker Christian Case with 11.

Dixie's defense spent most of the day on the field as the Grizzlies ran 37 more offensive plays (81-44) and held the ball for nearly 40 of the game's 60 minutes.

Adams ended up with a 402-111 advantage in total offense, limiting the Red Storm to nine net rushing yards and 102 yards passing.