HILLSBORO, Ore. -- The Thunderbird football team (1-5, 0-2 Big Sky) fell on the road Saturday afternoon to the Portland State Vikings (3-3, 1-1 BigSky) by a final score of 52-31.
"It's disappointing," SUU head coach Demario Warren said. "The same trend keeps happening. We're getting our butts kicked in the second quarter and today was no different than the rest of the season."
The Vikings took an early 3-0 lead with a 37-yard field goal before five minutes had even ticked off the clock. They extended their lead to 10-0 before the opening quarter came to a close with a touchdown capping an eight-play, 71-yard drive.
Southern Utah got on the board to start the second quarter as Lance Lawson scored his third touchdown of the season through the air to cut into the Viking lead.
Unfortunately for the T-Birds, the Vikings would score 28 unanswered points to take a 38-7 advantage before SUU would score again.
Right before the opening half came to a close the Thunderbirds added a Manny Berz field goal, giving PSU a 38-10 lead at the break.
The Vikings hung 28 points on SUU in the second quarter alone.
The T-Birds scored another touchdown to start the third frame as Isaiah Diego-Williams took one to the house from 38 yards away.
After another pair of touchdowns from PSU, the T-Birds scored on the ground thanks to Chris Helbig to cut the Viking lead to 45-24.
When PSU extended their lead by another seven points the T-Birds responded with Brandon Schenks scoring his first-career touchdown in the closing minutes.
Ultimately, the Vikings downed the T-Birds 52-31.
Helbig finished the game with 31 completions for 302 yards and three touchdowns.
Diego-Williams caught nine passes for SUU and a touchdown, while Lawson had eight for 100 yards and a TD.
Alex Sims led the teams with 11 total tackles. Quaid Murray, Aubrey Nellems and Francis Bemiy all finished the game with eight.
SUU had five tackles for loss as a team.
The T-Birds will be back on the road next weekend to face off against in-state rivals Weber State. Kickoff in Ogden is set for 6 p.m. MT.
Keep tabs on the Thunderbirds throughout the entire Big Sky Kickoff by following @SUUFB on Twitter and Instagram and by liking the Southern Utah Football page on Facebook.
Single game tickets and season tickets are available for the remainder of the 2019 campaign at www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.
