Ogden • Kaden Jenks hit Rashid Shaheed for a 73-yard touchdown on Weber State’s first play from scrimmage and the Wildcats led the rest of the way in their 29-17 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday night.
Jenks finished 19 of 29 passing for 219 yards and two touchdowns in a battle between two of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Weber State (2-2), which came in ranked No. 6 in the FCS Coaches poll, scored on its first five drives to open a 27-3 lead midway through the second quarter.
Following Shaheed’s touchdown, the seventh-ranked Panthers fumbled the kickoff and Trey Tuttle’s 25-yard field goal extended the lead. Then, just three plays later, Brody Burke picked off a pass from Will McElvain to set up Kris Jackson’s 2-yard touchdown run that made it 17-0 less than 10 minutes into the game.
Matthew Cook made a 35-yard field goal to get Northern Iowa (2-2) on the board with 3:27 left in the first quarter, but Tuttle made a 41-yarder about 2 ½ minutes later and Jenks hit Justin Malone for a 13-yard touchdown with 8:30 left in the second quarter.
McElvain threw for 219 yards and two touchdowns and added 105 yards rushing on 16 carries for UNI.
Cal Poly 24, South Utah 21 — In Cedar City, Jalen Hamler had a pair of touchdown runs, Jake Jeffrey added another and Cal Poly held off Southern Utah 24-21 on Saturday night in a Big Sky Conference opener.
Kekoa Sasaoka missed a 23-yard field goal attempt for Southern Utah (1-4, 0-1) with 2:10 remaining.
Hamler had scoring runs from 6 and 13 yards in the second quarter and finished with 65 yards rushing on 20 carries. Jeffrey’s 4-yard TD run stretched the Mustangs’ lead to 24-13 with 12:47 to play.
The Thunderbirds answered less than a minute later when Chris Helbig threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to John Mitchell to pull Southern Utah to 24-21. Cal Poly had a turnover and punted on its last two possessions. Helbig then led a 10-play, 51-yard drive that stalled on Sasaoka’s missed field goal.
Helbig finished 19 of 34 passing for 246 yards and two touchdowns. Jay Green ran for a 20-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.
