On Sept. 7, the sounds of Prince’s song “Purple Rain” and the Wildcat Victory Bell rang throughout Stewart Stadium as Weber State University’s football team defeated the Portland State University Vikings 43–18. The Wildcats entered the game 0–1 after losing 35–3 to the University of Washington on Aug. 31.
“We had a sour taste in our mouth from last week, so we just wanted to go out there and make someone else feel what we had to feel the week before,” Wildcat junior safety Angel King said.
King finished the game with a fumble recovery and an interception.
The Wildcats’ run game struggled to get going in the first half as the Vikings compressed their defense to stop Weber State star running back Damon Bankston. After some successful drives from throwing the ball, the Vikings had to spread their defense to stop the pass, allowing the Wildcats to get back to running the football.
Bankston was able to finish the game with 133 rushing yards after a successful second half. He had two touchdowns, one of which came off a 75-yard run.
“My mentality is whenever I get the ball, I’m gonna go score,” Bankston said.
The game started off going back and forth between the teams. Weber State got on the board first from a perfect throw into the corner of the endzone from sophomore quarterback Richie Munoz to senior wide receiver Jacob Sharp for a 28-yard touchdown.
The Vikings responded in the second quarter with a passing touchdown of their own, after which the teams traded field goals. The Wildcats were able to finish the half with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from Bankston to go into the half up 16–10.
Senior kicker Kyle Thompson hit two more field goals to increase the Wildcats lead to 19–10 at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Munoz would get his own rushing touchdown, and after another Vikings touchdown pass, the ‘Cats would follow up with two more rushing touchdowns to win the game 43–16.
“I’m very proud of my team and how they responded from last week,” Wildcat head coach Mickey Mental said. “I’m really excited for next week.”
The Wildcats travel to Beaumont, Texas, to face the Lamar Cardinals on Sept. 14 at 5 p.m.
