Weber State Loses 38-20 at Boston College Add Comment    Sep 19, 2010

     The Wildcats kept the ball away from Boston College for 22:24 on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts but the Eagles made good use of those previous few minutes turning two Wildcat fumbles into 10 points, and returning an interception 66 yards for a score to defeat Weber State, 38-20.
     BC running back Montel Harris did most of the damage for the Eagles with 19 carries for 115 yards and one touchdown, and had three receptions for another 31 yards.
     Harris was very slippery a couple of times out there and hurt us with a couple runs when it looked like we had them contained. said WSU head coach, Ron McBride.
     The Wildcats took an early 3-0 lead. WSU won the toss and deferred. The Cats kicked off and the Eagles returned it to the 19. BC was charged with illegal motion on the first play, moving them back to the 14. On the first play, WSU middle linebacker Taylor Sedillo picked off a pass by BC quarterback Dave  Shinskie. He returned it three yards to the 17.  Vai Tafuna carried twice for two yards, followed by an incomplete pass by Cameron Higgins, and the Cats had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Shaun McClain, a first year freshman.
    After regrouping, the Eagles drove 60 yards in seven plays which was finished up with Shinskie tossing a six-yard scoring pass to Chris Pantale.  The Eagles stopped the Wildcats on their next possession and got the ball back on their own 24. This time they drove 76 yards in eight plays with Shinskie throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Ifeanyi Momah to make it 14-3.
     The Wildcats got the ball on their third possession of the game at their own 29 and put together a solid drive which got them into BC territory. On a third and three, Bo Bolen made his first appearance of the day in the backfield and got the ball but coughed it up at the BC 38 and the Eagles recovered.
   The Eagles drove 64 yards in just seven plays with Montel Harris scoring from four-yards out putting the Eagles up 21-3 and putting some steam in Coach Ron McBrides ears.
    That was a key turnover, said McBride. We were building up some momentum and I thought we were putting together a good drive.
     The Cats got the ball back on their own 34 and drove to the BC 33 in eight plays and looked to have gained part of that momentum back, but Higgins fumbled the ball taking the ball back from Tafuna on a fake hand off and the Eagles recovered. On the first play following the recovery, BCs Sterling Phifer scrambled 33 yards to the Wildcat 21. WSUs defense dug and in and stopped the Eagles on a third and five situations. The Eagles kicked a 33-yard field goa making it 24-3.
     On the next series, Higgins put together a picture-perfect drive taking the Cats 72 yards in seven plays which culminated with a 24-yard TD pass to first-year freshman receiver Shaydon Kehano cutting the lead to 24-10.
     Boston College answered the scoring drive marching 63 yards in just five plays on the next possession with reserve quarterback Mike Marscovetra finding Sterling Phifer on a 22-yard pass completion with 1:18 left in the first half.
     That hurt us, said McBride. We were feeling some confidence and felt like if we could get the ball back, we could get a score, instead we allowed them a couple of big plays and they scored.
       The Wildcats came out with fire in their eyes in the second half on both sides of the ball. BC kicked off to start the second half and booted it into the end zone.  The Cats took over at the 20 and went on a time-consuming drive with lasted 7:33 minutes, ending up on the Eagle nine-yard line where the Wildcats had to settle for a 26-yard field goal from McClain.
     That was a tremendous drive by our offense, said McBride. We controlled the line of scrimmage, we got physical and dictated the game, we did everything right except get it into the end zone.
     Following the field goal, the Wildcat defense forced a punt by the Eagles which went into the end zone and the Cats took over at the 20. After a false start penalty, Higgins regrouped his troops and started the Wildcats on another solid scoring drive, but on a first-and-ten at the BC 42, Higgins was intercepted by DeLeon Gause who jumped the route and raced 66-yards up the sideline for a touchdown to make it 38-13.
     Weber States defense kept the Eagles at bay the rest of the game. At the 14:50 mark, the Eagles took over on their own nine following a 42-yard punt by red-shirt freshman Tony Epperson.  BC drove 78-yards in 11 plays and appeared ready to put the game away, but Shinskie was intercepted in the end zone by Wyoming transfer David James to kill the possession.
    Both teams then had two more possessions, but both offenses were stifled by defensive stands.  The Wildcats got a big break with 1:42 left in the game when reserve running back Andre Williams fumbled at his own 31 and it was recovered by red-shirt freshman Robbie Diamond.  After being stopped twice, quarterback Mike Hoke found Shaydon Kehano at the four-yard line on a fourth-and-eight situation, Josh Booker then scored to make it 38-20.  WSUs onside kick was recovered by BC and the Eagles took a knee to end the game.
    The Wildcats ran 86 plays for 381 total yards, while the Eagles had just 56 plays tallied 411 offensive yards.  WSU quarterback Cameron Higgins was 24-39 for 234 yards. He now had 9,996 career passing yards.  Mike Phillips had six catches for 69 yards.  Jordan Brown led the WSU defense with seven total tackles, four unassisted, and added a pass break up.
     The Wildcats now return to Ogden for their 2010 home opener, and Big Sky Conference opener, next Saturday, September 11 vs. Northern Colorado at 6:05 p.m (MDT) in Stewart Stadium.

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