Portland State won its home opener over Central Washington 43-26. But for several players from Clark County on Central Washington’s roster, Saturday was also a home game.
And none of them came up bigger than the smallest player on the field.
Jesse Zalk, all 5-foot-8 160 pounds of him, had nine receptions for 181 yards. In catching touchdown passes of 32, 63 and 31 yards, the senior from Prairie High School showed why he was named a preseason NCAA Division II All-American.
“It’s definitely like a home game for me,” Zalk said. “I’ve got my wife’s family, my family, my church family. I looked up and saw my brother. This is his first college game watching me play.”
Eight players on Central Washington’s roster hail from Clark County. That’s the largest local representation on any college team this season.
Five of them played on Saturday. Haynes, who was CWU’s top tackler as a sophomore, had 12 tackles.
Senior center Josh Stolz, a Mountain View grad, helped direct an offense that outgained Portland State 304-257 in the first half. The Vikings eventually asserted their will in the second half, but not before trailing 26-21 with 10:50 left in the third quarter.
Chavo Camargo (Mountain View) handled placekicking and kickoff duties for Central Washington, making two of three extra point attempts. Kaben Humphrey-Butler (Union) also saw action.
With so many players from the Greater St. Helens League, a Clark County community has sprouted at Central Washington.
“Anytime anybody makes a play in practice, we’re yelling ‘GSHL! GSHL!,’” Haynes said. “It’s fun. We have a little brotherhood inside the team.”
Stolz, who had about 25 friends and family in attendance, said Clark County players motivate each other.
“We joke that we represent the GSHL in (Division-II), which we actually take a lot of pride in,” he said. “We know that our coaching staff likes to bring in people from the GSHL. So we can’t be more excited about that.”
Portland State has four players from Clark County. Camas grad John Norcross saw action at weakside linebacker, making two tackles.
Freshman Nathan Hawthorne, a Columbia River grad, made his collegiate debut Saturday after transferring in the offseason from Oregon.
Portland State offensive linemen Isaac Ennis (Columbia River) and Glenn Whearty (Skyview) dressed but did not play.
The Vikings, ranked No. 12 in the FCS coaches poll and coming off just their second trip to the FCS playoffs, were shaky in the first half.
But quarterback Alex Kuresa made plays when he needed to. The senior quarterback threw for 222 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for 136 yards, including a 21-yard dash that put the Vikings up 36-26 with 6:34 to play.
Senior Nate Tago, taking over as the No. 1 running back, brought a physical running style to the Portland State backfield. He had 136 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.
“We were undefeated all summer and we keep it for another week,” Vikings coach Bruce Barnum said. “It was a good first game out of the chute. I told somebody on the sideline, this is exactly why I didn’t want to play Central Washington. We know they’re good.”
Three tough road games now await Portland State. The Vikings play FBS schools in San Jose State and No. 14 Washington before opening Big Sky Conference play against defending champion Southern Utah.
Central Washington begins play next weekend in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Wildcats hope to win that conference after going 3-3, 5-5 overall.
But before that happens, several Clark County players soaked in Saturday’s homecoming.
“I had people texting me throughout the week telling me they were going to be here,” Haynes said. “Being back in Portland was fun because most of our team is from up in the Seattle area. It was fun to come down here and play in front of my home crowd.”
