The Sacramento State football team came up short in its 13-7 loss against the Portland State Vikings at Hornet Stadium Saturday night.

In the Hornets’ last home game of the season, the team was sputtered offensively after halftime as they failed to convert on third downs (1 for 9 on the night) and lost the time of possession battle by 11 minutes.

After a key holding penalty called back a Hornets first down, it put an end to one of two comeback drives in the fourth quarter.

“We gave it away, flat out gave it away,” head coach Steve Mooshagian said.

Junior quarterback Marcel Marquez felt the pressure in the second half of the game, throwing two interceptions and was sacked six times in the game.

Going into the game the Hornets were missing three of their starting offensive linemen. Junior Francisco Cruz, senior Matt Russell, and freshman Jordan Hunter didn’t play due to injuries.

The first interception resulted from Marquez was feeling pressure in the pocket and threw the ball into coverage where it was picked off by Vikings safety Charles Manigo.

The second was tipped by safety Michael Dorsey on a pass rush and he made the play to pick the ball before it hit the ground.

Marquez said from the scouting reports that Portland’s defense only brought extra guys on the pass rush 25 percent of the time, but still had no excuse for happened in the game.

“They where bringing in six or seven people with no one on coverage. It’s something we faced before, but we didn’t execute,” Marquez said.

Marquez ended the night 12-25 for 178 yards. He connected with senior wide receiver Jason Barnes four times for 81 yards and threw early in the game to senior Andre Taylor. Taylor finished the night with four catches for 64 yards.

The Hornets end the season 4-4 in the Big Sky Conference, a career-best in coach Steve Mooshagian’s four year career as head coach and the first time the team has finished .500 or above in the Big Sky since 2000 (5-3).

The first half was a defensive battle as the Hornets drew first blood in the second quarter. Immediately following a 4th down conversion by junior fullback Ryan Hastie to the Portland three yard line, sophomore middle linebacker Cyrus Mulitalo went back to his high school running back roots and carried the ball into the end zone with 1:48 left in the first half.