NAU at Montana Statistics (PDF)

Photo by Matt Thompson

MISSOULA, Mont. – Seventh-ranked Montana scored with five seconds left in the game to prevail 24-21 over Northern Arizona Saturday Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The late score erased a Lumberjack lead taken with an 11-yard scoring run by Giovannie Dixon with just 1:55 left that had the Lumberjacks within reach of their first victory in Missoula since 1986.

"I can't fault our team for their effort," said Head Coach Jerome Souers. "We had a lot of adversity face us game time. Losing Michael Herrick took a lot of continuity out of our offense and things we have become accustomed to doing. We were not able to do that today. Consequently, we did not handle the pressure very well and that rendered our offense pretty ineffective."

Trailing 17-14, NAU got the ball with 6:53 left with a chance to take the lead, Junior Chasen Stangel, who finished 23-for-34 for 187 yards and a touchdown, completed back-to-back passes to Davieun Curry-Chapman and Austin Shanks to advance into the UM territory. The Lumberjacks then leaned on freshman Zach Bauman, who rushed for six straight plays for 29 yards. Dion then scored on an 11-yard play with the two-point attempt failing. Bauman finished with 27 carries for 127 yards in the contest.

After a 43-yard kickoff return, the Griz took over on their own 44-yard line, converting three straight third down attempts. UM quarterback Justin Roper converted the last one with a 15-yard run on a broken play down to the 15.  Two completions pushed the ball down to the 2 with the clock dwindling. NAU stopped a rush play before a defensive pass interference reset the downs. The Lumberjacks held Chase Ryenolds to no gain again, forcing a timeout with 10 seconds left. Roper then connected with CJ Atkins on a jump ball in the right corner for the winning score.

"Defensively we knew we had to play a perfect game," said Souers. "I thought we gave our offense a three or four opportunities early to get a field goal or something and we did not get anything. It was frustrating for all of us. The kids never quit and coaches made some adjustments and we got some things to get some production. To beat a team like this, you need to get to those things sooner. It is our job to learn from it and take into next week."

Both teams scored in the third quarter with the help of special teams mistakes. Montana blocked a Drew Zamora punt on the first possession of the second half, recovering the ball on the 1-yard line. The Lumberjacks defense held, forcing a 38-yard field goal by Brody McKnight. The Griz then put up a 7-play drive to score on a 28-yard pass from Justin Roper to Antwon Moutra to take an eight-point lead.

NAU then took advantage of a Griz fumble on a punt to score on a Stangel to Nick Larson connection. The two-point attempt to Larson was knocked down.

The Griz got on the scoreboard first with a 48-yard scamper by CJ Atkins on a reverse for the early 7-0 lead in the contest. The defense otherwise played solid, giving the Lumberjacks the ball back twice inside Montana territory. But the Lumberjacks failed to capitalize on the good field position until the final possession of the half.

Stangel, who started just 1-of-6 in the first quarter, got into the flow of the game in the second. The junior went 10-for-12 for 88 yards in the second quarter, leading the Lumberjacks on a 5-play, 53-yard drive to tie the game before halftime. Bauman completed the drive with a 1-yard run with under a minute to play in the half.

Then the Lumberjacks took the lead on a strange play. Montana kick returner Peter Nguyen took the kick out the back of the end zone, earning a safety call from the officials.

NAU did not play with quarterback Michael Herrick, who sat out the game with a lingering injury.

"We had a great crowd last time and it really helped our team. Having three of the last four at home will give us a jump, a lot of momentum. I hope people have not given up on this team. They certainly have not given up and we have all intentions of winning out and getting ourselves into the dance. It is a tough day today. We do not have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have to pickup and move on."

The Lumberjacks return to Flagstaff to host three of the final four Big Sky Conference games starting with Sacramento State on Oct. 30. The game is the annual Homecoming contest for NAU with kickoff scheduled at 3:05 p.m.

DID YOU KNOW…The Northern Arizona University athletics department ranked 78^th to place among the Top 100 in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. NAU ranked among the top 100 schools for the seventh time in the last eight seasons and 12^th overall in the last 14 years.