FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – It was another thrilling game for Northern Arizona (3-2, 1-0 Big Sky) and Cal Poly (1-3, 0-1 Big Sky), but it was the Lumberjacks who came away with the 38-35 win today at the Walkup Skydome in front of a crowd 11,545. Both teams exchanged leads throughout the game, but NAU stayed composed to pull out the win.  

"First of all, I want to say that this was a great college football game with two really good teams that played hard and well," said head coach Jerome Souers. "We were fortunate to pull out a late score."

NAU chose to punt with 2:27 left to go in the game and down 35-31. The Lumberjack defense forced a three and out for Cal Poly, leaving quarterback Chase Cartwright 1:36 on the clock to make magic.

The Lumberjacks managed to work their way up the field, but is a 26-yard completion to Dan Galindo on 3^rd-and-4 that got the NAU fans on their feet. Next, Cartwright found Patrick Baldenegro for six yards, as NAU crept to the Cal Poly 18-yard line. After back-to-back incomplete passes, Cartwright remained confident as he found Jahn for the game winning 12-yard touchdown.

"For Casey to score and the crowd to erupt like they did, that was something you can't even write; it was magical," said Cartwright.

Cal Poly attempted to move the ball quickly up the field, but a miscue by quarterback Chris Brown saw the ball fly into the hands of NAU cornerback Marcus Alford for the interception.

The interception left three seconds on the clock and the win in the hands of the Lumberjacks on Family Weekend.

Casey Jahn finished with 108 yards earning his first 100-yard game of the season. Senior wide receiver Ify Umodu scored a pair of touchdowns, both in the third quarter. Cartwright finished 22-for-35 with 279 passing yards, four touchdowns and one interception, which came at the end of the first half.

"We played well on all three phases of the game tonight in order to get a win tonight so I am proud of our team," said Souers. "We had some great efforts tonight from guys like Casey Jahn, Chase Cartwright and I couldn't be prouder of our football team right now."

On defense, junior safety Darius Lewis had a career-high 13 tackles, while senior cornerback Blake Bailey added 11. Senior linebacker Austin Hasquet tallied nine tackles and one sack. Senior safety Shawn Sharkey recorded a 21-yard interception, while Alford had a 20-yard interception.

"I was out trying do my job. We all were," said Hasquet. "When we got those stops, we were able to create some momentum. Cal Poly had our number for the first three quarters and then we turned it around and got a couple of stops. It is not easy but every play there is an assignment and we have to go out and execute like we did in the fourth quarter."

NAU hits the road next week as it travels to Northern Colorado. Kickoff versus the Bears is set for 1:30 p.m.