TUCSON, Ariz. – Junior
Cory Young had an impressive debut and the Northern Arizona football team did not have many issues moving the ball on Arizona's defense, but the Lumberjacks were unable to come away with a win in their 2017 season opener. Young rushed for two touchdowns in his first game as a Lumberjack in NAU's 62-24 loss to Arizona Saturday night.
"Our guys competed and they played hard," said head coach
Jerome Souers. "At times they played really well and we just have to take care of some of the consistency issues that we had. Like everyone else, the difference between your first game and your second game is the biggest improvement, and we need the week. I learned a lot about our team tonight. It is a strong character group who is accountable, but we're disappointed we missed some opportunities."
The 43,620 fans at Arizona Stadium saw a multitude of big plays from both teams, but the home fans saw many of their team's big plays result in touchdowns. Of Arizona's nine touchdowns, six of them were of 30 yards or longer.
Still, NAU piled up 562 yards of total offense compared to Arizona's 595 yards. The Lumberjacks threw for 377 and rushed for 185, while Arizona recorded 506 yards rushing. NAU turned the ball over three times though – all in the first half – and Arizona had zero in the turnover column.
The track race started on the literal first play of the season for both teams when sophomore
Case Cookus and senior
Elijah Marks connected for 45 yards as fans were still piling in. But the Lumberjacks' initial drive of the 2017 season ended with a mishandled snap on a 31-yard field goal in the first of a few missed opportunities for NAU.
Arizona struck first on a Shun Brown 66-yard punt return for a score, but the lead was short-lived as NAU immediately had an answer. On his first touch as a Lumberjack, Young – a Boise State transfer – took a handoff right up the middle and ran untouched from 58 yards out to tie the score at 7-7 with less than six minutes gone by in the opening quarter.
The Wildcats then turned an NAU fumble into points when Nick Wilson scampered 46 yards to put Arizona back on top, 14-7, to cap the first quarter scoring. Still, the 'Jacks marched down and were poised to tie the game, but Cookus was intercepted at the one-yard line on the first play of the second quarter.
After Arizona's Brandon Dawkins hooked up with Tony Ellison for a 43-yard touchdown, NAU stemmed the tide with a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive covering 4:50. The drive ended with Young's second touchdown of the game, this time from seven yards out, to bring NAU within 21-14 with 6:48 remaining before halftime.
However, the Wildcats scored twice more before the half and then needed just three plays out of the locker room to extend their lead to 41-14. Arizona tacked on another touchdown to take a 48-14 lead into the final quarter.
Cookus found Butler streaking down the middle of the field for 44 yards as the third quarter was winding to a close, which placed NAU in prime position to start the final period. This time, the 'Jacks reaped the benefits of an 80-yard drive when sophomore
Joe Logan cruised into the endzone on the tail end of a 22-yard touchdown to cut NAU's deficit to 48-21 with 14:25 remaining.
Arizona got the touchdown right back on the next possession, which was followed by a 13-play, 60-yard drive engineered by junior
Hunter Correll culminating with a 33-yard field goal from sophomore
Griffin Roehler. The Wildcats scored one final touchdown before the game ended.
Cookus finished the game 21-for-38 for 306 yards and two interceptions. Marks was the recipient of eight of those completions for 147 yards, marking his fourth career 100-yard game. Butler finished with 87 yards on five receptions.
Young and Logan both eclipsed the 100-yard plateau with Young registering 115 yards on just 11 carries. Logan had 101 yards on the ground on 18 carries.
Defensively, junior
Kam'ron Johnson had a team-high eight tackles, six solo, while senior
Byron Evans and junior
Jake Casteel each had five total tackles. Casteel also notched the Lumberjacks' only sack of the game. NAU was credited with four pass breakups and three tackles for loss.
Next Saturday, Sept. 9, NAU will host Western Illinois in the Walkup Skydome. The Lumberjacks' 2017 home opener will kick off at 4 p.m.
