GREELEY, Colo. (Oct. 20, 2018) – Despite rushing for a season-high 204 yards, the Northern Arizona University football team dropped a 42-14 decision at Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon.
Northern Colorado put the game away with a pair of touchdowns in a span of 18 seconds in the early minutes of the fourth quarter. Both scores came following interceptions by NAU freshman quarterback
Gino Campiotti, who started the game in place of sophomore
Daniel Bridge-Gadd.
The Lumberjacks committed five turnovers in the loss with three interceptions and a pair of lost fumbles. NAU was outscored 30-0 in the second half after leading at the break 14-12.
Campiotti, making his first collegiate start finished 16-of-31 for 132 yards along with three interceptions.
Running backs
Joe Logan and
Cory Young paced the 'Jacks offense in the loss as Logan posted 93 yards on 19 carries along with a pair of touchdowns, while Young rushed 12 times for 66 total yards. Campiotti added 19 ground yards, while
Aramis Aldredge netted 48.
The loss extends the Lumberjacks' losing streak in road games at Northern Colorado to three, with their last victory coming on Oct. 27, 2012. NAU now sits at 3-4 overall and 2-2 in Big Sky Conference action. Northern Colorado picked up its first win of the season and now own a record of 1-7 and 1-4 in the league slate.
Dontay Warren led the Bears in the win with five catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Milo Hall led the Northern Colorado ground attack with 119 yards on 23 carries, including a long run of 53 yards.
UNC signal caller Keaton Mott tossed three touchdowns and finished 15-of-27 overall for 217 yards in the victory.
Northern Colorado avoided disaster and came away with the game's first touchdown in the process when Warren recovered his own fumble in the end zone for a score just 1:50 into the contest, giving the Bears a 6-0 lead after a failed attempt at a two-point conversion.
Logan gave the 'Jacks a 7-6 edge at the 7:18 mark of the first quarter with a two-yard burst for a score to cap off a drive that covered 65 yards on seven plays.
The Bears reclaimed the lead on a blocked punt by Jerone Jackson at the goal line which was recovered for a touchdown by teammate Aaron Harris with 1:42 remaining in the opening quarter to make the score 12-7 UNC.
Logan added a second score with a one-yard scoring run at 5:09 of the second quarter to give the 'Jacks a 14-12 advantage. Logan capped off a drive that covered 79 total yards and saw the junior gain over half of that amount on the ground with 48 total yards on six carries.
Northern Colorado's defense tied the game just 3:41 into the second half when it forced a fumble by Bridge-Gadd, which rolled out of the end zone for a safety to knot the score at 14-14.
Following the punt after the safety, the Bears jumped back out in front on a nine-yard quarterback scramble by Mott to cap a 10-play, 72-yard drive which gave Northern Colorado a 22-14 lead following a successful two-point conversion run by Warren with 8:11 left in the third.
NAU responded with a 14-play, 63-yard drive on its next possession but came away empty after a fake field goal attempt from UNC's 12-yard line resulted in an incomplete pass from placekicker
Luis Aguilar to
Jonathan Baldwin.
Mott converted the turnover to points when he hit Darren DeLaCroix on a quick slant for a 19-yard touchdown to increase the Northern Colorado lead to 28-14 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.
A turnover early in the fourth quarter by the Lumberjacks led to another scoring drive for the Bears. Following the second interception of the game by Campiotti, Mott hit Warren from 29-yards out to cap off a five-play, 55-yard drive, making the score 36-14.
Northern Colorado kept the pressure on with another interception of Campiotti on the 'Jacks next possession which was returned 49 yards for a touchdown by Sherand Boyd Jr. to increase the lead to 42-14 with 11:18 remaining.
The Lumberjacks return home next week to battle Cal Poly on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome in a 4 p.m. MST kickoff.
The matchup with the Mustangs will be televised live on Your Phoenix CW and NAU-TV. It will also be streamed on Pluto TV (Channel 239).
The NAU-Cal Poly game will also air on the Lumberjack Radio Network with
Mitch Strohman and Kevin Stephens on the call beginning with the pregame show at 3 p.m. MST.
Postgame Notes – at Northern Colorado – Oct. 20, 2018
- Freshman Gino Campiotti made his first career start at quarterback for the Lumberjacks in today's game at Northern Colorado.
- Sophomore quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd did not start today's game after missing practice on Sunday due to travel issues.
- Bridge-Gadd suffered a lower-body injury just a few plays after entering the game in the third quarter and did not return.
- Senior wide receiver Emmanuel Butler became NAU's all-time leader in receiving yards with his first catch of the game, which went for 11 yards. Butler now has 3,067 career receiving yards, surpassing previous record holder Clarence Moore's career total of 3,042.
- The start by Gino Campiotti at quarterback marked the third different signal caller to start for the Lumberjacks this season – the most since the 2014 campaign.
- NAU's 204 rushing yards marked its highest total in a game this season and its most since 235 vs. Montana State on Nov. 11, 2017 – a span of seven games.
- Saturday's loss extended NAU's losing streak in road games against Northern Colorado to three straight. The Lumberjacks last won in Greeley against the Bears on Oct. 27, 2012 by a 12-10 margin.
- NAU's Jamison Pruitt was ejected from the game for targeting in the fourth quarter.
