FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 9, 2019) – The Northern Arizona football team rallied from a 14-point deficit to take a 10-point lead with under six minutes remaining in regulation before falling to No. 8/8 Sacramento State 38-34 on Saturday afternoon at the Skydome.
The Lumberjacks took their first lead of the game on a 54-yard field goal by
Luis Aguilar with 8:38 left in regulation before adding a 63-yard run by
Joe Logan to make the score 34-24 with 5:42 on the clock.
Sacramento State (7-3, 5-1 Big Sky) battled back with a pair of touchdowns in the final 1:38. Hornets' quarterback Jake Dunniway connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Dotson to trim the lead to 34-31 with 98 seconds remaining. The Hornets then received a fortunate bounce on the ensuing onside kick, which was recovered by Pierre Williams for Sacramento State at the NAU 49.
Dunniway found Williams five plays later in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown to seal the victory for the Hornets - after leaving the 'Jacks just 23 seconds for a final drive.
NAU (4-6, 2-4 Big Sky) senior running back
Joe Logan had a career-best effort with 210 yards and three touchdowns. The performance marked the first time a Lumberjack player has eclipsed the 200-yard rushing plateau since Zach Bauman posted 266 yards vs. Idaho State on Oct. 19, 2013.
Lumberjack senior signal caller
Case Cookus finished 18-of-29 through the air for 198 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore
Brandon Porter hauled in a team-high eight receptions for 67 yards.
The NAU defense held the Hornets scoreless for five consecutive drives in the second half before the final flurry. Sophomore
Anthony Sweeney paced the defense with a career-best 14 tackles – the most by an NAU player this season. Sweeney also snagged his first interception of the season in the loss.
For the game, the Lumberjacks were out-gained 529-410, but registered a season-best 212 yards on the ground.
Sacramento State struck on its first drive with a 63-yard touchdown strike from Dunniway to Marshel Martin, giving the Hornets a 7-0 edge 4:45 into regulation.
Dunniway connected once again with Martin on the next possession for Sacramento State from 14 yards out to increase the lead to 14-0, with 5:25 left in the opening quarter.
Following punts on each of its first four possessions, the NAU defense helped get the offense going when senior
Chris Jules registered a sack that caused a fumble by Dunniway, which Jules then recovered at the Sacramento State 24-yard line. Logan punched home his team-leading 14
th touchdown of the season from one-yard to trim the Hornets' lead to 14-7 at the 11:16 mark of the second quarter.
The Hornets added a 42-yard field goal with 6:04 remaining in the second by Devon Medeiros to increase their lead to 17-7 and cap off a 12-play, 51-yard drive.
NAU answered on its next drive as Logan busted loose for a 51-yard touchdown burst just 15 seconds later to trim the Sacramento State lead to 17-14, with just under five minutes left before the break.
After back-to-back stops by the Lumberjack defense, the offense put Aguilar in position for a successful 44-yard field goal to send the teams into halftime deadlocked at 17-17.
Sacramento State opened the second half with an eight-play, 75-yard march that resulted in a seven-yard TD rush by Bj Perkinson and was keyed by a 32-yard reception by Isaiah Gable, making the score 24-17 Hornets 3:34 into the second half.
The Lumberjacks defense and offense teamed up once again to deadlock the score at 24-24 with 14:01 left in regulation when an
Anthony Sweeney interception gave the ball back to the NAU offense and Cookus responded on the first play by hitting a streaking
Stacy Chukwumezie for a 73-yard touchdown.
The Lumberjacks head to Cedar City, Utah next Saturday, Nov. 16 for their final road game of the regular season at Southern Utah in a 2 p.m. MST kickoff.
NAU's showdown with the Thunderbirds will be aired live on Pluto TV (536) and the Lumberjack Radio Network.
Postgame Quotes – vs. No. 8/8 Sacramento State
Head Coach, Chris Ball
"It shows that we can play with the No. 8 team in the country. It is a teaching moment that every play counts. It's not just a game. It is 90 plays then it is 90 individual plays. We had a lot of great effort today, but then it comes down to an onside kick and we need to make a play. It is definitely a learning experience and we have to lock that in at practice and understand that you can't be satisfied with a 14-point lead with four minutes left, you have to put your foot on their throat and finish."
Quarterback, Case Cookus
"I felt fine. I think overall, we were about six inches off on probably five or six plays in the passing game, whether that was drops, me throwing high or protection. That comes down to me making sure those guys are right throughout practice. But overall, I thought offense did a pretty good job. Joe [Logan] was rolling. We knew that we wanted to take advantage of them in the run game and that's what we did. We can't have a penalty put us behind the chains field-position wise. We need to to get that first down."
Running Back, Joe Logan
"You always feel good breaking runs like that, but the result wasn't what we wanted it to be. All of these personal accomplishments are great, but I don't play for the personal accomplishments. I play for the result that I practice for all week, which is the win. So, it feels great to be able to get this done, but it would feel better if I carried for 16 yards and we won."
Postgame Notes – vs. No. 8/8 Sacramento State – November 9, 2019
- Senior Joe Logan scored three touchdowns to give him 16 total scores on the season.
- Logan's 51-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and 63-yard run in the fourth quarter were the longest two runs by a Lumberjack this season.
- Logan finished with 210 rushing yards – his second straight game over 100 yards this season and the ninth of his career.
- Logan's 210 rushing yards marked the most by a Lumberjack since Zach Bauman posted 266 yards vs. Idaho State on Oct. 19, 2013 – a span of 71 games.
- Logan now has 2,470 career rushing yards and moved past Casey Jahn (2,377) (2012-15) for sixth place on the NAU career rushing list.
- Logan also cracked the top 10 on the NAU career scoring list and currently sits at 204 points - eighth-most in Lumberjack annals.
- Saturday's loss to Sacramento State marked the Lumberjacks' first loss at home this season after opening a perfect 4-0.
- The defeat also snapped a four-game winning streak for NAU in the series with Sacramento State.
- Senior Chris Jules registered a sack, forced a fumble and recovered the loose ball in the second quarter.
- Junior place kicker Luis Aguilar drilled a 44-yard field goal to stay a perfect 13-of-13 on distances under 50 yards.
