FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (April 26, 2019) – The NAU Football closed out the spring practice season on Friday evening with the Spring Showcase, which saw the defense (blue) defeat the offense (white) by a 45-34 margin.
The contest, which was a total of two quarters, was played with special scoring rules for the defense that saw them earn points for turnovers on downs (with a bonus for a three-and-out) and non-scoring turnovers as well as the traditional scoring methods of a safety or defensive touchdown.
Highlights
- The defense opened up a quick 10-0 advantage with interceptions on the first two drives by senior Marcel Myers and junior Brian Barry.
- Junior kicker Luis Aguilar connected on a 34-yard and 38-yard field goal for the offense.
- Senior Joe Logan broke loose for a big run of 54 yards down to the one-yard line to set up a touchdown for the offense.
- Senior Tommie Dorsey made a big play for the offense with a big catch and run for over 50 yards down the middle.
- Senior wide receiver Stacy Chukwumezie hauled in four receptions for over 80 yards – including a 50 yard completion from quarterback Gino Campiotti.
- Junior tight end Matthew Kempton snagged a 40-yard reception from quarterback Heath Beemiller.
- Senior Brandon Worthy and junior Carson Taylor paced the defense with five tackles.
- Worthy, freshman Jason Pisano and sophomore Anthony Sweeney each registered a sack for the defense.
- Morgan Vest also snagged an interception for the defense.
Quotable
NAU Head Coach Chris Ball
"We played everybody and that's what I wanted to do, play everybody. We got through without any injuries. That's the thing with the spring game, you want to avoid any injuries. I wanted to make sure we finished on a high note with every practice. The 15 practices we had, we got better, so that's what we look for."
"You just mix the defensive skills up. You need to find a spot. We want to get our best 11 football players out on the field, so sometimes you need to move some guys around to do that. You don't want to stack your best players. You want to get your best 11 on the football field and when you can get your best 11 out there, then you have a chance. It just takes some tweaking."
"I think we have a chance to be very good defensively. I love the scheme. I want to be explosive in all three phases. The defense that Coach (Jerry) Partridge brought was similar to what we did at Memphis. He attacks a little more, but that is what I want, to be aggressive. We have to keep developing it and tweaking some things. What we would like to do is make sure we know what our players do really well and let them do it."
Up Next
The Lumberjacks open the 2019 regular season on Thursday, August 29 vs. Missouri State at the Walkup Skydome.
