FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 6, 2021) – While the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks forced three turnovers in the first half, the No. 22 Eastern Washington Eagles offense managed to hold a lead going into the locker room and never trailed en route to a 45-13 victory Saturday afternoon in Cheney, Wash.
The Big Sky Preseason Offensive MVP, Eric Barriere finished with three passing touchdowns and 413 yards through the air. While NAU kept the quarterback contained on the ground, with just nine yards on four carries, Barriere did come away with big plays through the air.
"We're young and we didn't have
Brenndan Johnson in there today. We have a couple other guys that are hurt or out," said NAU head coach
Chris Ball of the struggles in the secondary. "We knew that was going to be an issue moving forward coming into this season. We've just got to continue to get better, we've got good talent back there, we are just young."
NAU (1-1) evened the score at 3-3 late in the first quarter after a pair of Eastern Washington (1-1) turnovers, while the Eagles' third turnover led to some confusion and possibly a missed opportunity for the Lumberjacks.
Devontae Ingram picked off a pass by Barriere in the red zone midway through the first quarter, with
Jacob Mpungi forcing then a fumble on the Eagles' next possession.
Jhasi Wilson scooped up the loose ball at NAU's 40-yard line and
Luis Aguilar connected on a 48-yard field goal to even the score a few plays later.
After Eastern Washington broke through for the first touchdown of the game, NAU moved into the red zone thanks to a 34-yard reception by
Stacy Chukwumezie and then cut the lead to 10-6 on another field goal by Aguilar.
Then trailing 24-6 just 1:48 before halftime,
Harrison Beemiller wrestled the ball away from Eastern Washington's Anthony Stell. Jr. after a catch along the sideline. Spinning away from Stell Jr. and the rest of the growing pile, Bemiller raced along the sideline and into the end zone for what momentarily appeared to be a touchdown.
However, an inadvertent whistle blew the play dead before Beemiller scored and the ball returned to the spot of the fumble. Unable to put together a drive on the offensive side, the Lumberjacks went into the break trailing by 18.
Eastern Washington then held NAU scoreless until the first play of the fourth quarter. Down 31-6, the Lumberjacks broke into the end zone after
George Robinson sprinted through the middle of the Eagles' defense for a 38-yard touchdown run.
Jeff Widener had extended the drive with a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1 to wrap up the third quarter, with
Hendrix Johnson setting up the touchdown after drawing a pass interference call to open the fourth quarter. However, the score would be NAU's final of the day after a pair of fourth-down conversions came up short.
"We've got to fix the things that are broke," Ball said. "We didn't play very well offensively or defensively. We've got to get those things fixed and move forward. We'll look at the tape and do what we need to do to beat Idaho. We've got to come out tomorrow and Tuesday, make ourselves better and correct the mistakes. We didn't handle the adversity very well today and that's something that concerned us."
Widener and
Keondre Wudtee split snaps at quarterback, with the freshman taking over for the second half after seeing two drives in the first half. Widener threw for 132 yards on 16-of-24 passing while Wudetee connected on 6-of-14 passing for 91 yards.
Chukwumezie led the Lumberjacks in receiving with 88 yards on five catches, including his 34-yard gain as well as a 29-yard reception in the fourth quarter.
Coleman Owen added 57 yards through the air and Johnson finished with 48 yards receiving.
Robinson's touchdown pushed him to the top of NAU's rushers, finishing with 45 yards on four carries followed by
Draycen Hall's 45 yards on 12 carries.
Cole Fisher also added 37 yards on the ground, as NAU handed the ball off to four running backs throughout the game.
The Lumberjacks will face the Idaho Vandals (1-1) at 1 p.m. next Saturday in the Walkup Skydome, already hitting the halfway point of the six-game season.
