HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS (September 10, 2022) – After allowing a pair of drives that culminated in field goal attempts to open the game, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks' defense locked down the Sam Houston Bearkats.
Allowing just 142 yards through the final eight drives of the game, Northern Arizona (1-1, 0-0 Big Sky) produced its best defensive effort on the road since the 2006 season in Saturday night's 10-3 victory over Sam Houston (0-2). Holding the Bearkats to just a first-quarter field goal, the three points are the lowest since a 20-3 victory in Flagstaff against Idaho State in 2011 and the fewest points allowed on the road since a 54-3 win against Northern Colorado in Greeley since 2006.
"We get to enjoy it for 24 hours," said Lumberjacks head coach
Chris Ball. "They're a good football team. Any time you have the opportunity to play them again and win, it's a great feeling."
After losing last year's season opener in Flagstaff to the Bearkats, the Lumberjacks drastically turned the tide in this year's meeting in Huntsville. Now winners of four straight games in Texas since 2014, all against four different opponents, Northern Arizona capitalized on a timely turnover as its defense stymied Sam Houston.
Drives of 40 yards and 70 yards to open the game resulted in a missed 52-yard field goal followed by a make from 44 yards for Sam Houston out three minutes into the second quarter. From there, the Bearkats' offense hit a wall over the final 42 minutes of play. Recording four sacks in the second quarter, the Lumberjacks forced a pair of punts as well as a fumble to set up the lone touchdown of the game.
Facing a second-and-13, Sam Houston quarterback Jordan Yates tried to escape a collapsing pocket as
Jhasi Wilson and
Eloi Kwete grabbed hold. As the two began to bring down the quarterback, the ball popped loose, and
Mark Ho Ching fell on it at Sam Houston's own 27-yard line.
A pass to
Hendrix Johnson for 12 yards and a run of 7 yards by
Kevin Daniels put the Lumberjacks just eight yards away from a score. A 7-yard reception by
Coleman Owen, falling just short of the goal line, paved the way for
RJ Martinez to push through the middle of the offensive line for a 1-yard score and a 7-3 lead with 2:37 left before halftime.
Just as Ho Ching and
Cosmas Kwete had done earlier,
Heston Lameta ended a drive with a third down sack of Yates, forcing the Bearkats out of field goal range and effectively ending the first half.
Having deferred to the second half, Northern Arizona drove 80 yards in 11 plays to begin the second half, with
Collin Robbins hitting a 19-yard field goal for the final points of the night. A pair of completions to
Isaiah Gerena and
Coleman Owen converted the opening first down of the drive, with
Draycen Hall picking up 12 yards on a pair of plays to get the Lumberjacks out to their own 40-yard line.
Rolling to his left on second-and-10, Martinez dropped in a perfect pass to
Hendrix Johnson in the middle of the field for a 51-yard gain as the Lumberjacks broke into the red zone.
Johnson finished with 101 yards on eight receptions while Owen added 65, surpassing the 1,000-receiving yard mark for his career.
Following three-and-outs by both sides, Northern Arizona's defense picked up its second takeaway of the night with
Cosmas Kwete coming down with an interception after a pass by Yates deflected off an official.
"We talk about owning the ball on both sides of the ball, and we always talk about getting the ball back for our offense," Ball said. "It's one stat that at the end of the game, if you didn't know the score, would be pretty accurate of who won the game."
The Bearkats struggled to threaten again until early in the fourth quarter, when they reached the red zone before the Lumberjacks pressure struck again.
Forced out of the pocket and scrambling to his right, Yates was nearly brought down by multiple Lumberjacks on third-and-3 at the Northern Arizona 17. Forced to try for a touchdown down by seven, Sam Houston's fourth-down pass fell incomplete thanks to a deflection at the line by
Sheldon Newton.
Sam Houston pinned Northern Arizona at its own 1-yard line with 5:30 left on the clock, but the dominance in the trenches shifted to the Lumberjacks' offensive line as it grinded out the remainder of the clock thanks in part to a fourth-and-1 rush by Martinez on the third to last play of the night.
The fourth-down conversion was one of four by the Lumberjacks on five attempts throughout the night, with Ball saying the team entered the game with plans to stay on the attack.
"It's an analytic call to go for it on fourth-down-and-short situations. So we just stick with the book and it ended up working out for us," Ball said. "We knew going into this game that we were going to be really aggressive. So that's why we went for those."
Northern Arizona faces North Dakota at Findlay Toyota Field next Saturday for its home opener and the annual Running of the Freshman. The game will conclude the Lumberjacks' non-conference schedule against a Fighting Hawks team that upset the No. 24 Northern Iowa Panthers 29-27 Saturday in Grand Forks.
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