FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Oct. 14, 2023) – Portland State's run game proved to be too much for the Northern Arizona University football team this afternoon in a 45-21 loss at Findlay Toyota Field in Flagstaff.
The Vikings rushed for 366 yards and accumulated 525 yards of total offense while holding the Lumberjacks to 65 rushing yards and 318 yards of total offense. It was the most rushing yards and yards of total offense Northern Arizona has given up this year, and it drops NAU to 2-5 overall and 2-3 in Big Sky Conference play. Portland State improves to 3-3 and 2-1.
The loss was the first at home to Portland State since 2006, snapping a four-game home winning streak for NAU. It also marked the second-straight loss to the Vikings. PSU quarterback, Dante Chachere, accounted for all six Viking touchdowns and completed 14 of his 19 pass attempts for 159 yards plus added 83 rushing yards.
NAU's quarterback,
Adam Damante, was 16-for-29 for 250 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
"We didn't get it done upfront on both sides of the ball. They rushed for 366 yards, and we rushed for 65. That's it. You can't beat anybody when you give up that many yards rushing," said head coach
Chris Ball. "We got out-physicalled up front. We had people at the point of attack at times but didn't finish for some reason, we'll have to look at the tape and figure that out. We just didn't do a good job upfront on both sides of the ball."
Northern Arizona scored first on a three-yard touchdown pass from
Angel Flores to
Bryzai White for a 7-0 lead after
Marcus Lye's extra point attempt was successful. It marked the first touchdown pass of Flores' career and the score capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ticked 4:47 off the clock.
From there, Portland State scored 21 unanswered points and took a 21-7 lead into the locker room. The Vikings forced a three-and-out for NAU to start the second half and then scored their fourth touchdown of the day for 28-straight points and a 28-7 lead.
Northern Arizona looked to get some life back in them when a five-play, 75-yard drive that took just 2:01 resulted in
BJ Fleming's first career touchdown, a two-yard rush, to cut the lead in half 28-14.
A 21-yard touchdown pass for the Vikings pushed the lead back out to 35-14 on PSU's ensuing drive.
With 3:36 left in the third, Damante found
Coleman Owen downfield for a 49-yard touchdown reception to make it a 35-21 contest. Owen led all NAU receivers today with 104 receiving yards on five catches, his first 100-plus receiving yard game this season and the seventh of his career. The score was his 15
th career touchdown reception, and the redshirt-junior is just one touchdown away from cracking NAU's all-time receiving touchdown list.
The touchdown was the last time Northern Arizona found the endzone, as Portland State scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to shutout the Lumberjacks and secure the 45-21 victory.
Four Lumberjacks recorded double-digit tackles today, led by
Heston Lameta who had a career-high 13.
Alex McLaughlin,
David Spruiells and
Nehemiah Magalei. Flores was NAU's leading rusher with 26 yards on two carries, followed by
Devon Starling who had 20 yards on five carries. Starling also had six catches for 55 yards.
Hendrix Johnson hauled in 87-yards on four catches, moving into third place on NAU's career-reception list with 191.
Northern Arizona now enters its bye week and will resume action back at Findlay Toyota Field on Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time for Homecoming against UC Davis.
