FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Oct. 28, 2023) – In front of a crowd of nearly 7,000 for Homecoming, the Northern Arizona University football team cruised to a 38-21 victory over No. 25/25 UC Davis at Findlay Toyota Field inside the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff.
The victory is the third this season over a ranked opponent, boosting Northern Arizona to 3-5 overall and 3-2 in Big Sky Conference play. The Aggies drop to 4-4 on the year and 2-3 in league action. The win also snapped a three-game skid to UCD and the first since 2017, as the Lumberjacks are now 59-36-2 on Homecoming.
The Lumberjacks led from start to finish, and it was the defense who shined with four takeaways on the day. The takeaways certainly helped, as NAU was outgained in total offense, 476 to 289. Northern Arizona also held the Aggies to 2-for-13 on third down, 2-for-5 on fourth down and 2-for-4 in the red zone.
Additionally, senior
Eloi Kwete set NAU's all-time sack record with 24 in his career. Kwete had one and a half sacks today to go with a forced fumbled, two quarterback hurries and seven tackles.
Northern Arizona split time at quarterback, but
Angel Flores accounted for three of NAU's five touchdowns with a passing, receiving and a rushing touchdown. He was 6-for-9 for 109 yards through the air, added 80 yards on 19 carries on the ground, and caught one pass for a 23-yard touchdown reception. He was also NAU's leading rusher.
Alex McLaughlin,
Zach Lewis and
Edward Rhambo all came away with interceptions today, while Kwete's forced fumble was recovered by
George Steele for a 90-yard touchdown return. The defense racked up five tackles for loss and were led by true freshman
David Spruiells with a career-high 10 tackles.
"A great, great win, I am really proud of how our defense played. We made an adjustment at quarterback at halftime, and
Angel Flores did a great job," said head coach
Chris Ball who picked up his first win over the Aggies today. "We have to do a better job of taking care of the football offensively, but we made up for it with four takeaways defensively. I'm proud of the way we played. We played hard and fought through adversity. It was good to see us respond and I'm very excited about this win."
UC Davis had the chance to score first but missed a 49-yard field goal attempt on its opening drive.
Szymon Gawlick then got the Lumberjacks on the board with a 26-yard field goal attempt that went through the uprights for his first field goal for NAU. Gawlick was perfect on the day with a field goal and went five-for-five on extra point attempts.
On the Aggies' ensuing drive, McLaughlin came up with the first takeaway of the day following an interception that he returned for 57 yards. It was the third interception of the season for McLaughlin, and the Lumberjacks took a 3-0 lead into the second quarter, shutting out an opponent during the first quarter for the first time this season.
Starting the second-half,
TJ McDaniel turned McLaughlin's turnover into points with a six-yard rushing touchdown for his first score as a Lumberjack. After Gawlick's extra point attempt was good, NAU opened a 10-0 lead to start the game.
The Aggies started to find some momentum and clawed back, responding with 10-straight points following a 75-yard touchdown pass and a 35-yard field goal attempt to tie things up.
UC Davis looked to take its first lead of the day, facing second and goal on Northern Arizona's seven-yard line when
Eloi Kwete flew in for a sack fumble that was recovered and returned for 90 yards and a touchdown by
George Steele.
Before the half was up, the Aggies tacked on a 24-yard field goal and the Lumberjacks took a 17-13 lead into the locker room.
The lone score in the third quarter came on a 21-yard touchdown pass from
Angel Flores to
Hendrix Johnson. Johnson was NAU's leading receiver today with three catches for 30 yards, as he is now just seven catches away from NAU's all-time reception record.
The play was set up by a big third-down stop by the defense and the Lumberjacks took over.
Devon Starling then had a 36-yard completion to move the chains, and the touchdown pass from Flores to Johnson capped a three-play, 64-yard drive that took less than a minute. At the end of the third quarter, the Lumberjacks were hanging on to a 24-13 lead.
Two quarterback hurries by Kwete in the same drive to start the fourth quarter helped the NAU defense hold UC Davis on 4
th and 10, allowing the Lumberjacks to take over on their own 35-yard line. Three plays later,
Chase Belcher found Flores in the endzone for a 23-yard completion and NAU pulled ahead 31-13. The pass was the first touchdown reception for Flores in his career and the second touchdown pass for Belcher.
UC Davis's first score of the second half came with 7:15 left in the game on a 34-yard touchdown pass that capped a seven-play, 75-yard drive. The Aggies went for two and were successful, trimming the lead down to 31-21.
Staying collected, Flores helped put the game out of reach with a seven-yard rushing touchdown, securing the 38-21 lead. Any hope left for the Aggies on their next drive came to an end when
Edward Rhambo grabbed the first interception of his career to help put the game out of reach for UC Davis.
Northern Arizona's next challenge takes place on Saturday, Nov. 4, at noon Mountain Standard time at Montana State. The Bobcats are currently ranked No. 2 in the country in both polls, but suffered a 24-21 loss on the road to Idaho this afternoon.
