CHENEY, Wash. (Nov. 18, 2023) – It was a down-to-the-wire finish, but the Northern Arizona University football team ends its season 5-3 in Big Sky Conference play with a 49-42 victory over Eastern Washington in Cheney, Wash., at Roos Field.
The Lumberjacks jumped out to a 35-7 lead, only to have the Eagles work their way back to tie the contest 35-35 in the fourth quarter with 28 unanswered points. From there,
Angel Flores completed two touchdown passes to
Marcus Phillips Jr. (14 yards) and
BJ Fleming (76 yards) to help regain the lead. EWU would score with a minute left, but the onside kick was unsuccessful and NAU held on to the win.
The conference finish is NAU's best since 2017, and, after starting the season 0-3, the Lumberjacks win consecutive games to end the year marking the first time the program has won two-straight since 2021. Additionally, the Lumberjacks win in Cheney for the first time since 2015 and snap a four-game skid to the Eagles.
"We played with a lot of heart today. We knew coming in it was going to be a lot of fight, no lead was safe. We let them back in it with some turnovers that cost us a bit, but I'm proud of the way we played," said head coach
Chris Ball. "We had a lot of heart and competed all the way to the end. That was a good football team, and this is a hard place to win. We said earlier in the week that they're won 81-percent of their games here at home. It was a big win for us and a big win for our program."
NAU scored a season-high 49 points and put up 581 total yards of offense, including 310 on the ground and 271 through the air.
Angel Flores completed 14 of his 20 pass attempts for 262 yards, throwing two touchdown passes and rushing for two more.
Devon Starling put up his third 100-plus game of the season, rushing for 133 yards on 17 carries.
Northern Arizona put together one of the best first halves of the season, scoring on five of its first six drives on five rushing touchdowns – three of which came from
Angel Flores, while the defense forced four turnovers. The offense ran 40 plays for 280 yards of total offense, 182 of which came on the ground. NAU also converted 5-of-7 on third down and were 4-of-5 in the redzone.
In the first half alone, Flores rushed 13 times for 78 yards and completed 7-of-11 pass attempts for 98 yards.
The Lumberjacks started off strong, forcing the Eagles to punt on their opening drive before scoring the first time they had the ball.
Chase Belcher rushed nine yards for his third rushing score of the year, capping a 7-play, 55-yard drive for the early 7-0 lead after
Szymon Gawlick's extra point attempt.
On the next drive, Eastern Washington tied up the game on a 33-yard touchdown pass following a 9-play, 77-yard drive. The 'Jacks struck back quickly, needing just two plays and 45 seconds before
Devon Starling found the endzone for the seventh time this year after a 30-yard rush.
The early fireworks continued when true freshman
Alex McLaughlin grabbed his fourth interception of the season, giving NAU position at their own 40-yard line. However, EWU would return the favor, intercepting the Lumberjacks in the endzone. At the end of the first quarter, Northern Arizona held a 14-7 lead.
Resuming in the second, the Lumberjacks earned their second turnover of the day when
Heston Lameta recovered a fumble, and the Jacks took over on the EWU-32. It didn't take long to tack on to the lead, as Flores snuck one yard into the endzone for the 21-7 advantage. The score was Flores' six rushing touchdown of the season, ending a four-play, 32-yard drive.
The NAU defense forced another 3-and-out and the offense gained great field position on their own 47-yard line to start the next drive. The drive was the longest of the game thus far, a nine-play 53-yard drive that ticked 4:56 off the clock and results in another one-yard rushing touchdown from Flores.
The Eagles did not have the ball for long, as
Brevin Czosnyka grabbed his first career interception and returned it 36-yards to EWU's six-yard line. It then took one play for Flores to find the endzone for the third time in the game, another one-yard rush that put NAU up 35-7 after Gawlick's fifth extra point attempt.
With under five to play in the half,
David Spruiells grabbed his first career interception for NAU's fourth forced turnover of the game. Once the Lumberjacks took over on their own 39, EWU recovered a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, making it a 35-14 game.
Eastern Washington started to find its groove and ended the half with a 39-yard touchdown reception, ending a 6-play, 55-yard drive that took just 1:29. At the half, NAU held on to a 35-21 lead.
After a first half that saw eight touchdowns and six turnovers between the two teams, the third quarter was a bit more anticlimactic as NAU punted twice and turned the ball over once. It was Eastern Washington who found the endzone on a 62-yard rush that capped a two-play drive that took 34 seconds. It marked 21 unanswered points for EWU who cut the lead down to 35-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles tied the game 35-35 on 13-yard receiving touchdown, but Northern Arizona was able to retake the lead with 6:47 left in the game on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Flores to
Marcus Phillips Jr.
The Lumberjacks tried to put the Eagles away with a 76-yard touchdown reception to
BJ Fleming from Flores for his first career touchdown, but with one minute remaining, Eastern Washington scored one more time on a short two-yard reception, but the onside kick came up short and the Lumberjacks came away with the win.
