FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Sept. 23, 2023) – The Lumberjacks are in the win column.
The Northern Arizona University football team topped No. 11/13 ranked Montana by a score of 28-14 today at Findlay Toyota Field inside of the J. Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Ariz. The win is NAU's first over a ranked opponent since 2018 and propels it to 1-3 overall and a perfect 1-0 in Big Sky Conference play.
The Griz are handed their first loss of the season, falling to 3-1 overall and 0-1 in early conference action.
The victory snaps a two-game losing streak to Montana and NAU's first win over the Grizzlies in Flagstaff since 2016. It also marks Northern Arizona's first conference-opening victory since the Spring of 2021.
Until today, Northern Arizona had dropped 14-straight games to ranked opponents.
Northern Arizona racked up 396 yards of total offense compared to 244 for the Grizzlies. The NAU defense locked down and held Montana to just 18 yards rushing, while the offense racked up 136 yards on the ground.
Freshman
Adam Damante made his first career start, and although he threw two interceptions, he completed 23 of his 30 pass attempts for 212 yards and a touchdown. Another unsung hero of the day is running back
Chase Belcher who racked up 54 yards on the ground and completed a 48-yard touchdown pass to
Marcus Phillips Jr.
Not to be outdone, the 14 points allowed by the Lumberjack defense was the least amount of points allowed since Oct. 22, 2022 against Idaho State in a 24-10 NAU victory. The defense racked up 12 tackles for a loss of 73 yards, including seven sacks for a loss of 59.
Eloi Kwete, who also had a forced fumble, had 4.5 tackles for a loss of 13 yards.
Kwete had four sacks, which moves him up to second all-time on NAU's career sack list with 20.5. He also now has 31.5 career tackles for loss which moves him into sixth.
The Grizzlies were also held to just 2-of-12 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down. The Lumberjacks were 4-of-5 on fourth down.
"Wow, wow," said a nearly speechless head coach
Chris Ball, who notched his first career ranked victory and his first career victory over Montana at NAU. "It's a tribute to our staff and our team to come out there and play like that. To fight through the adversity we've been going through. It was a great win in all three phases, we played extremely well. There were a lot of great efforts out there today. We had to play at a high, high level to win this game. That's (Montana) a really, really, good football team. It's all about our about our players and they decided to come and fight for 60 minutes and that's why we won."
An interception put a stop to NAU's opening drive, but the Lumberjacks forced Montana to punt on its opening drive. The punt was blocked by
Dustin Reynolds and the Lumberjacks took over on Montana's 24-yard line. It took just one 24-yard play for Damante to find
Hendrix Johnson for the score. After
Marcus Lye's extra point attempt was good, NAU held the early 7-0 lead. It was the first time the Lumberjacks have scored first this season.
The touchdown was the first for Johnson this season, and the score moves him into 10
th all-time for career touchdowns in NAU history with 16. Johnson had 33 receiving yards on the day as well, moving him up to seventh all-time on the career receiving yards list with 2,380. He was also one catch short from moving into fourth all-time on the career receptions list.
At the end of the first quarter, the Lumberjacks led 7-0. On the first drive of the second quarter,
Devon Starling scored the second touchdown of his career at NAU with a two-yard rush to cap a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ticked 8:14 off the clock. Lye's extra point attempt was successful, and the lead extended out to 14-0.
Montana scored with 8:31 remaining in the half on a four-yard strike, but the extra point attempt was no good.
The next time the Grizzlies got the ball, they were facing 2
nd & 9 at the NAU-39 yard line when
Eloi Kwete forced a fumble that was recovered by
Nehemiah Magalei and returned to Montana's 48-yard line.
From there, Damante pitched the snap to Belcher who completed the 48-yard strike to Phillips Jr., and for the first time this season NAU took a 21-14 lead into the locker room.
The Grizzlies would be held from the endzone for the remainder of the game, as NAU's defense pitched a completed second half shutout. The Lumberjacks would score once more in the third following a four-yard rush from
Keyonta Lanier for his first touchdown as a Lumberjack, capping an eight-yard, 50-play drive.
"I've always believed. I've been saying from day one that this is the best team we've ever had. When you look at our losses and our stats, we're capable, we just needed to take care of the ball and put it in the endzone. It's Big Sky play. From top to bottom, anybody can beat anybody and you have to show up. It was great today because our players know what it takes to win in this league and we needed some success because our players and staff are putting in the work every day," added Ball.
For the third time this season, true freshman
Alex McLaughlin led the Lumberjacks in tackles, this time with eight. He also recorded his first career interception and returned it for 25 yards and recorded a pass breakup.
Besides
Eloi Kwete,
George Steele (1.0-9),
Daniel Robledo (0.5-1),
Nehemiah Magalei (0.5-1) and Jonathan Jones (1.0-10) each recorded sacks. Steele ended with seven tackles along with
Jhasi Wilson.
Starling was NAU's leading rusher for the second-straight week, racking up 67 yards on 19 carries.
Draycen Hall had 92 all-purpose yards, made up of 24 on the ground, 30 in the air, and 38 on kick returns.
Bryzai White led the team in receiving yards, hauling in 68 on seven catches.
Eemil Herranen averaged 37.2 yards per punt with a long of 41.
The Lumberjacks now face another challenge on the road this week when they head to Sacramento State on Sept. 30. The Hornets, who are currently ranked No. 4 in the FCS Stats Perform Poll, are coming off a 36-27 loss to No. 7/10 Idaho on the road this afternoon. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time on ESPN+ and the Northern Arizona Healthcare Lumberjack Radio Network.
