ABILENE, Texas (Nov. 30, 2024) – Making its sixth appearance in the FCS Playoffs, the Northern Arizona football team's run came to an end today with a 24-0 loss at No. 15-seeded Abilene Christian in the first round in Abilene, Texas, at Wildcat Stadium.
NAU's historical season wraps up at 8-5 overall and 6-2 in Big Sky Conference play. The Wildcats go on to face North Dakota State in Fargo, N.D., for the quarterfinals after improving to 9-4.
The Lumberjacks could never quite get their offense going and were outgained 474 total yards to 194. NAU did come away with three turnovers but could not capitalize.
Ty Pennington completed 16 of his 31 passing attempts for 165 yards.
Seth Cromwell was NAU's leading rusher with 19 yards, while
Bryzai White caught three passes for 34 yards,
Isaiah Gerena caught three for 33 and
Ta'ir Brooks caught two passes for 34.
Mikale Greer,
Alex McLaughlin and
Tommy Ellis all came away with interceptions. Ellis led the way with 12 tackles while McLaughlin came away with 11.
Ben D'Aquila punted eight times for 379 yards, good for 47.4 yards for punt. He had a long of 54, placed four inside the 20, and had one go for a touchback.
"I'm disappointed obviously in the outcome. I'm really disappointed on how we couldn't get anything generated on offense, but I thought our guys battled hard as they have all season long. I give a ton of credit to Coach Patterson and his football team. They outplayed us and outcoached us today and beat us in a lot of ways. I'm certainly sure he's proud of his defense and their performance today," said head coach
Brian Wright. "I'm proud of our football team and I'm proud of our seniors and what they have done in our short time together. I showed up in December with a brand-new staff and we had a group of seniors that didn't jump in the transfer portal, and they stuck with us. They believed in what we were doing every day, and we believed in them. They got us to where we are today. I'm proud of my football team and where we've come, but disappointed with the outcome today."
The Wildcats scored first late in the opening quarter on a 37-yard touchdown pass for the 7-0 lead. After putting up just 32 yards of total offense, NAU trailed 7-0 heading into the second.
Both teams exchanged interceptions to open the second, with
Mikale Greer coming down with his fourth of the year before Pennington threw his second. On ACU's next drive,
Alex McLaughlin came away with a pick, his second of the season and second consecutive, and returned it two yards. Northern Arizona got down to the goal line but could not capitalize on 4
th and one.
With three minutes left to play in the half, the Wildcats connected on a 46-yard field goal to go up 10-0.
ACU led by 10 at the half, holding NAU to 94 yards of total offense while putting up 241 themselves. Each team had seven first downs.
In the third, the Lumberjacks were out-gained on offense 106-to-52 but locked down defensively and did not allow the Wildcats to tack onto their lead.
Tommy Ellis brough down Northern Arizona's third interception of the day and NAU took over on their own 11 to start the fourth quarter, but the Jacks could not capitalize and punted.
The Wildcats scored twice in the fourth quarter, first on a 53-yard rushing touchdown and then again on a six-yard passing touchdown that capped an 11-play, 67-yard drive to seal the 24-0 victory.
