SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (Nov. 9, 2024) – Complete in all three phases, the Northern Arizona football team earned its third-straight victory today at Cal Poly by a final score of 31-14 in San Luis Obispo, Calif., at Mustang Memorial Field.
Northern Arizona improves to 6-4 on the year and 4-2 in Big Sky Conference play while the Mustangs drop to 2-7 and 1-5 in conference action. The Lumberjacks have won three games in a row for the first time since 2017, which also marks the last time NAU has won six games. Northern Arizona wins its third-straight over Cal Poly and remains unbeaten in San Luis Obispo at 8-0.
Seth Cromwell found the endzone three times today and racked up 132 rushing yards on 15 carries. The Lumberjacks also won the turnover battle with two interceptions by
Zach Lewis and
Mikale Greer. Lewis also had seven tackles, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble.
Northern Arizona put up 477 yards of total offense and held the Mustangs to just 59 on the ground while rushing for 293 themselves.
Quarterback
Ty Pennington completed 20 of his 27 pass attempts for 184 yards, one touchdown pass to
Tay Lanier, and no interceptions. Nine receivers caught a pass, led by
Kolbe Katsis with four catches for 63 yards. True freshman
Samuel Hunsaker also connected on a career-long 47-yard field goal and was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra point attempts.
"We had a good start in the first half in all three phases, but I'd like to see us come out and dominate a little bit more in the second half. But, it was a good team win," said head coach
Brian Wright. "Our guys up front did a great job and
Seth Cromwell runs extremely hard. We took advantage of some things they were trying to do defensively to stop some things we've done before. We changed up our scheme for this one and again, Seth ran really, really hard.
The Northern Arizona defense came up big on Cal Poly's first two drives. The Mustangs opened with a nine-play, 72-yard drive that took 5:07 off the clock and turned the ball over on downs, allowing NAU to take over on their own four-yard line.
On Cal Poly's next offensive drive,
Zach Lewis grabbed his second interception of the season and the third of his career to set NAU up on Cal Poly's 17-yard line. It took just two plays for the Lumberjacks to find the endzone on a three-yard rushing score by
Seth Cromwell, his fifth of the season.
Cromwell made a living in the endzone early, finding another score on NAU's next drive – this time for a 27-yard rush. After
Samuel Hunsaker made both extra point attempts, the Lumberjacks took a 14-0 lead into the second quarter.
Cal Poly placed a fake punt on its own one-yard line, but the Lumberjacks were up for the challenge. It took just six plays and 3:11 to go the entire length of the field for the 99-yard drive, with the drive resulting in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Pennington to
Tay Lanier. During the drive, Pennington had a 42-yard rush, while
Kolbe Katsis (15 yards) and
Isaiah Eastman (11 yards) each rushed for first downs.
The Mustangs got on the board with 5:18 left in the first half following a 25-yard touchdown reception.
Northern Arizona responded before the half with a 47-yard field goal by Hunsaker for a new career-long. The defense would chime in once again as well when
Mikale Greer grabbed his third interception of the year.
At the half after putting up 293 yards of total offense, including 153 rushing yards, the Lumberjacks led 24-7.
Northern Arizona had a slow third quarter with only 57 yards of offense. With 1:08 remaining in the third, Cal Poly cut the lead to 10 points after a 12-play, 85-yard drive ended with a four-yard rushing touchdown.
Cromwell gave NAU the spark it needed to start the fourth quarter when he scored his third touchdown of the day on a three-yard rush to cap a 10-play, 64-yard drive. After Hunsaker's extra point attempt, Northern Arizona pulled back ahead 31-14.
Northern Arizona heads back out for its final regular season road game on Saturday, Nov. 16 against Northern Colorado. Kickoff from Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo., is set for 12 p.m. Mountain Standard time on ESPN+. The Bears are 1-9 and are coming off a 43-15 loss at home to Eastern Washington today.
