FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 4, 2025) – A 90-yard punt return touchdown by Taco Dowler swung the momentum completely in favor of No. 5/5 Montana State, as the Bobcats scored 34 consecutive points en route to a 34-10 victory over No. 13/13 Northern Arizona on Saturday.
The loss snapped the Lumberjacks' four-game overall winning streak and nine-game home streak at Findlay Toyota Field at the Walkup Skydome. NAU fell to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. Montana State, the defending Big Sky champion and FCS runner-up, won its fourth straight game and upped its record to 4-2 and 2-0 in conference play.
"We got beat by a really good football team today who beat us in all three phases of the game," said head coach
Brian Wright. "We shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit. We couldn't get anything going offensively, gave up another kick for a touchdown, gave up some big plays on defense. You add up all of that and we didn't give ourselves a chance today."
The Lumberjacks struck first on a 2-yard rushing touchdown by
Seth Cromwell at the end of a 12-play, 57-yard drive spanning nearly six minutes late in the first quarter. On the drive, Cromwell, whose touchdown was his sixth of the season, converted a pair of key first downs in the air, including on a 4th-and-4.
Meanwhile on defense, NAU forced Montana State to punt on its first three possessions, with the Bobcats only accumulating 44 yards of offense. The Lumberjacks took their 7-0 lead into the second quarter before momentum completely shifted in favor of the Bobcats.
Ben D'Aquila's 52-yard punt was fielded by Dowler at his own 10-yard line and Dowler returned it down the right sideline. Dowler's 90-yard scoring return tied the game at 7-7 with 7:40 left in the second quarter and sent the Bobcats on the run.
After an NAU three-and-out, the Lumberjacks had the Bobcats behind the sticks on 3rd-and-14, but Justin Lamson hit Jabez Woods for a 79-yard catch-and-run touchdown to put Montana State in front, 14-7. Following a third consecutive Lumberjack punt, the Bobcats went 80 yards in five plays for a third straight touchdown, this time courtesy of a 13-yard rush by Julius Davis.
NAU had an opportunity to cut into Montana State's 20-7 lead before the half, but
Samuel Hunsaker's 41-yard field goal was wide left.
The Bobcats took the opening kickoff of the second half and put together their third consecutive touchdown drive with Lamson shoveling a 3-yard pass to Rocky Lencioni. Lamson then added a 19-yard scoring run to pad Montana State's lead to 34-7 with under 13 minutes to play in the game.
Hunsaker split the uprights from 39 yards out to halt Montana State's 34 unanswered points with 5:11 to play.
Although NAU controlled the time of possession, possessing the ball for a season-high 35:33, Montana State averaged 8.0 yards per play and gained 417 yards of total offense to NAU's 296.
Ty Pennington set career-highs for completions (28) and attempts (47), while passing for 210 yards on the afternoon. He completed passes to 11 different receivers with
Quran Gossett,
Kolbe Katsis and Cromwell each hauling in four receptions.
Travis Arena led the Lumberjacks with eight tackles, followed by career-highs by
Canyon Moses (7) and
Jordan Lee (6).
The Lumberjacks will aim to regroup and get back in the win column on the road next Saturday at No. 7/7 UC Davis with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m. MST.
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