FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 12, 2026) – The Northern Arizona defense stole the show, quite literally, on Saturday, recording six takeaways and propelling the No. 24/23 Lumberjacks to a 38-28 victory over UIW at Findlay Toyota Field at the Walkup Skydome.
 
NAU, which entered the afternoon tied for fifth in the FCS with five turnovers gained in its first two games, posted six takeaways in a game for the first time since Aug. 30, 2007 versus Western New Mexico. 
 
"It was a gritty effort by our team and we made some timely plays in all three phases," said head coach Brian Wright. "Six turnovers by our defense, seven if you count the fourth down stop, what an outstanding job by them. We capitalized on a lot of those turnovers and it helped us win the game."
 
Although the Lumberjacks (2-1) gave up 606 yards of offense to the Cardinals, as UIW's up-tempo offense ran 94 plays, the defense displayed their ability to find the ball throughout the game. In addition to the six turnovers, NAU also recorded three sacks, one of which directly resulted in Jordan Pigram's 47-yard scoop-and-score touchdown in the fourth quarter.
 
Deliyon Freeman, who led the team with 13 tackles, had his hand in two turnovers with a forced fumble and a key interception. His interception late in the second quarter came after NAU committed its only turnover of the game, and led to a 24-7 halftime lead following Myseth Currie's 13-yard touchdown reception.
 
"Coach (Trenton) Greene has brought a very violent mentality to our defense and he reiterates that takeaways are the number one thing," Freeman said. "We want to get the ball back to the offense. If the other team doesn't have the ball, how are they going to score? No matter how many yards they get, we're not going to let them score."
 
NAU's turnover party began on the opening drive of the game as UIW (1-1) nearly started with a touchdown. Moving 75 yards in 10 plays in just over three minutes, the Cardinals appeared to be on the doorstep when Jacob Emmers was upended by Ziggy Loa inside the 1-yard line. After a review, it was ruled that Loa jarred the ball loose from Emmers before he hit the ground, turning the ball over to NAU in the end zone with Jayden Baer's recovery.
 
Francisco Orduno Jr. drilled a 55-yard field goal to put NAU on the board first, but UIW quickly followed with a blistering touchdown drive. An NAU three-and-out gave the ball right back to UIW, but the 'Jacks got the ball back with their second turnover of the opening quarter.
 
With Shahid Wilson crushing Emmett Brown on the throw, Jahaad Fort recorded his second interception of the season and returned it 33 yards inside the UIW 10-yard line. NAU immediately cashed the takeaway in with a 4-yard scoring rush by Kenveon Stone.
 
Stone scampered 28 yards for his second touchdown of the game, notching his first career multi-touchdown outing, to give NAU a 17-7 lead five minutes into the second quarter. In between Stone's second score and Currie's touchdown reception, Freeman had two of his finest moments. Freeman punched out a fumble midway through the second period, which Michael Beresford recovered, and then picked off Brown with under a minute to play before the half.
 
UIW cut its deficit to 24-14 on its first drive of the second half on a 56-yard scoring pass from Brown to Zach Phipps. The Cardinals had an opportunity to climb closer, driving to the Lumberjacks' 36-yard line, but Bryson Torrie stymied a fourth-and-1 rush. 
 
With the ball, Ty Pennington completed consecutive passes to Joey Stout and Hayden Daugherty and Quran Gossett did the rest, slicing his way through the UIW defense for a 30-yard touchdown run to extend NAU's lead back out to 31-14.
 
The Cardinals twice got within 10 in the fourth quarter, but the Lumberjacks kept them at a distance with their final two turnovers. Pigram provided the proverbial knockout blow, returning the fumble knocked loose with Maddox Valoaga's sack of Brown for a 47-yard touchdown with 8:38 to play. Aundre Gibson capped the NAU defense's outing with his first career interception four minutes later.
 
NAU put together 333 yards of offense with significant contribution from the ground game. A week after netting -7 rush yards at Arizona, the Lumberjacks rolled up 180 yards on Saturday. Gossett notched his second 100-yard rushing game of the season with 105 on 17 carries, while Stone ran for a career-high 48 yards on seven attempts. Both NAU backs averaged more than six yards a carry.
 
For the second consecutive game, Stout paced the Lumberjacks in receptions (5) and receiving yards (84) with the latter being a career-high. 
 
Along with Freeman, Shoes Brinkley and Jaiden Letua both reached double-digit tackles for the first time as Lumberjacks, recording 10 each. Pigram had six tackles, including a team-best 2.0 tackles-for-loss, and a sack.
 
With the win in hand, its second in as many seasons against UIW, NAU hits the road for the first of three straight road games next Saturday at Utah Tech. While Utah Tech is a Big Sky Conference member, the game will be a non-conference matchup and will not count towards the conference standings. Kickoff in St. George, Utah is 5 p.m. MST.
 
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