Nov. 12, 2005
Final Stats
Flagstaff, AZ --- Northern Arizona's Alex Watson scored on touchdown passes of 36 and 58 yards in the second half to help Northern Arizona pull away from a 28-28 tie and give the Lumberjacks their first conference win of the season, and keeping Idaho State winless in Flagstaff since 1984.
Watson's touchdown receptions were two of the four thrown by Jason Murrieta. The Bengals, who needed a win for a winning conference season, finishes the Big Sky season at 3-4, and they drop to 5-5 overall with one game left, a road game at Cal Poly next Saturday.
The loss also marked the third straight year that the Bengals have given the Big Sky's last place team their only conference win, following Sacramento State in 2003 and Weber State in 2004.
The Bengals took the lead in the third quarter when Ken Cornist scored on a two-yard run, breaking ISU's single-season rushing touchdown mark with his 13th. However, NAU responded with Watson's 36-yard score after a missed tackle. Then in the fourth, Watson again broke a tackle and went 58 yards to make it 42-28.
Watson was penalized after both scores for unsportsmanlike conduct, and was ejected.
With just under eight minutes to play, ISU started a drive on their own 1-yard line after a punt, and got to midfield before Matt Hagler was sacked on fourth down, fumbling the ball away. Hagler was 26-of-53 for 258 yards and a touchdown, but he had four turnovers, including three interceptions. As a team, ISU attempted a season-high 59 passes to just 31 rushes.
That followed a drive where ISU had fourth-and-1 at the NAU 14, but Hagler's sneak was just short, giving the ball back to the Lumberjacks.
The Bengals opened the game with a touchdown just 1:37 into the contest when Ken Cornist went in from 15 yards out. The play followed a 56-yard pass from wide receiver Shedrack Okoebor to Dane Simmons. NAU answered that score, and ISU tacked on a pair of field goals from Jaret Johnson to make it 13-7.
However, NAU took the lead, scoring two touchdowns in eight seconds. First, Ryan Williams scored on a one-yard run, and then Marcus Mcllwain picked off a ball that went through Eddie Thompson's hands for a 24-yard score.
ISU tied it with 6:13 left in the half in the half when Kenyon Blue hauled in a 36-yard touchdown. Akilah Lacey caught the two-point conversion, and the half ended at 21, but not before NAU's Hail Mary was knocked away in the end zone by Pago Togafau.
NOTES: Cornist's rushing touchdowns gave him 13, breaking the record formerly held by Boyd Hall (1959) and Isaac Mitchell (2002), who had 12 rushing scores ... Shedrack Okoebor completed a 56-yard pass to Dane Simmons on the second play, making him 2-for-2 in his career, as he threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Sale' Key against Sacramento State last season ... Quinton Freeman's first quarter interception was his 12th career pick, putting him in a tie for fourth in ISU history ... Jaret Johnson moved into second place among ISU seniors with 16 field goals, and the total is the fourth-most in ISU history ... ISU has now converted their last three two-point conversions ... along with Watson, Kurt Karstens was ejected after throwing a punch at Colin Poe on a touchback early in the third quarter ... ISU has now thrown eight interceptions in the last two games in Flagstaff.
