Oct. 13, 2007
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- The second quarter, which hasn't been kind to the Idaho State Bengals all season, was downright rude as the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks exploded for 28 unanswered points as NAU took care of their home field with a 45-24 win over Idaho State, pushing their winning streak over ISU in Flagstaff to 11 straight.
NAU rolled to 403 yards of offense in the first half, including 261 in the second quarter. After the first period in which the only scoring was on a 22-yard Robbie Dehaze field goal, NAU scored on three Lionel Scott touchdown runs of 35, 20, and 14 yards, and a 15-yard pass from Lance Kriesien to Daiveun Chapman. ISU could only answer with a 25-yard Dan Zeidman field goal, his first of the season, as he replaced Branden Jones for that kick. Jones did kick all three extra points.
¬The Bengals entered the game getting outscored 45-17 in the second quarter, and that has now moved to 73-20.
Luke Butler, in his first game back in the starting lineup after missing last week with the after effects of a concussion, struggled in the first half. He went just 8-for-17 for 48 yards with an interception. Russel Hill came on in the second half for ISU and went 10-for-17 for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns with one interception.
After the `Jacks made it 38-3 on a 48-yard catch by Alex Henderson, the Bengals answered with a pair of Eddie Thompson touchdowns. Thompson scored his first one on a 21-yard end around, and his second on a 7-yard pass from Hill to make it 38-17 with 9:20 left in the game.
Both teams added touchdowns late, as NAU scored with 2:58 to go on another Kriesien to Chapman pass, this from seven yards out, and Hill hit Clyde Logan for a 68-yard touchdown with 1:49 left.
However, the Bengals were able to solve some things in the second half, limiting NAU to just 167 yards, 48-of which came on the long touchdown pass. For ISU, they amassed 361 yards of offense on the day, 174 on the ground and 187 through the air. Josh Barnett led the way on the ground with 98 yards on 19 carries, just missing his 13th 100-yard game of his career, which would have tied him with Alfredo Anderson for the ISU career record.
NOTES: ISU hasn't won in Flagstaff since the 1984 season ... the 3xx yards allowed was the first 300-yard effort by an opponent since Eastern Washington ran for 331 on September 25, 2004 ... Hill now has all seven touchdown passes for the Bengals this season ... Idaho State now returns home for their next two, against Portland State and nationally-ranked Cal Poly ... Russel Hill became just the fourth Bengal in school history to reach the 1,000-yard mark as a freshman, as he now has 1,013 yards passing.
