Northern Arizona Erases a 21-point Hole to Beat Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington led 24-3 late in the second quarter. Northern Arizona won 34-27. Flip the next 31 points and nobody is writing this one up.
The Eagles looked comfortable early. Nate Bell hit Wesley Garrett from 3 yards, Soren McKee kicked a 53-yard field goal, and Bell added a 12-yard run and a 14-yard pass to Jaxon Branch. At 24-3 with 2:57 left in the half, that was the high point. Then Lindsey Graves returned the very next kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and Quran Gossett scored from 2 yards with 23 seconds to go. It was 24-17 at halftime, and Eastern Washington had gone from a three-score lead to a one-score one in under three minutes.
Francisco Orduno Jr. kicked a 25-yard field goal in the third to make it 24-20. Ty Pennington then found Jeter Purdy from 30 yards early in the fourth for a 27-24 Northern Arizona lead, the only lead change of the game. McKee tied it at 27 with a 37-yard field goal with 10:03 left, but Pennington hit Nassim Isaac from 2 yards with 3:54 to go and that held up.
Northern Arizona ran 39 times for 202 yards and threw for only 164, while Eastern Washington put up 430 total yards to the Lumberjacks' 366. Eastern Washington also threw an interception and lost a fumble, and the Lumberjacks gave up one pick. Northern Arizona starts 1-0 and Eastern Washington 0-1.
Bell led everyone in fantasy points even in the loss, which will not help him sleep.