FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., Sept. 19 - Southern Utah nearly overcame an 18-point fourth quarter deficit Saturday night, pulling to within 42-39 with 3:38 to play, but Northern Arizona used up the clock on its final possession and was able to hold on for the victory.

            After falling behind 14-0 early in the game and trailing 35-17 at the end of the third period the Thunderbirds got the offense cranked up in the fourth quarter. SUU pulled to within 35-24 on a one yard Major Gray run before and a pair of Cade Cooper-to-Austin Minefee passes brought the Thunderbirds to within 42-39.

            The first Cooper-to-Minefee pass covered 15 yards on a drive that was kept alive by a Cooper to  Fesi Sitake pass on fourth and 11 that spotted the ball on the NAU 30. The second hookup between the two covered  39 yards on a catch-and-run play by Minefee.

            After SUU was unable to recover a pooch kick following the last score NAU kept the ball until five seconds remained, giving SUU one last gasp, but the final play came up short.

            "I was pleased with the way our team hung in there and kept fighting," SUU Coach Ed Lamb said. "We won the second half, so to speak, and made it a game in the fourth quarter but three weeks in a row we've started too slow in the first half  and for the last two weeks we've had to play catch-up in the second half."

            Northern Arizona's offense capitalized on its opportunities early to jump out to a 14-0 lead with 6:33 to go in the first period. After SUU was unable to move the ball on its first possession the Lumberjacks took the ball 86 yards in three plays, scoring on a 5-yard pass from Michael Herrick to Davieun Curry-Chapman. After SUU's second possession ended in a punt the Lumberjacks drove 51 yards in four plays for another score, this one coming after Alex Henderson recovered his own fumble in the end zone.

            SUU cut the deficit in half when Minefee took a Cooper pass 16 yards for a score late in the first period, but the Lumberjacks struck again on the first play of the second period when Austin Shanks took an end-around 16 yards to give NAU a 21-7 lead, then took advantage of an SUU fumble to get another touchdown on a three-yard Henderson run.

            Tysson Poots, who was seeing his first action of the season after missing the first two games with a foot injury, pulled SUU back to within 28-14 with 3:37 to go in the first half when he and Cooper hooked up on a 25-yard scoring pass.

            Minefee finished with 89 rushing and 83 receiving yards to go with this three scores while Poots had six catches for 109 yards and Sitake had 10 receptions for 80 yards. Cooper finished the game completing 33-of-48 passes for 425 yards and four TDs, and although he didn't throw an interceptionhe was sacked four times.

            NAU's Michael Harrick completed 15-of-21 passes for 306 yards, while Henderson gained 168 yards on 32 carries.

            Dion Turner and Matt Holley led SUU's defense with career-highs of 10 and nine tackles, respectively. Turner also had a tackle-for loss and recovered a fumble.

-- SUU --