GREELEY, Colo. – Aaron Cantu threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns to lead Southern Utah past Northern Colorado 27-21 in both teams' Big Sky opener Saturday.
Southern Utah (4-1, 1-0 Big Sky) trailed 7-3 late in the first half but scored two touchdowns within a minute to take a 17-7 lead just before halftime.
The first was a one-yard touchdown run by Levi Te'o with 1:02 left in the half. Then after a three-and-out by Northern Colorado (1-4, 0-1), Cantu threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Griff McNabb with 15 seconds remaining to put the Thunderbirds up by 10. Cantu added a 17-yarder to Easton Pedersen in the third.
Tim Tancik threw two touchdown passes for Northern Colorado and ran for a score but had two interceptions. His five-yard touchdown pass with 58 seconds left put the Bears within a touchdown, but Southern Utah recovered an onside kick to seal the victory.
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