NAU runs past No. 4 Eastern Wash.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CHENEY, Wash. -- Corbin Jountti rushed for three touchdowns, Casey Jahn ran for two and Marcus Alford returned an interception 70 yards for a score as Northern Arizona defeated Eastern Washington 52-30 on Saturday night.
The Lumberjacks (6-3, 4-2 Big Sky Conference) forced four turnovers and had three fourth-down stops to end the Eagles' 19-game regular-season home winning streak. It was just the sixth loss on Eastern Washington's red turf, installed in 2010, and left Southern Utah as the lone unbeaten team in league play.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The goal of our offense is to do a better job on third down conversions," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "It gives us a huge advantage when we're able to convert so many."
Case Cookus completed 22 of 30 passes for 224 yards and a 1-yard scoring pass to Emmanuel Butler for Northern Arizona. The Lumberjacks added 160 yards on the ground, with Kendyl Taylor, Jahn and Jountti all with more than 50 yards. All of Jountti's touchdowns came in the fourth quarter when NAU scored 28 points.
"I was taking the snaps, but our O-Line and running backs made some great plays and kept it on the entire game," Cookus said. "Not to mention, our defense came up big tonight and scored some points."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jordan West and Reilly Hennessey combined for 367 yards passing for Eastern Washington (6-3, 5-1).