Late Td Gives Vandals Upset Win Over Nau

Eric Hisaw saved his best passes for last.

After throwing fourth-quarter interceptions on three consecutive possessions, Hisaw directed the University of Idaho on a final game-winning drive and a 17-14 Big Sky Conference win over Northern Arizona on Saturday night.

The game-winner was scored by Idaho true freshman running back Jerome Thomas, who plunged in from 2 yards out with 32 seconds left against the Lumberjacks.

The win was UI’s first road victory since Oct. 7 of last year when the Vandals defeated Eastern Washington. It was also Idaho’s seventh consecutive win over NAU in the Walkup Skydome.

“This is a huge win,” said elated Idaho coach Chris Tormey. “I told them I have never been so proud of a team. They just kept coming back.”

All things being equal, the Vandals had every reason not to come back.

Hisaw’s fourth-quarter interceptions came in NAU’s end zone, at NAU’s 1-yard line and at the Lumberjacks’ 25-yard line - all on consecutive possessions.

But on Idaho’s game-winning drive, Hisaw completed 6 of 7 passes for 79 yards.

“We made the last drive, but the defense won the game for us,” Hisaw said. “The key on the last drive was execution. We hadn’t executed in those situations all year until today.”

The win improved Idaho’s record to 3-3 in conference, 4-4 overall. The Lumberjacks, who fell from first place in the Big Sky, are 4-2 and 7-3.

Northern Arizona led 14-10 at halftime on two Jeff Lewis touchdown passes - 7 yards to Alex Calderwood and 29 yards to Ricky Pearsall.

Idaho’s other points came on Ryan Woolverton’s 23-yard field goal early in the second quarter and Thomas’ 2-yard touchdown run 1:05 before halftime.

Hisaw finished 24 of 41 for 235 yards while Lewis completed 19 of 34 passes for 147 yards.

Defensively, the Vandals held the Lumberjacks in check. Northern Arizona, which came into the game averaging 479 yards a game in total offense, managed just 211 yards against Idaho.

Idaho also got a big boost from walk-on senior Ted Severe. He caught his first career pass on Idaho’s winning touchdown drive and returned four punts for 41 yards.

“We’ve been decimated by injuries,” Tormey said. “We needed guys to step up, and those two (Thomas and Severe) did it. Two guys that just did what it took.”

All four of Idaho’s four losses this season were by a touchdown or less. The Vandals had the ball in the opposition’s territory in those three contests but eventually lost. It seemed they were headed for a similar fate on Saturday.

“It seemed that way a little, but we had a different feeling out there today,” Tormey said. “Everybody was holding hands on the sideline on that last drive. The law of averages finally worked for us.”

Idaho 17, NAU 14

Idaho 0 10 0 7 - 17 N. Arizona 7 7 0 0 - 14

NAUCalderwood 7 pass on Lewis (O’Leary kick)

Ida- FG Woolverton 23

Ida-Thomas 2 run (Woolverton kick)

NAUPearsall 29 pass from Lewis (O’Leary kick)

Ida-Thomas 2 run (Woolverton kick)

A-12,371.

Ida NAU First downs 21 13 Rushes-yards 35-136 27-67 Passing 235 144 Return Yards 138 117 Comp-Att-Int 24-41-3 20-36-1 Punts 5-41 9-43 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 6-47 7-72 Time of Possession 33:12 26:48 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHINGIdaho, Kidd 11-76, Hisaw 13-42, Thomas 7-14,

Longoria 2-3, Griffin 2-1. N. Arizona, Torrey 15-42, Lewis 6-25, Amerson 6-0.

PASSINGIdaho, Hisaw 24-41-3-235. N. Arizona, Lewis 19-34-0-147, Partridge 1-2-1-(minus 3).

RECEIVINGIdaho, McKinzie 9-96, Scott 4-57, Gilroy 4-25, Griffin 3-22, Severe 1-11, Kidd 1-9, Griggs 1-8, Thomas 1-7. N. Arizona, Calderwood 5-56, Pearsall 3-33, St. Paul 3-27, Warner 3-23, Marshall 2-13, Torrey 2-(minus 3), Flores 1-10, Amerson 1-5.

Montana 35, Idaho St. 21

At Missoula, although the final result was what Montana coach Don Read expected, he didn’t foresee the way his Grizzlies would have to struggle - and run - for a win over the Bengals.

“We had too many penalties,” Read said. “I can’t remember having 103 yards and 10 penalties.”

And then there were the five turnovers that Idaho State turned into three TDs.

To top it all off, the pass-happy Grizzlies actually had a nearly balanced offense: 292 yards passing, 213 rushing.

Dave Dickenson completed 24 of 36 passes for three TDs and rushed for 52 yards for Montana (5-2, 7-2).

Idaho State (2-4, 5-4) has lost its last four games.

Idaho St. 0 14 7 0 - 21 Montana 13 8 7 7 - 35

Mont-Stenstud 2 run (Larson kick)

Mont-Douglass 14 pass from Dickenson (kick failed) ISUWaters 6 pass from Wetta (Ferrell kick) ISUMcBride 9 pass from Wetta (Ferrell kick)

Mont-Wells 6 pass from Dickenson (Erhardt from Dickenson) ISUJoseph 8 run (Ferrell kick)

Mont-Erhardt 6 pass from Dickenson (Larson kick)

Mont-Stensrud 1 run (Larson kick)

A-15,490.

ISU Mont First downs 14 25 Rushes-yards 31-54 35-213 Passing 186 292 Return Yards 59 56 Comp-Att-Int 26-42-2 24-36-1 Punts 6-41 4-31 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 4-4 Penalties-Yards 6-55 10-103 Time of Possession 32:25 27:35

RUSHINGIdaho St., Anderson 16-66, Joseph 3-11, Simmons 5-2, Wetta 5-(-17). Montana, Branen 8-66, Dickenson 11-52, Gales 3-44.

PASSINGIdaho St., Wetta 25-42-2-186. Montana, Dickenson 24-36-1-292.

RECEIVINGIdaho St., Young 6-44, Waters 5-59, McBride 2-15. Montana, Wells 7-74, Pacheco 6-68, Erhardt 4-56, Douglass 3-28.

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