The University of Northern Colorado's Marcus Lucas (99) and James Schrenk (7) watch as Zach Bauman (35) of Northern Arizona University carries the ball on Saturday Nov. 6, 2010 at Nottingham Field in Greeley, Colo. (Eric Bellamy/The Daily Tribune, Greeley, Colo.)

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Zach Bauman ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns as Northern Arizona held off Northern Colorado 21-14 on Saturday.

Bauman had his fifth 100-yard game of the season for Northern Arizona (5-4, 3-3 Big Sky), which ended a two-game losing streak.

Michael Herrick tossed a touchdown pass and Mike Czyz caught six passes for 71 yards for the Lumberjacks, who defeated Northern Colorado for the eighth consecutive time. They haven’t lost to the Bears since 1978.

Dylan Orms threw for 204 yards and a touchdown. He also had a TD on a quarterback sneak for Northern Colorado (2-8, 1-6).

Northern Arizona scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead. The Lumberjacks kept the first drive alive with a third-down pass interference penalty to set up Bauman’s 16-yard touchdown run off left tackle.

Herrick found Daiveun Curry-Chapman in stride for a 39-yard touchdown toss after the defense forced a three-and-out with 7:46 left in the first quarter.

Northern Colorado reached the Northern Arizona 6 on a 70-yard pass from Orms to Doug Steele and Orms scored on a sneak two plays later. The Lumberjacks came right back on a 1-yard dive by Bauman.

Trailing 21-7, Northern Colorado got as close as the NAU 8 before Orms was sacked on a fourth-down play late in the second quarter.

Northern Colorado came away empty when Northern Arizona made another stand early in the third quarter. Dylan Kildahl recovered Bauman’s fumble at the Lumberjacks 37, but Dave Eden missed a 36-yard field goal.

The Bears caught a break to cut it to 21-14 with 2:58 left in the third quarter. Orms’ pass from the 13-yard line was deflected by safeties Kasseem Osheroff and Taylor Malenfant to Steele in the end zone.

Linebacker Reid Worthington intercepted a pass by Orms at the Northern Colorado 39 with 3:27 left.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

Eastern Washington University's Grant Williams (left) and Jesse Hoffman put the squeeze on Northern Arizona University's running back, Zach Bauman (35), in the 2nd quarter, October 9, 2010 in Cheney, Washington. (AP PHOTO Dan Pelle)

CHENEY, Wash. (AP) — Bo Levi Mitchell threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns and Eastern Washington’s defense did the rest in a 21-14 victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday.

Mitchell completed 20-of-26 passes and had scoring passes of 7 yards to Nicholas Edwards, 20 yards to Brandon Kaufman and 9 yards to Ryan Seto for the Eagles (4-2, 3-1 Big Sky). Mitchell was intercepted twice and sacked twice.

Michael Herrick threw for 188 yards in the first half, but was intercepted three times. He was injured on the last play of the half and didn’t return for the Lumberjacks (3-2, 1-1).

Northern Arizona cut the lead to 21-14 early in the fourth quarter when the Lumberjacks’ Brian Hunter recovered Taiwan Jones’ fumble in the end zone. Eastern Washington stopped Northern Arizona on downs with 3:37 to play and ran out the clock.

Kaufman caught five passes for 117 yards for the Eagles. One was for 45 yards and set up the touchdown pass from Mitchell to Seto.

Led by J.C. Sherritt’s 16 tackles, the Eastern Washington defense came up with three first-half interceptions, including one by Sherritt in the end zone and another by Jeff Minnerly at the Eagles’ 2.

Northern Arizona’s Chase Stangel relieved Herrick and threw for 90 yards and a touchdown in relief of Herrick. Stangel was 9 of 17 with no interceptions and was sacked once.

The Lumberjacks stayed in the game thanks to five Eastern Washington turnovers. Northern Arizona had the ball for 34:38 and ran 30 more plays than the Eagles.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) — Zach Bauman caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Michael Herrick with 3:07 remaining Saturday to lift Northern Arizona to a 26-23 victory over Southern Utah.

Bauman also scored on a 3-yard run for the Lumberjacks (3-1), finishing with 109 yards rushing, while Herrick completed 23 of 35 passes for 244 yards.

Austin Minefee had 140 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Southern Utah (1-4). Brad Sorensen was 13 of 27 for 154 yards — his lowest passing total of the season.

The Thunderbirds twice had 10-point leads in the first half before Northern Arizona scored nine third-quarter points to take a 19-17 lead.

Minefee put Southern Utah back on top, 23-19, with a 1-yard run with 13:26 remaining. The Thunderbirds had a chance to extend that lead, but Ryan McNamara — who earlier hit a career-long 47-yard field goal — missed a 29-yard try with 9:51 left.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

The Jacks played tough, coming within a touchdown when quarterback Michael Herrick found khalil Paden for a 35-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 27-20. But that would be the last time NAU would score with the Sun Devils adding two more touchdowns in the final quarter to solidify their victory.

ASU quarterback Steven Threet completed 33-0f-49 for 391 yards and three touchdowns leading the ASU offense. Devil wide receiver Mike Willie had eight reception for 114 yards and one touchdown. The Lumberjacks did hold the Devils to just 56 yards on the ground on 29 carries for the night.

Junior Austin Shanks tied for game-high honors getting eight receptions for 66 yards including a 34-yard pass to Chasen Stangle in the second quarter. Herrick finished 13-for-26 racking up 131 yards with a touchdown and interception.

The Jacks have a bye this week but, they will continue September 25th against Idaho State which officially starts conference play.

]]> http://www.naztoday.com/uncategorized/2010/09/jacks-hang-on-until-4th-41-20/feed/ 0 http://www.naztoday.com/sports/2010/09/cardinals-start-the-season-with-a-win/ http://www.naztoday.com/sports/2010/09/cardinals-start-the-season-with-a-win/#comments Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:21:37 +0000 Associated Press http://www.naztoday.com/?p=13256

St. Louis Rams wide receiver Laurent Robinson, left, catches a 1-yard pass for a touchdown as Arizona Cardinals safety Kerry Rhodes defends during the second quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — So much for breaking in the No. 1 pick gently.

Sam Bradford threw 55 passes in his debut, the third-highest total in St. Louis Rams history. The 2008 Heisman Trophy winner ended up one big pass shy of pulling an upset in the Arizona Cardinals’ 17-13 opening victory on Sunday.

“You can’t expect him to just turn things around in one day,” running back Steven Jackson said. “But he’s made huge strides and he’s going in the right direction.”

Bradford answered questions about his surgically repaired throwing shoulder long ago, and said his arm felt just fine after going 32 for 55 for 253 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions.

“That’s probably a little higher than I would have imagined if you’d asked me before the game,” Bradford said. “But I threw it a lot in college, so I’m used to it.”

The high point was Bradford’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Laurent Robinson when the Rams gambled on fourth-and-goal on the last play of the first half and tied it at 10. Bradford punched his fist in the air in triumph after rolling out and hitting Robinson.

“We’re just confident in what Sam can do,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said, “and he did it.”

The Rams’ last two drives, though, ended with interceptions. Larry Fitzgerald’s 21-yard touchdown grab with 6:13 to go from new quarterback Derek Anderson held up for the two-time defending NFC West champions, who countered four lost fumbles with enough big plays to beat the Rams for the eighth straight time.

“Obviously, they’re a very much improved team, I knew that coming in,” Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “That quarterback did a nice job for his first game, he really made some big-time throws.”

Adrian Wilson had two interceptions, including one in the end zone to end the game, plus a blocked field goal and a sack. Steve Breaston was even better with a career-best 132 yards on seven receptions plus a touchdown-saving play in the third quarter that would have put the Rams up by 10 points.

Breaston stripped defensive lineman Clifton Ryan just shy of the end zone after Anderson’s fumble. Lyle Sendlein recovered the ball in the end zone for a harmless touchback.

“That’s a big D tackle, he’s not in the norm of carrying the football,” Breaston said. “You get up on him and go for the ball.”

Anderson, the successor to retired Kurt Warner, was 22 for 41 for 297 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. He took a pounding, including two sacks, without flinching.

“I feel like a champion,” Anderson said. “The defense kind of bailed us out, they played great.”

Kerry Rhodes’ pick on fourth-and-10 from the Arizona 21 just after the two-minute warning appeared to be the clincher for Arizona. A fumble by Tim Hightower, who scored Arizona’s other touchdown on a 1-yard run in the second quarter, gave St. Louis another chance. It finally fizzled out at the Arizona 36 on Wilson’s second interception.

The Rams have lost 14 in a row at home, and they’ve dropped 15 straight to NFC West opponents.

“We didn’t capitalize on a lot of the opportunities,” said Jackson, who had 81 yards on 22 carries. “We have to have a killer instinct. We have to be able to put them away.”

Fitzgerald was held in check by cornerback Ron Bartell much of the game and had only three receptions for 43 yards. He finally shook free on the touchdown grab with 6:13 to go.

Breaston’s fourth career 100-yard game, and first since 2008, picked up the slack.

Mark Clayton, acquired from the Ravens on Monday, had a career-high 10 receptions for 119 yards for St. Louis.

Arizona wide receiver Early Doucet injured his left groin in the first half and did not return.

Cal Poly and UC Davis are both Football Championship Subdivision member that currently compete in the Great West Conference, but compete as Division I Big West Conference for the majority of their sports.

A concrete timeline has yet to be set for the programs to officially join the conference, but and effort to transition the schools into conference as quickly as possible is currently being worked on. Many of the current Big Sky Schools have limited openings in their 2011 schedules, as contracts with non-conference opponents have already been signed.  Cal Poly and UC Davis must also meet the withdrawal procedures from the Great West Conference before they can fully be admitted into the Big Sky.

For both Cal Poly and UC Davis, aligning their football programs with the conference could offer them an automatic bid to the FCS playoff, continued and renewed rivalries and the opportunity to develop new rivals by playing the same teams as last year.

It is definite that Cal Ply will compete against Montana in San Luis Obispo on Saturday and UC Davis will meet Portland State on Saturday as well. The Aggies also have games scheduled against Weber State and Sacramento State

FILE - This Aug. 14, 2010, file photo shows Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald warming up before playing an NFL preseason football game against the Houston Texans, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Larry Fitzgerald is back in practice at full speed and will provide new quarterback Derek Anderson a welcome big-play target when the Arizona Cardinals open their season Sunday in St. Louis.

Fitzgerald sat out the final three preseason games after spraining his right knee on a nasty hit from Houston’s Eugene Wilson. The injury occurred as Fitzgerald caught a pass over the middle from Matt Leinart in Arizona’s preseason opener Aug. 14. Fitzgerald stayed in for another series and reciprocated a big hit on Wilson, then left the game.

Fitzgerald said after practice Wednesday that he wanted to come back sooner but the coaching staff insisted on a more cautious approach.