Flagstaff, Ariz. • Cory Young ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown to help Northern Arizona beat Weber State 28-24 in a turnover-filled game on Saturday night.
There were 11 turnovers between the teams. Northern Arizona (3-3, 2-1 Big Sky Conference) lost four fumbles and was intercepted twice. Weber State (3-2, 1-1) threw three picks and lost two fumbles.
Landon Stice forced a fumble from Lumberjack quarterback Daniel Bridge-Gadd, and Preston Smith returned the ball 86 yards for a score to give the Wildcats an 8-7 halftime lead.
Chauntez Thomas knocked the ball loose from Wildcat quarterback Jake Constantine, and Jalen Goss scooped it up and ran 30 yards into the end zone to pull Northern Arizona even at 18 midway through the third quarter.
Young’s 8-yard run, set up by Kam’ron Johnson’s interception from Kaden Jenks, made it 28-21. Trey Tuttle kicked his third field goal, a 52-yarder, to pull Weber State to 28-24 with 8:20 left. But Jenks threw his second pick, and the Wildcats then turned it over on downs without a first down on their final two possessions.
Eastern Washington 55, Southern Utah 17 • In Cheney, Wash., Eric Barriere threw for one touchdown and ran for two, including a school-record 85-yarder, in his second start to lead Eastern Washington over Southern Utah.
The sophomore, who started once last year in place of record-breaking Gage Gubrud, was 13 of 21 for a career-high 233 yards with 98 yards rushing on five attempts. His long run, highlighted by a de-cleating block by wide receiver Jayson Williams, was the longest for an Eagles quarterback and ninth-longest touchdown run in school history. Gubrud is out with a lower leg injury with no timetable for his return.
Sam McPherson and Antoine Custer had touchdown runs in the first quarter and Jay-Tee Tiuli recovered a fumble in the end zone before Barriere’s electrifying run helped Eastern (5-1, 3-0 Big Sky Conference) take a 34-10 lead at halftime.
Barriere had a 1-run TD and a 29-yard scoring pass to Nsimba Webster, who had six catches for 114 yards, before Custer added his second scoring run. EWU led 55-10 ending the fourth quarter.
The Eagles finished with 610 yards, 380 on the ground, while the Thunderbirds (0-5, 0-2), who tied for the league crown last year, had 375.
