Northern Arizona defeats Eastern Washington 34-27 after trailing by 21 points in the first half

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Ty Pennington hit Nassim Isaac with a short touchdown pass on a fourth-and-goal play in the fourth quarter and the Northern Arizona defense held on downs inside its own 10-yard line to preserve a 34-27 victory in a season and Big Sky opener on Saturday night.

The 2-yard touchdown was the first catch for Isaac in his first career game. It gave NAU a 34-27 lead.

The Lumberjacks, ranked 25th in the FCS, won after briefly trailing by 21 points in the second quarter. Their rally was jump-started by Lindsey Graves' 100-yard kickoff return following EWU's touchdown that had made the score 24-3.

Following an interception, the Lumberjacks drove 33 yards capped by Quran Gossett’s 2-yard touchdown run to make it 24-17 at halftime.

Northern Arizona added a short field goal in the third quarter, followed by Pennington’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Jeter Purdy for the Lumberjacks' first lead of the game, 27-24, early in the fourth quarter.

Eastern Washington tied the score at 27 on Soren McKee’s 37-yard field goal with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

After the go-ahead score, NAU's defense forced a three-and-out followed by the Lumberjacks' own three-and-out. The Eagles had one last chance, taking possession at their 20-yard line with 1:52 remaining. They drove to the 8-yard line before the Lumberjacks forced incomplete passes on third and fourth downs to hang on for the win.

Pennington threw for 164 yards with two touchdowns and was intercepted once. Gossett had 103 yards on the ground and Purdy had 105 yards receiving.

Eastern Washington's Nate Bell passed for 307 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Up next

Eastern Washington: vs. Northern Iowa on Saturday.

Northern Arizona: at Arizona on Saturday.

—-

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here