FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Chase Cartwright threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Casey Jahn on fourth down with 21 seconds left, helping Northern Arizona rally past Cal Poly 38-35 in the Big Sky Conference opener for both teams Saturday night.
The Lumberjacks (3-2, 1-0) trailed 28-17 in the third quarter, but Cartwright threw touchdowns of 25 and 5 yards to Ify Umodu to surge into the lead.
Cal Poly (1-3, 0-1) pulled back ahead on a 7-yard run by Chris Brown to make it 35-31 with 6:31 remaining.
NAU forced a late three-and-out, and Cartwright led a 10-play, 71-yard drive capped by Jahn's touchdown.
"For Casey to score and the crowd to erupt like they did, that was something you can't even write; it was magical," said Cartwright.
Cartwright threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns, two in the third quarter to Ify Umodu. Jahn ran for 103 yards, his first 100-yard game of the season.
"We played well on all three phases of the game tonight in order to get a win tonight so I am proud of our team," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "We had some great efforts tonight from guys like Casey Jahn, Chase Cartwright and I couldn't be prouder of our football team right now."
Brown was intercepted by Marcus Alford with three seconds left to seal it.
Brown had 214 yards passing with a touchdown and ran for 91 yards and two scores. Jordan Hines had 5 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown.
