Keondre Wudtee's first-career start as a Lumberjack was one to remember. In the season opener, he found Coleman Owen for a score as time expired to defeat the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at home.
The Lumberjacks opened their 2021 football season by winning a thriller against the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds as Keondre Wudtee found Owen Coleman in the end zone as time expired to give the Jacks the win over SUU 34-33.
In their first game of the Covid-postponed 2021 season, the Lumberjacks showed some early signs of rust, falling behind 20-2 midway through the second quarter. The game, which looked to be in danger of getting away from NAU early, turned into a back and forth contest with the two offenses trading blows all second half. SUU dominated NAU in every statistical category in the first half. Pacing the Lumberjacks in rushing yards, passing yards and time of possession to name a few, but NAU started to find its rhythm just before halftime. Sparked by an interception return for a touchdown by freshman DB Kamdan Hightower, the Jacks cut SUU’s lead to five going into halftime.
NAU Head Football Coach Chris Ball had been preaching to his defense the importance of turnovers, and Hightower got the message loud and clear.
“It was huge, he just did his job,” said Ball. “We put some pressure on [their quarterback] and he overthrew it. I told the guys in the secondary, you get your hands on the ball you’ve got to catch it and he did and he went and scored. Any time you can score on defense it’s a big deal.”
The Jacks seemed to be a different team after Hightower’s pick six, scoring touchdowns on their following three drives, including their first two of the second half. But SUU wasn’t done either, the Thunderbirds scored a touchdown to start the fourth quarter to reclaim the lead 33-28. NAU responded with a long drive which found them once again in the Thunderbird’s redzone, but the drive stalled and a missed field goal denied the Lumberjacks any points.
The Thunderbird’s offense was led by an impressive showing from their sophomore quarterback Justin Miller, who carved up the Lumberjack’s defense up for a final line of 29 for 40 passing, 288 yards and all five of SUU’s touchdowns. Miller’s favorite targets of the afternoon were fellow sophomore receiver Brandon Schenks and senior receiver Landen Measom. Schenks caught all five passes thrown his way for 74 yards and three touchdowns, including a 41-yard touchdown to begin the third quarter, while Measom caught nine passes for 112 yards and a touchdown.
Ball had praise for Miller after the game, and explained that they weren’t necessarily prepared for the relentless passing game of Southern Utah.
“[It being] the first game and with Covid we didn’t know who was going to line up for them,” said Ball. “He did a great job, good player but we really didn’t have much of an idea what they were going to do. We had a good handle on their formations but didn’t quite know what they were going to do passing game wise.”
After a fourth down stop inside their own 20-yard line, the Jacks took over on offense with 81 yards to go and under a minute on the clock. With the help of a pass interference call that brought the ball out the midfield, the Jacks moved the ball to SUU’s 10-yard line with 11 seconds to go. On third-and-goal with two second left, senior quarterback Kenodre Wudtee (17 for 25 252 yards 2 TD) rolled left and found freshman Owen Coleman in the end zone as time expired to give the Lumberjacks the win 34-33.
“It was a sprintout, we were going to hit [Coleman] from the get go,” said Wudtee. “[The play] broke down and we just freestyled at the end.”
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