Aguilar's FG lifts Northern Arizona over Portland State

Oct 27, 2019, 02:36 am

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Luis Aguilar kicked a 38-yard field goal with 4 seconds left in the game and Northern Arizona rallied past Portland State 31-29 on Saturday night.

Portland State had taken a 29-28 lead on Cody Williams' 21-yard field goal with 1:26 left to play. Williams missed a go-ahead 44-yard try, but the Lumberjacks (4-4, 2-2 Big Sky Conference) were flagged for roughing the kicker, giving the Vikings (5-4, 3-2) a first down at the NAU 13-yard line.

But NAU quarterback Case Cookus had plenty of time to lead his team to victory, moving into second place on the Lumberjacks' all-time passing list while completing 4 of 5 passes for 47 yards on the drive. Cookus entered the game needing 325 yards to pass Jason Murrietta (10,717). He finished with 363 yards on 26-of-41 passing with two touchdowns and an interception. Next up for Cookus is all-time NAU leader Travis Brown (11,400).

The Lumberjacks cruised to a 21-9 halftime lead and stretched their advantage to 28-9 on their first possession of the second half when Cookus hit Gino Campiotti for a 27-yard TD.

But Portland State used 1-yard TD runs by Sirgeo Hoffman and Malik Walker and two Williams field goals to score 20 straight points and grab a lead that lasted just over 1 minute.

Joe Logan ran for 64 yards and two scores for NAU.

Hoffman finished with 140 yards on 23 carries for PSU. Davis Alexander completed 22 of 39 passes for 307 yards with one interception. Charlie Taumoepeau caught five passes for 127 yards.