Southern Utah University football fell in its final game against Northern Arizona University in Cedar City, 28-20. SUU finishes the season with one win and five losses.
“I’ve been blessed with a tremendous amount of guys who have done everything I’ve asked since March,” said Warren. “To not win games, it hurts.”
Southern Utah jumped out to an early lead when Justin Miller connected with Landon Measom for a 16-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. Just nine minutes later, Miller marched the T-Bird offense down the field and Lance Lawson punched home a two yard run for a touchdown.
The T-Birds looked to go into the half with a comfortable two-score lead, but Lumberjack quarterback Keondra Wudtee threw a 50-yard bomb to Owen Coleman that took NAU down to the SUU one-yard line.
Two plays later, Wudtee hit Kevin Daniels for a one yard touchdown to send the Lumberjacks into the half down by just seven points.
NAU received the ball first in the second half and marched straight down the field. Wudtee completed three out of four passes and George Robinson took home a three-yard run for a touchdown to knot the game at 14.
SUU’s offense then went stone cold for almost 22 minutes. The team’s next drive was stifled after just seven plays. The NAU defense then forced SUU to punt with 9:11 to go in the third.
Wudtee got the ball back and nearly replicated the previous drive, taking the Lumberjacks 88 yards before rushing for a one-yard touchdown to put the Lumberjacks on top, 21-14.
After failing to convert on the offensive end, SUU gave the ball back to NAU to start the fourth. The defense forced a quick three-and-out and Miller took the field, completing two straight passes for total yards.
The next play was a hand-off to Dayne Christiansen, who fumbled after running for 19 yards, giving the ball back to NAU.
Wudtee completed his next four passes before running it in for his second rushing touchdown of the night, putting the Lumberjacks up 28-14.
The SUU offense failed to convert their next two drives, with the latter resulting in a Miller interception.
The T-Birds forcef a three-and-out and took the ball back at the 7:18 mark in the fourth down 14.
“We only got two stops in the second half,” said Warren. “We need one or two more to win this game.”
SUU drove down the field to score on another Miller-to-Measom touchdown, but took nearly five minutes to do so.
NAU took the ball back with 2:21 to go and ran out the remainder of the clock.
Miller finished 34-for-53 while throwing for two touchdowns. Lawson hauled nine total receptions with 92 yards, while Measom snagged eight for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
Wundtee finished 23-for-35 for 289 yards and one passing touchdown while rushing for two. Robinson ran 18 times for 82 yards and one touchdown. The Lumberjacks finish with a 2-2 record on the season.
“Obviously I wanted to go out with a win,” head coach Demario Warren said. “It’s just a disappointing loss for our team and we have a lot of work to do going into the fall.”
Southern Utah is looking forward to starting up football operations in the summer and the 2021 regular season is slated to begin in the fall.
Story by: Kelton Jacobsen
sports@suunews.net
Photo courtesy of SUU Athletic Department Strategic Communications
