Northern Arizona late TD beats Portland St. 21-17

Oct 18, 2015, 10:39 pm

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Chase Cartwright raced across the goal line from the 3 with four minutes left as Northern Arizona constructed a late scoring drive to defeat Portland State 21-17 Saturday night.

Cartwright finished with 222 yards passing as the Lumberjacks (4-3, 2-1 Big Sky) rallied after losing a halftime lead. Portland State (2-5, 1-2) surged ahead when Steven Long ripped a 62-yard touchdown run on first down early in the third quarter, followed by a 31-yard Jonathan Gonzales field goal. Long gained 253 yards on 16 carries. Nate Tago scored the game-opening TD but was stuffed on two tries from the 1 late in the game.

NAU drove 83 yards in 11 plays for the winning TD aided by back-to-back first downs on two Vikings penalties.

Scores on back-to-back series -- a Cartwright pass to Casey Jahn and a 67-yard pick-six by Marcus Alford -- boosted NAU to a 14-7 halftime lead.