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Kriesien Rushes For 3 TDs in N Arizona’s 29-14 Win Over MSU

By Beacon Staff

BOZEMAN (AP) – Quarterback Lance Kriesien rushed for three second-half touchdowns Saturday as Northern Arizona rallied to a 29-14 win over Montana State.

Montana State (5-4, 3-3 Big Sky) took advantage of two NAU miscues in the second quarter — a penalty and a bad punt — to score on touchdown passes from Jack Rolovich to Brandon Bostick and Josh Lewis to take a 14-6 halftime lead.

Cyrus Igono blocked two MSU punts early in the third quarter and the Lumberjacks (6-4, 4-2) recovered both in the red zone, leading to a 30-yard field goal by Robbie Dehaze and a 3-yard TD rush by Kriesien just over a minute apart. A two-point conversion pass failed, but the Lumberjacks led 15-14.

Josh Luck then forced a fumble to give Northern Arizona the ball in Montana State territory for the third possession in a row. Kriesien ran the ball in for his second touchdown, a 6-yarder, with at 6:47 in the third quarter.

The Bobcats went for a last-ditch effort on fourth down deep in their own territory with little more than two minutes to play. The incomplete pass set up a 3-yard scoring run by Kriesien with six seconds remaining.

Kriesien completed 17 of 23 passes for 149 yards and rushed 17 times for five yards.

MSU quarterback Jack Rolovich completed 10 of 26 passes for 119 yards while Demetrius Crawford was held to 41 yards rushing.

NAU opened the scoring with a 75-yard drive, capped by a 2-yard scoring run by Alex Henderson, who rushed for 96 yards.