Log in

No. 20 Arizona rallies from halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona 22-10

Posted 9/7/24

Quali Conley ran for 112 yards, Noah Fifita threw for 173 yards and a touchdown and No. 20 Arizona overcame a four-point halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona 22-10 on Saturday night for its …

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue.

Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here

Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

To Our Valued Readers –

Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.

For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.

Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.

Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.

Sincerely,
Charlene Bisson, Publisher, Independent Newsmedia

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

No. 20 Arizona rallies from halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona 22-10

Posted

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Quali Conley ran for 112 yards, Noah Fifita threw for 173 yards and a touchdown and No. 20 Arizona overcame a four-point halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona 22-10 on Saturday night for its ninth consecutive win, tying the school record for consecutive victories.

The Wildcats (2-0) extended the longest active win streak in FBS by outscoring the Lumberjacks 16-0 in the second half after trailing 10-6 at the break. The nine straight wins matches the school record set in 1974-75 and matched in 1997-98.

Conley, a transfer from San Jose State, led the way as Arizona gained 188 yards on the ground. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had a school-record 304 yards and four TDs in the 61-39 season-opening win over New Mexico, was limited to two catches for 11 yards.

Northern Arizona (1-1) finished with only 198 yards of total offense, 91 after halftime. Quarterback Ty Pennington threw for 84 yards on 14 of 24 passing and added 39 on the ground.

Arizona forced a turnover on downs in Northern Arizona territory to open the second half and converted that into points as Jeremiah Patterson scored on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Fifita for a 13-10 lead with 12:06 left in the third.

The Wildcats’ Chubba Ma’ae tackled running back Darvon Hubbard in the end zone for a safety with 11:33 left in the fourth, upping the lead to 15-10. And after getting the ball back, Arizona made it 22-10 on a 56-yard scoring run by Kedrick Reescano with 9:32 remaining.

Arizona only led 3-0 after the first quarter after settling for a red zone field goal on its first drive and punting the next two. Northern Arizona took a 7-3 lead with 10:24 left in the half on a trick play, with receiver Isaiah Eastman throwing a 25-yard TD pass to tight end Xander Werner.

A Fifita interception led to more points for the Lumberjacks, with Marcus Lye converting on a 38-yard field goal to make it 10-3 with 6:20 left in the first half.

The Wildcats cut Northern Arizona’s lead to 10-6 with 32 seconds left in the first half on a 48-yard field goal from Tyler Loop.

The takeaway

Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks, who shocked Arizona in Tucson in 2021, dropped to 10-55 all-time against FBS schools. They have never beaten a ranked FBS opponent.

Arizona: A week after scoring on 10 drives and putting up the eighth-most yards in school history, the Wildcats had fewer yards in the first half (147) than on their first two drives in the Week 1 win over New Mexico.

Up next

Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks continue a three-game road trip with a visit to Utah Tech on Saturday.

Arizona: The Wildcats hit the road for the first time, taking on Big 12 conference foe Kansas State on Friday in a nonconference game scheduled before they left the Pac-12.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football