History repeated itself on Saturday. The Lumberjack football team (4-3, 2-2 Big Sky Conference), put itself in a position to win against Montana (6-2, 5-1) but couldn't stop the Griz's offense on the final drive, losing 24-21 at Washington Grizzly Stadium, where NAU remains winless since 1986.
"I can't really put it into words how this feels," NAU junior linebacker Scott McKeever said. "I really feel bad for our seniors."
After running back Giovannie Dixon's 11-yard touchdown gave the Jacks a 21-17 lead with 1:59 remaining, the Grizzlies returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 43-yard line to set up a 15-play scoring drive.
Montana quarterback Justin Roper, who has led the Griz to five wins since starting quarterback Andrew Selle suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Sacramento State, made enough plays on the final drive, capping it off with a 1-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Atkins with five seconds remaining.
The touchdown, though, wasn't so clear-cut. NAU cornerback Randy Hale nearly intercepted the ball as he and Atkins fought for possession before going out of bounds. The referees credited Atkins with the catch.
"We didn't get all the bounces that we wanted," McKeever said. "I personally thought it was an incomplete pass. (Roper) threw it up and it was a simultaneous catch but when the ball came down, they hit the white in the back of the end zone."
The call was deja vu for the Jacks, who lost to Montana in last year's overtime matchup at the Skydome. The refs ruled NAU running back Alex Henderson stepped out of bounds at the 3-yard line before he ran into the end zone. On the next play, Michael Herrick was intercepted to end the game.
The loss gives the Jacks their 13th straight defeat against Montana as NAU coach Jerome Souers remains winless against his former team.
NAU, to its credit, almost pulled it out even with backup quarterback Chasen Stangel starting in place of Herrick, who sat out with a broken thumb. Stangel finished with 187 yards and a touchdown on 22-of-34 passing.
"I can't fault our team for effort," Souers said in a broadcast interview. "We had a lot of adversity facing us at game time. Losing Mike took a lot of continuity out of our offense."
The Jacks were able to move the ball at points in the game -- outgaining Montana 301 yards to 265 -- and forced the game's only turnover, but couldn't capitalize on possessions where the defense set up a short field. Stangel killed three drives in the first half by taking four sacks, three of which were for eight yards or more.
"I thought (the defense) gave our offense three or four opportunities early to get a field goal -- get something -- but we didn't get anything," Souers said. "It's really frustrating for all of us.
"(Watching film), we're going to be sick at some of the things we didn't get done."
Stangel said he got into a better rhythm as the game progressed but didn't make enough plays early on.
Although the Jacks tried to wind down the clock on their final scoring drive, Stangel didn't believe there was much more they could have done. The Jacks ran the ball seven consecutive times to burn several minutes off the clock.
"I don't think we could have milked it any more," Stangel said.
Running back Zach Bauman carried the ball six straight times in the drive and finished the game with 27 carries for 127 yards and a touchdown.
Despite the gut-wrenching loss, the Jacks said they aren't going to let it affect them.
"We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves," Souers said. "We have all the intentions of winning out. We have all the intentions of getting ourselves into the dance."
With four games remaining, and three at home, NAU remains optimistic about its chances of advancing to the postseason, though the Jacks will need some help going forward.
"We're disappointed, but we're not going to let it ruin our season," McKeever said. "We're going to win the rest of our games and go to the playoffs."
Jacob May can be reached at jmay@azdailysun.com or 556-2257.
