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Northern Arizona defeats Northern Colorado 35-27

Oct 4, 2009 - 2:50 AM FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.(AP) -- Michael Herrick threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns as Northern Arizona knocked off Northern Colorado 35-27 Saturday.

With the Lumberjacks (2-2, 1-1 Big Sky) leading 28-27, Herrick found running back Alex Henderson for a 24-yard touchdown pass and an eight-point lead with 6:55 to play.

Northern Colorado (1-4, 0-3) put together an 18-play, 78-yard drive on the ensuing possession. But Bryan Waggener's fourth-down pass fell incomplete with less than one minute left, and the Lumberjacks held on.

The Bears, who came into the game having scored just seven points in two Big Sky games, found their groove early and put up 21 points in the first half.

Waggener threw two early touchdown passes to receiver Alex Thompson. Dylan Orms, Northern Colorado's running quarterback, threw one pass - a 37-yard touchdown pass to Thompson midway through the second quarter.

The second Waggener-to-Thompson touchdown pass came with 1:37 left in the first half, and it looked like the Bears would go into the locker room leading 21-7.

Instead, Herrick engineered a six play, 89-yard drive that resulted in a 6-yard touchdown pass to Daiveun Curry-Chapman to bring the Lumberjacks within 21-14 with 11 seconds to go before halftime.

Northern Arizona scored the first two touchdowns of the second half, an 81-yard pass from Herrick to Ed Berry and a 69-yard run by Henderson, to take a lead it never gave back.

Henderson ran for 160 yards, and Berry was the Lumberjacks' leading receiver with five catches for 140 yards. Junior defensive end Isaac Bond had 10 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and three and a half tackles for loss.

Waggener threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns in the loss. Thompson had 12 catches for 164 yards and three touchdowns.