GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Deion Harris’ 40-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:43 to play completed a 21-point comeback by North Dakota as the Fighting Hawks beat Northern Arizona 38-31 for a share of their first Big Sky Conference title.
North Dakota (9-2, 8-0 Big Sky) has a week to wait before playoff pairings are announced and it finds out whether or not it shares the title with Eastern Washington.
The Hawks also have a week to savor their 28-point comeback on the final 25 minutes of the game.
Harris’ third pick-six of the season and 20th interception of the season by UND handed the Hawks their first conference title since moving to the FCS.
“I’m so proud of our guy,” North Dakota coach Bubba Schweigert said. “They just believe it and battle. We aren’t done yet but this was our goal.”
With 9:20 left in the third quarter, reaching that goal looked like a longshot. Jonathan Baldwin’s 11-yard TD catch from running back Kendyl Taylor gave the Lumberjacks (5-5, 4-3) a 31-10 lead.
Over the next 25 minutes, UND quarterback Keaton Studsrud would leave the game injured twice only to return and throw a 10-yard TD pass to Demun Mercer to tie the game; running back Brady Oliveira would throw a 2-yard TD pass to Luke Fiedler; and the Hawks’ defense would come up big twice.
“I’m out here playing for the guy next to me. That’s what we do,” Studsrud said. “You’re not going to sit out. Yeah, my shoulder hurts but other guys are out there hurting too.”
Studsrud was 13-for-34 for 252 yards. Oliveira ran 12 times for 103 yards and John Santiago had 60 yards and two touchdowns.
After the pick-six, UND stopped the Lumberjacks on fourth-and-11 from the Hawks’ 20.
“This was huge adversity we got through. We fought today,” Harris said. “We had to switch gears and take it to another level.”
The Lumberjacks didn’t bother trying to run against the conference’s top rushing defense. Instead, they went over the top.
Quarterback Blake Kemp was 33-for-56 for 416 yards and three scores, all in the first half. Kemp had 296 yards and long scoring passes to Elijah Marks and Delshawn McClellon. Marks caught eight balls for 115 yards and McClellon two for 119 yards.
Santiago scored on a 38-yard run for a 10-7 lead, the last UND lead until Harris’ interception.
But the Lumberjacks’ Delshawn McClellon took a short pass on third-and-17 and raced 88 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with 1:37 to play in the first quarter.
UND’s Connor O’Brien picked off a Blake Kemp pass at the NAU 36.
The Lumberjacks went up 21-10 on a 44-yard pass to Marks with 7:36 left in the half.
UND slowly came back. Santiago scored on a 15-yard run. That was followed by Fiedler’s catch and then Mercer’s TD that tied it.
The Lumberjacks took over with 4:16 to play on their own 20. On the fifth play, Harris stepped in front of a pass in the flat and raced untouched into the end zone.
NAU drove as deep at the UND 19 before the drive stalled and Kemp’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
“I really can’t say much.” Schweigert said. “What an effort by Keaton and so many guys. They just gutted it out.”
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