Vandals fail to hold halftime lead in 38-31 loss to Northern Arizona

RJ Martinez threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns and Kevin Daniels ran for 177 yards as Northern Arizona beat Idaho 38-31 on Saturday.

Martinez’s 1-yard touchdown run with 5:17 left proved to be the game winner. The play was set up when Martinez threw a 21-yard completion to Coleman Owen.

The Lumberjacks (4-4, 3-2 Big Sky) sealed the win when Morgan Vest intercepted Idaho’s Mike Beaudry with 1:04 left.

After the Vandals (2-6, 1-4) built a 21-17 first-half lead, Harrison Beemiller bolted 50 yards to give the Lumberjacks a three-point edge. They increased the margin to 10 when Martinez threw a 29-yard scoring pass to Owen not even four minutes later. Owen finished with 139 yards receiving on seven catches.

Early in the fourth quarter, Beaudry threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Terez Traynor, and Logan Prescott’s 29-yard field goal with 6:46 left tied it at 31.

Beaudry threw for 306 yards but was picked three times. Traynor had 12 catches for 167 yards and a score.