Vandals go out winners in OT

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — For the fourth time in the last five seasons, the Idaho Vandals will head into the offseason as winners.

Mason Petrino threw for a career-high 491 yards and tied the school record with six touchdown passes to lead Idaho past Northern Arizona 60-53 in overtime on Saturday before 5,120 at the Walkup Skydome.

In a wild game in which Idaho’s 46-36 lead at the end of the third quarter was the largest by either team, Petrino capped his stellar performance with a 25-yard TD pass to Nick Romano in overtime. The Vandals defense made the score stand up, stopping NAU quarterback Case Cookus short of the goal line on fourth-and-goal.

“It just makes you happy for those seniors,” Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. “We talked about it all week — let’s send them out the right way, and let the young guys build on this during the offseason. Gosh dang, they just played their hearts out. All kinds of ups and downs but they kept grinding, kept fighting. Defense maybe didn’t play as well as they have all year, but they made the play when they had to.”

Mason Petrino’s six TD passes matched the school record achieved 11 times previously. His 491 yards is fourth in school history.

“What a great way for him to end,” Paul Petrino said of his son. “We’ve had a lot of tough times. We’ve had good times, bad times. When he can look at that and that’s the last game he’s played, that’s awesome. He can show that tape to his kids, his grandkids. ... I’m so proud of him.”

Jeff Cotton caught 17 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. His 17 receptions match the school record set by Jerry Hendren in 1969. The 223 receiving yards is fifth in school history.

Cookus completed 29 of 51 passes for 450 yards and three touchdowns for NAU (4-8, 2-6 Big Sky). Petrino completed 35 of 42 attempts for Idaho (5-7, 3-5). Neither quarterback threw an interception.

Romano carried 26 times for 154 yards and a touchdown. He caught four passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns.

NAU’s Joe Logan had 23 carries for 138 yards and three touchdowns. He caught a 52-yard pass for a fourth score. Brandon Porter caught nine passes for 150 yards and a touchdown.

The teams combined for 1,396 yards, 738 by Idaho.

Idaho freshman Hayden Hatten set career highs with five catches, 47 yards and his first two touchdowns.

NAU scored twice in the fourth quarter to take a 50-46 lead, but Romano’s TD gave the Vandals a three point lead with 44 seconds remaining. NAU drove for a field goal with two seconds remaining to force overtime.

Idaho needed just one play in the first overtime, a 25-yard score from Petrino to Romano.

The Vandals’ 60 points was their most since scoring 61 against Colorado State in the 2016 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

The win was Idaho’s first road win since defeating Georgia State, 24-10, on Dec. 2, 2017.

Cotton moved over 1,000 yards on the season, becoming the first Vandal receiver to record 1,000-plus yards in a season since Josh McCain in 2014. McCain had 1,162 yards in 11 games, while Cotton finished with 1,134 yards in 10 games.

Idaho 60, N. Arizona 53

Idaho 10 14 22 7 7 —60

N. Arizona 10 20 6 17 0 —53

First Quarter

NAU–Chukwumezie 25 pass from Cookus (Aguilar kick), 8:06.

IDHO–FG Coffey 27, 4:16.

NAU–FG Aguilar 24, 1:09.

IDHO–Cotton 6 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 0:00.

Second Quarter

NAU–Logan 52 pass from Cookus (Aguilar kick), 14:10.

IDHO–Hatten 8 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 10:49.

NAU–Logan 1 run (Aguilar kick), 8:18.

NAU–FG Aguilar 48, 2:45.

IDHO–Romano 1 run (Coffey kick), 0:30.

NAU–FG Aguilar 25, 0:00.

Third Quarter

IDHO–Hatten 8 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 8:08.

NAU–Logan 20 run (pass failed), 5:12.

IDHO–Cotton 70 pass from Petrino (Whitney pass from Petrino), 4:52.

IDHO–Petrino 2 run (Coffey kick), 0:00.

Fourth Quarter

NAU–Porter 63 pass from Cookus (Aguilar kick), 13:41.

NAU–Logan 2 run (Aguilar kick), 4:01.

IDHO–Romano 29 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 0:44.

NAU–FG Aguilar 19, 0:02.

OVERTIME

IDHO–Romano 25 pass from Petrino (Coffey kick), 0:00.

IDHO NAU

First downs 34 283

Rushes-yards 48-247 31-208

Passing 491 450

Comp-Att-Int 35-42-0 29-53-0

Return Yards 34 0

Punts-Avg. 2-55.5 4-45.0

Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0

Penalty-Yards 7-51 5-35

Time of Possession 35:49 24:11

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Idaho, N. Romano 26-154, M. Petrino 14-65, D. Thigpen 6-23, J. Cotton 1-7. N. Arizona, J. Logan 23-138, C. Cookus 7-65, B. Porter 1-5.

PASSING–Idaho, M. Petrino 35-42-0-491. N. Arizona, C. Cookus 29-51-0-450, B. Porter 0-2-0-0.

RECEIVING–Idaho, J. Cotton 17-223, N. Romano 4-98, H. Hatten 5-47, C. Whitney 3-42, S. McCormick 2-40, J. Boston 3-30, D. Thigpen 1-11. N. Arizona, B. Porter 9-150, S. Chukwumezie 7-88, J. Logan 6-82, H. Johnson 5-66, L. Morgan 1-64, J. Gatewood 1-0.