Sun on Sky

[velochat]

NAU's Ernster Big Sky, national player of week

By ED ODEVEN
Sun Sports Staff
10/26/2004




Winning Big Sky Conference special teams player of the week awards is becoming routine for Northern Arizona's Paul Ernster.
The senior earned his second consecutive league honor, third of the season, after playing a key role in the Lumberjacks' come-from-behind 21-20 victory over visiting Portland State Saturday. Ernster drilled the game-winning field goal, a 48-yarder (the same number as his jersey), with 12 seconds remaining.

In addition, Ernster garnered The Sports Network's special teams player of the week award, a national accolade, and was chosen as a Weekly All-Star by I-AA.org.

Ernster, whose team plays host to Montana State Saturday at 6:05 p.m. at the Skydome, leads Division I-AA with a 47.4 yard-per-punt average.

The Glendale Ironwood High School grad's 48-yarder was the first game-winning field goal for NAU with under a minute left since 1997, while ranking as the second-longest fourth-quarter game-winning field goal since 1975.

Ernster said, perhaps only half-jokingly, that he owes holder Eric Iverson a steak dinner now.

"Everybody gets a chance to struggle during the course of a season," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "Paul's been really pretty consistent. Nobody notices more, I suppose, when a cornerback is struggling or a quarterback is struggling, and nothing's more evident than a kicker.

"The problem with a kicker is you have to wait so long for a chance to get it right."

Which is what Ernster did at the end: He came through with a game-winning kick, atoning for a missed 32-yarder and a 22-yard punt in the first quarter

Also Monday, the Big Sky announced that Montana State quarterback Travis Lulay and Sacramento State cornerback Ramon Payne captured the league's weekly offensive and defensive awards, respectively.

Lulay guided the Bobcats to their third successive comeback victory - on their final possession. He completed 33 of 51 passes for a career-high 411 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-24 victory over South Dakota State. Lulay was 4-for-4 for 59 yards on the final drive.

By all accounts, Payne was a major pain for Idaho State Saturday in the Bengals' 29-24 victory. He had three interceptions (he now has five in the past two games), two sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, eight tackles, two broken-up passes and three tackles for a loss.

LOOKING BACK

NAU's offensive struggles Saturday stemmed from two primary problems: a case of drop-it is (one observer counted nine dropped passes) and an inability to establish the run.

The Jacks had the ball for just 10 minutes, 30 seconds in the first half.


PSU limited the Jacks to 46 yards rushing on nine carries in the first half. Philo Sanchez had 24 of those yards on one carry.

But the Jacks showed their true grit in the second half, making key plays on offense, defense and special teams to win the game. Restructured practices helped, too.

"I thought we had a little bit more energy in the ballgame itself," Souers said. "We have tapered practices and the physical demands in the last couple weeks to try to get their legs back, to get more in the tank on Saturday.

"I really feel in the fourth quarter, at the very end, you could still feel the energy, still feel the excitement. Sometimes the difference between making a play and not making a play is just having a little bit of extra juice."

NAU quarterback Jason Murrietta was more effective in the second half, completing 11 of 18 passes after the break to finish 18-for-33 for 167 yards. He did not throw a TD pass for the first time since the season opener at Arizona.

SKY WATCHING

Saturday's Big Sky action produced the following results: Weber State fell to 0-8 in losing 51-7 to Eastern Washington in Ogden. With the loss, the Wildcats matched their worst start in history.

EWU (5-3 overall, 4-1) ran through, around and over the Wildcat defenders for 295 yards on 44 carries, including 199 yards on 18 carries by Dezmon Cole, the team's third-string tailback. Cole scored two touchdowns.

Speed was the name of the game, and Weber couldn't keep up with Eastern in this long, painful foot race.

"When you stand on the sideline as a coach and you can see how fast the other team is playing and your team's not responding and (not) playing at the same speed, you know you're going to be in trouble," Wildcats coach Jerry Graybeal told the Salt Lake Tribune. Idaho State (2-5, 1-3) won its first Big Sky game of the season Saturday, edging Sacramento State. It was not pretty. The teams combined for 25 penalties, and several more were declined, and there were 10 turnovers.

The win follows three straight Bengal defeats, including back-to-back demoralizing defeats to Montana and Montana State. ISU coach Larry Lewis and his team will take 'em any way they can get 'em.

"We played well enough to win, and sometimes that doesn't happen after two (tough) losses," Lewis told the Idaho State Journal. The Bobcats' aforementioned victory over South Dakota State prompted the following headline in Sunday's edition of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle: "Same song, fourth verse: Bobcats win at the end."

That said, MSU coach Mike Kramer has had enough pulse-rising drama for the rest of the season.

"I've about had it," Kramer told the Chronicle after the Cats' fourth straight win. "I'm glad we won, but enough of that Tom Foolery. We cannot continue to live this way." Montana (6-1, 3-0) didn't block a critical field goal in the final minute for a third straight week. The Grizzles had a bye. They travel to Idaho State this weekend.

MISCELLANY

KAZ, a Prescott TV station, will televise Saturday's NAU-Montana State game. ... Three Big Sky quarterbacks -- Lulay, Murrietta and Montana's Craig Ochs -- are listed on the Walter Payton Award watch list. The list has 16 players on it. It will be modified on Nov. 3 and for a third and final time in mid-December. The award is I-AA's version of the Heisman Trophy. ... Weber State defensive end Brady Fosmark and Montana State linebacker Roger Cooper are on the Buck Buchanan Award (I-AA's top defender) watch list. ... Souers captured his 40th career victory Saturday.

THE LAST WORD

"I don't think this changes anything. I think it just continues to validate the things that we're doing," Souers said after Saturday's win.


Readers can reach Ed at 556-2251 or by e-mail at eodeven@azdailysun.com