Cookus leads Lumberjacks to shootout win over Montana St.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Case Cookus threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns and Northern Arizona withstood a late flurry to beat Montana State 49-41 Saturday.

The Lumberjacks (3-2, 1-1 Big Sky) traded touchdowns with the Bobcats early. Cookus found Emmanuel Butler for a 2-yard score to give NAU a 21-14 lead. Casey Jahn carried the ball in from a yard out to make it 28-14 right before halftime.

"I was really pleased with the way our team bounced back after a couple of tough losses," NAU coach Jerome Souers said. "Our run-pass balance was executed nicely today which is something we need to do in case they try to lock our guys down. Today was a big win for us."

Jahn scored again from 6 yards out, then wideout Alex Holmes threw 10 yards to R.J. Rickert to extend the lead to 42-14. Holmes had 72 yards receiving and scored twice. Cookus threw his fourth touchdown pass to Holmes from 13 yards out.

Dakota Prukop threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns for the Bobcats (2-2, 1-1). He threw for scores of 13, 85 and 40 yards in about a four-minute span in the fourth. NAU recovered the onside kick with 1:48 left to seal it.