2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team

2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football
2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	4–6 (3–4 Big Sky)
Head coach	Jerome Souers (21st season);
Offensive coordinator	Aaron Pflugrad (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Andy Thompson (10th season)
Home stadium	Walkup Skydome
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 Weber State +^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 2 Eastern Washington +^	7	–	1	12	–	3
No. 7 UC Davis +^	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 17 Montana State ^	5	–	3	8	–	5
Idaho State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Montana	4	–	4	6	–	5
Cal Poly	4	–	4	5	–	6
Northern Arizona	3	–	4	4	–	6
Portland State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Idaho	3	–	5	4	–	7
Northern Colorado	2	–	6	2	–	9
Southern Utah	1	–	7	1	–	10
Sacramento State	0	–	7	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Although North Dakota was classified as an independent, games against them still counted as Big Sky Conference games. Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football team represented Northern Arizona University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 21st-year head coach Jerome Souers and played their home games at the Walkup Skydome. They were a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 4–6, 3–4 in Big Sky play to finish in eighth place.

On November 19, Jerome Souers announced his retirement. He finished with a 21 year record of 123–114.

Preseason

Polls

On July 16, 2018 during the Big Sky Kickoff in Spokane, Washington, the Lumberjacks were predicted to finish in third place by both the coaches and media.^[1]

Coaches poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	134 (6)
2	Weber State	124 (3)
3	Northern Arizona	121 (3)
4	Idaho	101 (1)
5	Sacramento State	94
6	Southern Utah	91
7	Montana	82
8	Montana State	76
9	UC Davis	64
10	Cal Poly	40
11	Northern Colorado	30
12	Idaho State	29
13	Portland State	21

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Eastern Washington	651 (27)
2	Weber State	636 (19)
3	Northern Arizona	535 (1)
4	Montana	496 (2)
5	Idaho	483 (3)
6	Southern Utah	449 (1)
7	Sacramento State	415
8	Montana State	391 (1)
9	UC Davis	331 (1)
10	Idaho State	170
11	Cal Poly	169
12	Northern Colorado	166
13	Portland State	103

Preseason All-Conference Team

The Lumberjacks had three players selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team.^[2]

Emmanuel Butler – Sr. WR

Khalil Dorsey – Jr. CB

Wes Sutton – Sr. S

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award^[3]	Case Cookus	QB	JR

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	4:30 p.m.	at UTEP*		Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	ESPN3	W 30–10	17,271
September 8	4:00 p.m.	No. 6 Eastern Washington*	No. 18	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW NAU-TV	L 26–31	8,938
September 15	12:00 p.m.	at Missouri State*	No. 20	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN3	L 8–40	7,217
September 22	4:00 p.m.	Southern Utah		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ (Grand Canyon Rivalry)	KASW NAU-TV	W 31–23	5,832
September 29	2:30 p.m.	at Idaho State		Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	Pluto TV 243	L 42–56	9,129
October 6	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Weber State		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	ELVN	W 28–24	10,000
October 20	11:00 a.m.	at Northern Colorado		Nottingham Field Greeley, CO	ELVN	L 14–42	3,522
October 27	4:00 p.m.	Cal Poly		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW NAU-TV	L 28–38	6,102
November 3	1:00 p.m.	at No. 6 UC Davis		Aggie Stadium Davis, CA	Pluto TV 245	L 20–42	7,890
~~November 10~~	~~7:00 p.m.~~	at ~~Sacramento State~~		~~Hornet Stadium~~ ~~Sacramento, CA~~	KASW NAU-TV	Cancelled^[a]	–
November 17	2:30 p.m.	North Dakota		Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	KASW NAU-TV	W 31–16	4,306
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Mountain time

^ The game against Sacramento State on November 10 was cancelled due to unhealthy air quality as a result of the Camp Fire in Northern California.^[4]

Source: Official Schedule

Despite also being a member of the Big Sky, the game vs. Eastern Washington will be a non-conference game and will have no effect on the Big Sky standings.

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	18	20	RV	RV	—	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	20	22	RV	RV	—	—	RV	—	—	—	—	—

Game summaries

At UTEP

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	10	7	13	0	30
Miners	0	10	0	0	10

Eastern Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Eagles	14	7	7	3	31
No. 18 Lumberjacks	0	10	3	13	26

At Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Lumberjacks	0	6	0	2	8
Bears	10	13	10	7	40

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	0	7	16	0	23
Lumberjacks	7	7	10	7	31

At Idaho State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	7	14	14	42
Bengals	7	28	14	7	56

Weber State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Wildcats	0	8	13	3	24
Lumberjacks	7	0	14	7	28

At Northern Colorado

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	7	0	0	14
Bears	12	0	16	14	42

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	28	10	0	38
Lumberjacks	7	0	7	14	28

At UC Davis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	0	6	0	14	20
No. 6 Aggies	21	0	7	14	42

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Hawks	0	10	3	3	16
Lumberjacks	14	3	7	7	31

Roster

2018 Northern Arizona Lumberjacks roster

Quarterbacks

3 Geno Campiotti, Freshman
10 Daniel Bridge-Gadd, Sophomore
15 Case Cookus, Junior
17 Connor Leavens, Freshman

Running backs

2 Nate Stinson, Sophomore
6 Cory Young, Senior
9 Jacob Mpungi, Freshman
22 Joe Logan, Junior
31 Aramis Aldredge, Sophomore

Wide receivers

1 Emmanuel Butler, Senior
7 Chancellor Brewington, Sophomore
8 Stacy Chukwumezie, Junior
16 Cam Denson, Graduate Student
18 Brandon Porter, Freshman
23 Malik Lovette, Junior
36 DJ Young, Senior
46 Tommie Dorsey, Junior
48 Riley Langton, Freshman
81 Justis Stokes, Sophomore
83 Terrell Brown, Sophomore
84 Anthony Brown, Junior
86 Luke Nguyen, Junior
87 Gino Mastrandrea, Junior
88 Joey Gatewood, Junior

Tight ends

40 Bric Parmley, Freshman
43 Jarek Schultz, Freshman
44 Max Michalczik, Freshman
82 Jacob Ayala, Freshman
85 Matthew Kempton, Sophomore
89 Jonathan Baldwin, Senior

Offensive Lineman

52 Luke Rudolph, Sophomore
53 Jasean Harrison, Sophomore
58 Trevor Reinwald, Junior
61 Cole Habib, Senior
62 Jamison Pruitt, Junior
63 Alim Benbrahim, Freshman
65 Malik Noshi, Junior
66 Chase Laurita, Sophomore
68 Mitchell Kay, Junior
69 Jonas Leader, Freshman
70 Chris Rodgers, Freshman
71 Jason Lindon, Junior
73 Keenan Norris, Sophomore
74 Josh Sparks, Senior
77 James Bain, Graduate Student
79 Jalen Hooper, Freshman

Defensive line

45 Hamilton To'o, Senior
50 Chris Jules, Junior
51 Seth Long, Freshman
54 Brandon Boyce, Senior
56 Brandon Lawless, Junior
76 Seth Clem, Freshman
77 John Clark, Freshman
78 Travis Seideman, Sophomore
90 Aaron Andrews, Junior
91 Sione Talakai, Senior
92 Adonis Battle, Junior
93 Chauntez Thomas, Sophomore
94 Jackson Vaught, Freshman
95 Jalen Goss, Junior
96 Dylon Hessenflow, Freshman
97 Jalen Knox, Freshman
98 Gregory Jordan, Sophomore
99 Carson Taylor, Sophomore

Linebackers

4 Taylor Powell, Junior
11 Jake Casteel, Senior
24 Larry Davis III, Freshman
33 Tristen Vance, Junior
34 Derek Edwards, Freshman
37 Spencer Cox, Freshman
42 Marcus Carrasco, Freshman
46 Cameron Richards, Freshman
48 Jason Pasano, Freshman
49 Ed Obeh, Junior
55 Keenan Mitchell, Sophomore
57 Markquise Simmons, Senior
59 Owen Dickens, Freshman

Defensive backs

3 Kam'ron Johnson, Senior
5 Jamarri Jackson, Sophomore
10 Elijah Orr, Sophomore
12 Anthony Sweeney, Sophomore
13 Marcus Myers, Junior
19 Heath Beemiller, Freshman
20 Maurice Davison, Senior
21 Sherrod Paige, Junior
25 Ricky Manning, Freshman
26 Nate Perkins Freshman
27 Myles Dumas, Sophomore
28 Wes Sutton, Senior
29 Khalil Dorsey, Junior
30 Jalen Cook, Junior
32 Jalen Swanigan, Junior
35 Curtiss Wilson, Sophomore
36 Jayden Wooden, Freshman
37 Jovon Sewell, Freshman
38 Cejai Parrish, Freshman
47 Dyvine Wallace, Sophomore

Fullback

20 Jacinto Castillo, Freshman

Place kickers

41 Luis Aguilar, Sophomore

Punters

17 Cameron Horsting, Junior
19 DJ Arnson, Sophomore

Long snappers

64 Justin Hathoot, Sophomore
80 Harrison Goebel, Junior

[1]

References

^ "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".
^ "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".
^ "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
^ "NAU Football Game at Sacramento State Officially Canceled". www.nauathletics.com. Northern Arizona University Official Athletics Website. November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.

[5] The game against Sacramento State on November 10 was cancelled due to unhealthy air quality as a result of the Camp Fire in Northern California.^[4]

[1] "Eastern Washington Picked to Win the Big Sky".

[2] "Doss, Buss Headline Big Sky Football Preseason All-Conference Team".

[3] "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.

[4] "NAU Football Game at Sacramento State Officially Canceled". www.nauathletics.com. Northern Arizona University Official Athletics Website. November 13, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.

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