Photo by Ian Billings/ Mustang Daily
Mustang Daily Staff Report
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One season, one championship.
It didn’t take long for the Cal Poly football team to find success in the Big Sky. During its first campaign in the conference, the Mustangs walked away with a share of the Big Sky title after defeating Northern Arizona 42-34 on Saturday.
The Mustangs finished in a three-way tie with Eastern Washington and Montana State as co-champions. They finish the regular season 8-2 (7-1 Big Sky).
The Lumberjacks almost rallied past the Mustangs to rid them of that championship, though.
Northern Arizona got on the board first after scooping up a fumble from Andre Broadous and returning it 61 yards for a touchdown.
Cal Poly responded with a 13-yard touchdown run from Kristaan Ivory and then a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown to take a 14-7 lead.
Northern Arizona’s Ify Umodu then hauled in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Cary Grossart to make it 14-13 after a missed extra point.
The Mustangs poured on three touchdowns following that score, a 1-yard run from Ivory, 51-yard catch from Cole Stanford and 5-yard catch from Willie Tucker to race out to a 35-13 lead in the third quarter.
But Northern Arizona answered in a big way.
On the following drive, the Lumberjacks’ Casey Jahn capped a 4-play, 40-yard drive with a 1-yard run to make it 35-20, and then Grossart connected with Austin Shanks on a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it a one-possession game.
But Broadous took a quarterback sneak and struck pay dirt from 3 yards out with 3:14 left on the clock to seal the game for the Mustangs.
Broadous finished the game 6 of 9 passing with 180 yards and two scores, while both Deonte Williams and Ivory rushed for more than 100 yards. Williams finished with a team-high 139 yards on 25 carries and Ivory finished with 100 yards and two touchdowns.
Stanford led the Mustangs receiving. He caught three passes for 127 yards and a score.
Brian De Los Santos contributed to this article.