SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Kaiden Bennett passed for 257 yards and added 76 yards rushing, tight end Coleman Kuntz scored on a 2-yard run to give Sacramento State the lead midway through the fourth quarter and the Hornets beat Northern Arizona 31-30 Saturday night.
It was the first career carry for Kuntz, a sophomore.
Bennett completed 18 of 27 passes including an 18-yard touchdown to Carlos Hill in the first quarter. Jared Gipson had 108 yards receiving for Sacramento State (4-1, 1-1 Big Sky Conference).
The Hornets, ranked No. 9 in the FCS coaches poll, bounced back from a 36-27 loss at No. 6 Idaho.
Kuntz’s touchdown capped an 18-play, 88-yard drive — including two third-down and two fourth-down conversions — that took nearly-7 minutes off the clock and gave Sacramento State a 31-28 lead with 8:31 to play. Northern Arizona responded with a long drive — 17 plays — and had first-and-goal from the 5 but Kameron Rocha intercepted a pass in the end zone with 1:36 left and the Hornets held on from there.
Devon Starling scored on an 8-yard run with 14:29 left in the second quarter and Adam Damante threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Coleman Owen about 6 minutes later to give Northern Arizona (1-4, 1-1) a 21-14 lead. Zeke Burnett scored on a 7-yard run with 5:25 remaining in the quarter and Zach Schreiner kicked a 31-yard field to give the Hornets a 24-21 lead at halftime.
Starling added another 8-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter to give the Lumberjacks a 28-24 lead. The sophomore finished with 117 yards rushing on 21 carries.
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