Reserve TE's touchdown a bright note

Brian Riley's 3-yard TD reception helps ease the sting of NAU's loss to ASU.

By DANIEL BERK  Sun Sports Staff   Monday, September 01, 2008   

TEMPE -- There weren't a lot of smiles on the NAU sidelines Saturday night in the Jacks' season opener against Arizona State, but in the fourth quarter when redshirt freshman Brian Riley caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Lance Kriesien, nearly everybody on the sideline rushed over to celebrate with Riley when he made his way off the field.

Riley, a 6-foot-4, 217 pound Tucson native, had just the one catch in the game, but it's a catch he'll remember for the rest of his life. "It was an amazing experience," Riley said. "I'm pretty sure everyone was open on that play. I was just lucky that the ball came my way. It fired me up for sure."

The Jacks were in a goal line formation with three tight ends, two fullbacks and a running back when Riley caught his touchdown pass. Kriesien faked a handoff to running back Alex Henderson and rolled out and found Riley in the corner of the end zone for NAU's lone touchdown of the day.

"It was his first career catch at NAU and getting a touchdown against ASU is a very big deal," NAU senior Shaun Fitzpatrick said. "Especially for him because he grew up in Arizona."

When Fitzpatrick jogged over to the sidelines, some of his teammates gave him a hard time because Riley got the touchdown and not him, but he didn't mind.

"They were all joking around with me because he got the touchdown before me, but I'm thrilled with him," said Fitzpatrick, who had three catches for 59 yards in the season opener. "I'm very proud of him and real happy for him. It was cool to watch, for sure."

HOMECOMING TIME

Cyrus Igono and Fitzpatrick always wondered what it would be like to play at Sun Devil Stadium and on Saturday night, they found out. Both seniors agreed it was all it was cracked up to be.

"When ASU ran out and the fireworks were going off and the crowd was going nuts, that was probably the coolest thing I've ever been apart of, just standing there and watching," Fitzpatrick said. "I wish I would have played better in the first half, but it was a real exciting experience."

Like Fitzpatrick, Igono watched a number of ASU games in the stands, especially when his brother Josiah played for the Sun Devils. The senior shared the same feelings as Fitzpatrick about running out of the tunnel and was glad he finally got the opportunity to play on Frank Kush Field.

"I've watched probably over 20 home games (at Sun Devil Stadium). I've watched my brother play, but it was definitely different being on the field," Igono said. "The eyes were on you, it wasn't you watching, saying 'I can't wait until it's my turn' like I did when I was younger. I just wanted to make the most out of the moment."

QUARTERBACK DECISIONS

Kriesien got the majority of the snaps at quarterback on Saturday, but coach Jerome Souers wasn't ready to commit to Kriesien for next week's game against New Mexico Highlands.  "We want to go back and look at the film, especially the first half," Souers said. "We had a lot of problems, not just at the quarterback position. There were problems with the offensive line, we had problems snapping the ball, there were times when we were missing our routes. 

We had a really hard time adjusting. We'll look at the film and then probably have a better assessment of that."  Kriesien finished the game going 17-for-31 for 152 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Michael Herrick was 2-for-5 for 17yards. Junior Corey Slater didn't play. 

EXTRA POINTS

In all, five true freshman suited up and played against Arizona State. Austin Shanks and Deonte Williams both returned kicks and Williams added eight carries for 48 yards. Nick Ragland-Johnsen had three tackles, all of them coming on special teams. Blayne Anderson and Joel Sienkiewicz also saw some action.

The Jacks seemed to get through the game relatively healthy, although there were a few bumps and bruises. Starting center Jeff Hines didn't play most of the second half and had a large brace on his right leg. Redshirt freshman Grant Denny took over for Hines. NAU was already short on centers with senior Kevin Meagher suspended for the first three games of the season. Starting wide receiver Ed Berry also left the game in the second half with a wrist injury. He didn't have any sort of brace on his hand and the injury seemed minor. The only other noticeable injury was to redshirt freshman Isaac Bond. The defensive end walked off the field on crutches.

By gaining 74 yards against the Sun Devils, Henderson is just 13 yards shy of 2,000 for his career