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CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) -- Aaron Fernandez returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, and Southern Utah stopped Youngstown State's final drive at the 18-yard line with 28 seconds left, giving the Thunderbirds a 14-7 win Saturday.
D.J. Lucchesi and D.J. Senter sacked Youngstown quarterback Paul Corsaro, forcing a fumble with 2:42 left in the third quarter. Fernandez picked it up and ran untouched down the right sideline to break a 7-7 halftime tie.
Youngstown State (2-4) went 68 yards in the final three minutes and faced a fourth-and-2 at the SUU 18 with 34 seconds to go.
Subbing for injured starter Brandon Summers, Corsaro kept the drive alive twice with fourth-down completions. But on the pivotal play, Corsaro threw to Donald Jones for an apparent first down. SUU's Troy Osborne knocked the ball loose for an incompletion.
Coupled with last week's 34-20 win at Texas State, the victory marked the first time Southern Utah (3-3) has won consecutive games over Football Championship Subdivision opponents since the final two games of the 2004 season.
Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, the Thunderbirds tied it on Deckar Alexander s 1-yard touchdown run, culminating a 10-play, 75-yard drive that consumed almost five minutes.
With defensive lineman Austin Curtis leading the blocking from the fullback spot, Alexander (21 carries, 92 yards) split two tacklers at the goal line and fell into the end zone with 6:14 left in the first half.
Youngstown State took the opening kickoff and went 74 yards in six plays, scoring on Kamryn Keys' 45-yard run to take a 7-0 lead 2:29 into the first quarter.
Keys appeared to be stopped in the middle of the line, but he bounced outside, broke a tackle and outraced the Thunderbird defense to the end zone.
Summers left the game early in the second quarter after he suffered a sprained knee on a sack. He did not return.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
