(STATS) -- Northern Arizona hung with Arizona State for over a half in its opener, but the FBS opponent proved to be too strong, wearing down the smaller school to hand their in-state foe a tough loss.The No. 19 Lumberjacks return to the FCS ranks but their road doesnt get any easier with a trip to Western Illinois of the Missouri Valley Football Conference on Saturday. While an 0-2 start is certainly a possibility for a Northern Arizona team picked to win the Big Sky, a couple of early losses wouldnt dash its postseason aspirations. The 18th-ranked Leathernecks can vouch for that.A year ago, WIU suffered September losses at Illinois and Coastal Carolina but ended up becoming the first team in FCS history to earn an at-large playoff bid after a 6-5 regular-season record.No team should be penalized for playing good people, Leathernecks coach Charlie Fisher said.The Lumberjacks missed the playoffs last season despite going 7-4. The offense took off behind Case Cookus, who threw for 3,111 yards with an FCS freshman-record 37 TDs, and the 2015 STATS FCS Freshman of the Year winner picked up right where he left off in the 2016 opener.Cookus completed 23 of 33 passes for 369 yards with an 87-yard touchdown to Elijah Marks -- the only time NAU reached the end zone -- in last Saturdays 44-13 loss to the Sun Devils. The Lumberjacks trailed 10-6 midway through the third quarter before ASU pulled away.Cookus was able to march the Lumberjacks down the field as they piled up 425 yards but 11 penalties -- their most since 2013 -- and a 5-of-16 conversion rate on third downs led to their undoing. They also turned the ball over on downs once in the red zone.I think we are happy with the amount of yards and how we moved the ball, but were not happy with some of the stupid mistakes we made in the red zone not coming away with points, Cookus said. We have a lot to work on but there are a lot of positives there. Well take the positives and the negatives and work on it.One area that needs to get cleaned up -- and quickly -- is their run defense.After being gashed for 276 rushing yards by ASU, NAU has the tough task of trying to stop Steve McShane.A dual-sport athlete who is an outfielder on the WIU baseball team, McShane rushed for 207 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns in last Saturdays 38-21 win over Eastern Illinois of the Ohio Valley. He became the first WIU player to rush for 200 yards in a game since 2008 and was a threat out of the backfield in the passing game, hauling in a team-high four receptions for 56 yards.We were able to stay patient and run the ball. That is something Ive emphasized since I got here, which is to have a running game on a regular basis, said Fisher, who won his debut. We need to run and we need to be able to make the runs and we did.Establishing a ground game is paramount if the Leathernecks once again struggle to move the ball through the air.Sean McGuire, who started WIUs final four games last season as a freshman, completed just 13 of 28 passes for 109 with a two-yard TD pass to tight end Tony Harper. Only seven of his completions went to receivers and preseason All-MVFC selection Lance Lenoirs 15-yard reception was the lone one longer than nine yards.It was a somewhat troubling showing for McGuire after he was at 284.5 yards per game and 7.5 per attempt in his starts last season. Not to mention his top two targets from a year ago are back in Lenoir and Joey Borsellino, who totaled 145 catches for 2,033 yards. The two combined for three receptions for 24 yards last week.While getting McGuire and his receivers on the same page is important, shoring up the pass defense is critical to have any hope in slowing down Cookus.WIU allowed 366 passing yards to the Panthers and was vulnerable to big plays, permitting catches of 28, 34, 40, 53 and 79 yards.Cookus averaged 11.2 yards per attempt in the opener, connecting with Marks eight times for 174 yards and completing seven passes to Emmanuel Butler for 118. Butler set a NAU record with 1,208 receiving yards last season and was a STATS FCS All-America second team selection.Very explosive on offense with Case Cookus as their quarterback, arguably the best one in the country, Fisher said.This is one of three matchups between ranked teams from the Big Sky and MVFC this weekend, with top-ranked North Dakota State hosting No. 8 Eastern Washington and 14th-ranked Montana visiting No. 3 Northern Iowa.NAU, which is 7-10 all-time against MVFC teams, won the only other meeting with WIU, 34-0 in 1967.We knew going into the season this would be an important game and a representation of not just our conference but our program and how we stack up, Lumberjacks coach Jerome Souers said. I think we are similarly ranked to Western Illinois and if thats accurate or not will be determined. Its going to be a tough matchup and were excited. Air Max 97 Sale Nz .ca. 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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Elvis Andrus and the Texas Rangers always believe theyre going to win. Now theyre getting ever closer to another AL West title.Andrus scored the winning run on All-Star center fielder Ian Desmonds RBI single with no outs in the ninth inning as the Rangers beat the last-place Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Monday night for their MLB-best 46th come-from-behind victory.That has been our DNA this year. We didnt give up until the last out, until the last pitch, and its contagious, said Andrus, who also had a tying solo homer in the seventh.Andrus led off the ninth with a sharp single to left off Jose Alvarez (1-3) before Carlos Gomez turned an attempted sacrifice into a bunt single. Desmonds single gave the Rangers (89-62) their 20th last at-bat victory and they improved to 35-10 in one-run games.Nomar Mazara also homered for the Rangers, who cut their magic number to four in pursuit of their second consecutive division title. Second-place Seattle was playing at home against Toronto.Play it straight, just trying to play the same way weve been playing all year, Desmond said about being close to clinching. Its been working. No need to change it now.Closer Sam Dyson (3-2) worked a scoreless ninth for the victory after starter Martin Perez went seven innings and Matt Bush worked a perfect eighth.Alvarez, the sixth Angels pitcher, had gotten out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth following a 38-minute rain delay, two innings after Rangers manager Jeff Banister was ejected for arguing when a replay challenge overturned an out and led to an Angels run.Yunel Escobar was thrown out by several feet trying to stretch his hit into a triple in the sixth, then motioned toward the outfield. Manager Mike Scioscia challenged the ball had become lodged underneath the padding on the wall in right-center field and should have been ruled dead, as per the ground rules for the Rangers ballpark.We thought that someone put their hands up like it was out of play. I think thats what (Escobar) saw, Scioscia said. He kind of stutter-stepped and slowed down.Banister was ejected when he came out to get an explanation and kept questioning crew chief and second base umpire Joe West after Escobar was put at second base. The replay showed right fielder Mazara played the ball and never indicated it was wedged under the padding.From the infield you cant tell if its stuck. ... But when we went to replay, they said it stuck. So its plain and simpple a ground-rule double, West told a pool reporter after the game.ddddddddddddI had an outfielder who felt like the ball was not lodged. If you look at the video, the ball was still spinning, Banister said. In my estimation, that is not a lodged baseball. But thats not my call.Mike Trout followed with a triple into the right-field corner to tie the game 1-1. The Angels then went ahead in the seventh when Jefry Marte was hit by a pitch and scored on a two-out double by Carlos Perez.Texas got even on Andrus sixth homer, a two-out solo shot in the seventh that just cleared the 8-foot wall in center.ANOTHER EJECTIONRangers 1B Mitch Moreland was ejected after taking a called third strike to end the fourth inning, on a pitch that appeared to be well outside. While he had some words with home plate umpire Kerwin Danley as he walked back to the dugout, there were no demonstrative actions by Moreland before his first ejection in his 764 career games.SHORT HOPSRangers 3B Adrian Beltre had two hits, giving him 2,931 for his career. He passed Rogers Hornsby for 37th on the career list, and is one behind Willie Keeler. ... Mazaras 19 homers are the most by a Rangers rookie since 2003.RANGERS ROTATIONDerek Holland will pitch Wednesday for the Rangers, and Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish will both get extra rest before pitching this weekend in Oakland after an off day Thursday. That also lines them up to start the first two postseason games for Texas.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: Starting pitcher Jhouyls Chacin was struck on the left shin by a hard comebacker in the fourth. The ball ricocheted to first baseman C.J. Cron for the second out in the inning. Chacin remained on the ground for several minutes, then made a few warmup tosses before staying in the game. Chacin allowed one run over five innings while throwing 91 pitches, 29 after getting hit.Rangers: Andrus was struck directly on his right (throwing) elbow by Chacins pickoff attempt when diving back into second while a baserunner in the third inning.UP NEXTAngels: Rookie right-hander Daniel Wright (0-3, 7.04 ERA) is still seeking his first MLB victory. He made his MLB debut with Cincinnati earlier this season.Rangers: Texas has won seven of the last 10 games started by A.J. Griffin (7-4, 4.78 ERA). The right-handers Texas debut was a win at the Angels on April 8. ' ' '