The Michigan Tech football Huskies traveled to Hillsdale College Saturday to take on the Hillsdale Chargers. Despite entering the fourth quarter with a generous lead, the Huskies fell just short when the Chargers rallied for the win.
“Up until the fourth quarter, I thought we were playing really well on special teams, moving the ball on offense, and getting ourselves off the field on defense,” said head coach Steve Olson. “I felt like we were controlling the game through the first three quarters. We have to regroup this week, get healthy, and be ready to go at home next week against Grand Valley State.”
Junior quarterback Jake Brown boasted two pass completions to sophomore Jacob Wenzlick and senior James Henderson to set up the touchdown. Senior tailback John Williams pushed into the end zone putting Tech in the lead, 7-0.
Minutes later, Hillsdale fired back with a two-yard touchdown run to tie the game with less than two minutes to go in the first quarter.
Receiver Kevin Kirkland caught a 44-yard pass from Brown to move the Huskies back into scoring territory. The Huskies pulled ahead with a two-yard touchdown run to lead the Chargers 14-7 with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
The Huskies regained possession after a sloppy snap on a fourth down punt attempt by Hillsdale. The Huskies were unable to capitalize, however, due to a fumble. A 38-yard field goal by Hillsdale closed the gap 14-10 going into halftime.
Williams’ second touchdown of the game came in the third quarter with a 7-yard run preceded by a completed 26-yard pass from Brown to sophomore fullback Jordan Ferguson. This brought Tech to a 21-10 lead.
A 34-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Evan Gornick proved successful bringing the Huskies to a 24-10 lead. A 27-yard field goal minutes later brought the Huskies to a 27-10 advantage, and made Gornick three for three on the season.
The Huskies kept the lead until just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Chargers scored the first of three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Chargers took the game when the Huskies were unable to score on their final possession.
“Give credit to Hillsdale for continuing to battle today, but we needed to do a better job of finishing the game… We had chances to do that in all three phases of the game with offense, defense and special teams. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to close it out and we still have some work to do,” Olson said.
Brown boasted 204 yards for the afternoon, completing 16 of 24 passes. Kirkland gained a career-high four receptions for a total of 102 yards from Brown. As a whole, the Huskies secured 330 yards of total offense.
Sophomore linebacker Marvin Wright led the team defensively with nine tackles and a sack. Five solo tackles and three pass breakups went to junior defensive back Graham Hubbell.
The Huskies return to Sherman Field next Saturday for a contest against Grand Valley State University, the first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic conference game. ESPN3 will stream the game live and the contest will also be available on the ESPN app.
Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. and Keweenaw Chevrolet is sponsoring a halftime contest where one lucky Husky will have a chance to win a $25,000 vehicle.
