On Saturday, the Michigan Tech Huskies took on the Northern Michigan Wildcats in a battle for the coveted Miner’s Cup. The Huskies were victorious after overcoming a double-digit deficit for the second week in a row to defeat the Wildcats 28-21.
“I thought our players played extremely hard,” said head coach Steve Olson. “I don’t think we were always great all the time, but we played hard and I’m proud of their effort. I thought it was a great win.”
Northern Michigan put the first touchdown on the board with a 72-yard touchdown pass with 9:44 still left in the first quarter. The second touchdown for the Wildcats came with 7:20 still remaining in the first quarter on a 20-yard run.
A missed 47-yard field goal for the Wildcats fueled the Huskies’ first scoring drive. 70-yards and 10 plays later, a touchdown was scored by senior running back James Henderson. The missed extra point brought the score to 6-14 with just under 14 minutes remaining in the half.
The Wildcats pushed the ball down the field and attempted a 25-yard field goal. Senior safety Spencer Moran broke through to knock down the ball and halted the Wildcats’ scoring attempt.
Two minutes before the half the Huskies regained possession at their own 10-yard line. A pass from junior quarterback Jake Brown to senior wide receiver Kevin Kirkland moved the Huskies 16 yards further.
On the next play Brown dropped back to throw a precision pass to sophomore wide receiver Jacob Wenzlick, who was one on one with the defender. Wenzlick skirted the defender, made the catch, and took off for the end zone, earning his first touchdown of the year. This brought the score to 13-14 at the half, the Huskies only trailing by one.
The third quarter saw one touchdown. Senior running back John Williams carried for his tenth rushing touchdown of the season. With just over three minutes left on the clock the Huskies pulled ahead bringing the score to 20-14.
With 11:34 left in the fourth quarter Northern regained the lead 21-20 with a 30 yard halfback pass. A kickoff return by Henderson set the Huskies up at their 37 yard line. Brown connected with sophomore wide receiver Ben Hartley to claim the touchdown, his first of the season.
The Huskies switched up strategy and went for the two point conversion which was a success. With 8:27 to go the Huskies took the lead 28-21.
The Huskies defense then took over. Two sacks from senior defensive lineman Cayman Berg-Morales kept the Wildcats out of scoring position.
Brown completed 11 of 21 passes with two touchdowns and a season high of 231 yards. Wenzlick led the team in receiving yards with a career best 114 yards as well as a touchdown.
The Huskies boasted 363 yards of total offense, 231 in the air and 132 on the ground. Sophomore linebacker Marvin Wright led the team with 12 total tackles.
“There are many aspects of this football team that played well at different times tonight,” said Olson. “I thought Jake Brown threw the ball well and put it into spots where our receivers could make plays and they did. On defense, we have a lot of guys who can make plays for us and they came up big for us tonight as well.”
The Huskies travel to Northwood University for another Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
