After a strong start against Davenport University, the Michigan Tech football team ultimately fell to the Panthers 38-52 on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex. The Huskies started the game rushing 75 yards through 11 plays and a 1-yard touchdown run by Will Ark, Huskies’ quarterback.
During the kickoff, Owen Watson was able to recover a fumble overturning the possession once again. Will Ark quickly turned this rush into a touchdown after finding Darius Willis on a 26-yard pass thrusting the Huskies into an impressive 14-point lead.
Near the end of the first quarter, kicker Drew Wyble scored another three points giving the Huskies a 17-point lead at the first Quarter.
The Panthers quickly acquired momentum starting in the second quarter with two touchdown passes made by Whittaker. One pass was completed by Preston Smith for 12 yards. Jake Livingstone caught the other pass for 20 yards as the Huskies struggled to “leave our feet and slide off tackles” as head coach Steve Olson said. This left the half time score at 24-14 Huskies.
The second half of the game was much tougher for the Huskies. Davenport’s quarterback, Whittaker, had impressive accuracy in the pocket with great blocking from the offensive line as the Huskies struggled to take down Livingstone and Demetrius Garrett.
A 14 point lead by the Panthers near the end of the fourth quarter put the pressure on the Huskies to develop an eight-play rush that came to an end when Ark’s pass was intercepted with six minutes left in the game. To end the game, Panther’s kicker, Brandon Gielow, scored a 32-yard field goal.
Though it was a tough loss for the Huskies, Will Ark had one of his best games yet this season scoring two touchdowns and passing for 267 yards at 54% completion rate. He also assisted in 82 yards of running through Alec Moriarty and Will Moriarty. Coach Olson was impressed to see “Will come out and make good decisions, manage the clock and do things the right way.”
