Football Earns 24-13 Win At Walsh

CANTON, OHIO – The Northwood University football team earned a 24-13 road at Walsh Saturday afternoon (October 4).

Northwood is now 3-2 overall, 2-2 in the GLIAC. Walsh stands at 1-4 overall and in the GLIAC.

Walsh took advantage of a lost Northwood fumble to kick an early field goal to go up 3-0. But Northwood responded on the following drive. The Timberwolves went 43 yards in 10 plays, which was set up by a Bryan Thomas (Pompano Beach, Fla.) 46-yard kickoff return. NU then capped the drive on fourth and goal from the Walsh one with a Mark Morris (Macomb, Mich./Macomb Dakota) touchdown run that gave the Timberwolves a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter.

The Timberwolves extended their lead late in the second quarter thanks to their passing attack. True freshman Damian Nicholson (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) caught a Morris pass and went 40 yards for a touchdown, putting Northwood up 14-3. It was Nicholson's fourth touchdown reception in the last two weeks.

The Cavaliers ended the half with a nice drive, kicking a field goal to send the game to the break with the score 14-6. Walsh held the advantage in most statistical categories at the break, holding edges in passing yards (73-40), rushing yards (106-90) and time of possession (15:13-14:47).

A big turn of events occurred late in the third quarter. Walsh put together a drive that reached the Northwood 25 yard line, but a fumble recovery by Greg Williams (East Pointe, Mich./Chandler Park) gave the ball back to Northwood at the Cavalier 31 yards line. The Timberwolves took full advantage of the opportunity, going 69 yards in seven plays. The drive was capped by a Jared Briguglio (Saginaw, Mich./Swan Valley) 25-yard touchdown run to make the score 21-6 with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter.

Walsh bounced back from that turnover with an impressive drive of their own. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers capped a 58 yard drive with a touchdown pass, cutting the Northwood lead to 21-13.

With the game winding down, Northwood put together a time consuming drive that put the victory away. NU drove 69 yards in 12 plays, taking 6:26 off the clock Keegan Haggarty (Macomb, Mich./Albion College) connected from 20 yards away to put Northwood up 11 with just 1:06 remaining. Those proved to be the final points of the game.

Walsh finished the game with a 337-310 advantage in total offense. Northwood finished the game with 207 yards rushing and 103 yards passing, while Walsh had 212 yards passing and 125 yards rushing.

Briguglio led the way for Northwood finishing with a career-high 195 yards on 33 carries. Nicholson had 95 yards receiving and a touchdown, while Mike Keith (Roseville, Mich./Warren De La Salle) led the defensive attack with 14 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

Northwood returns home Saturday (October 11), taking on Michigan Tech. Game time is set for 1 p.m.