Football Drops Season Opener 51-36 To Slippery Rock

The Northwood University football team opened its 2013 season with a 51-36 loss to Slippery Rock Saturday afternoon (September 7).

The non-conference contest was also the opener for Slippery Rock.

Both offenses were strong throughout the game and got thing going right away.  Slippery Rock had a 73-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage to take a 7-0 lead 15 seconds into the game.  But Northwood responded right away, going 79 yards in 10 plays.  The drive was capped on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Robinson (Rochester Hills, Mich./Avondale) to Cameron Jackson (Dahlonega, Ga. /Lumpkin) on 4^th and 19 to tie the contest at seven. The Rock then went up 14-7 later in the quarter, only to have Jackson pull Northwood even at with SRU at 14 on a four yard touchdown run at the end of the first quarter.

The Rock went back on top with a touchdown early in the second quarter to go up 20-14.  The Timberwolves cut into the lead with an Alex Faust (Midland, Mich./Dow) 36-yard field goal to cap a 21 yard drive and make score 20-17.  Slippery Rock scored the final 10 points of the half to take a 30-17 lead to the locker room.  The Rock finished the half with 444 yards on 57 plays, while Northwood had 239 yards on 48 plays at the break.

Northwood came out strong in the second half, scoring the first two touchdowns of the half.  Glenn Winston (Detroit, Mich./Denby Tech) to Northwood within seven on a one-yard run to cap a 44 yard drive.  The Timberwolves then tied the game just over four minutes later on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Robinson to Carrington Thompson (Houston, Texas/Lamar) to make the score 30-30.

Slippery Rock took the game over at that point, however, scoring 21 straight points. The key point of the game was a pair of TD's for the Rock in 15 seconds.  After SRU scored on a two-yard run, the Rock then picked off a pass and returned it for a TD on the next play from scrimmage to make the score 51-30.  Northwood rounded out the scoring with a Robinson to Theron Wilson (Ann Arbor, Mich./Skyline) 17-yard touchdown pass.

For the game, Slippery Rock racked up 110 plays on offense, totaling 675 yards.  Northwood finished with 452 yards of offense on 80 plays.  NU had 362 yard passing and 90 yards rushing.

Robinson led the Northwood offense, finishing the day 23 of 44 through the air for 362 yards and three touchdowns.  He is the first Northwood quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards since Sleepie Tollie October 24, 1998.  Robinson threw passes to nine different receivers, led by Thompson with 104 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. 

Mike Keith (Roseville, Mich. /Warren De La Salle) led the Northwood defense on the day, finishing with 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Northwood will open GLIAC play next Saturday (September 14) at Walsh.  Kickoff is scheduled for Noon.