Football Falls 37-34 At Findlay In Overtime

FINDLAY, OHIO – The Northwood University football team dropped a tough 34-31 overtime contest at Findlay Saturday afternoon (October 17).

Northwood is now 3-4 overall, 3-3 in the GLIAC. Findlay stands at 4-3 overall, 3-3 in the GLIAC.

The opening quarter of the game feature a lot of offense – including three touchdowns in the opening 7:18 of the game. NU marched down and scored on the opening possession of the game as Andre Cater (Grand Ledge, Mich.) capped a 76-yard drive with an eight-yard run. Findlay responded less than three minutes later, scoring a touchdown to level the score at 7-7. Then 2:05 later, Jared Briguglio (Saginaw, Mich./Swan Valley) found the end zone from two yards out to make the score 14-7.

Findlay responded well, scoring the nest 10 points to go up 17-14. Northwood got another touchdown from Briguglio late in the half – his two-yard run with 2:36 remaining in the half. The Oilers rounded out the scoring with a touchdown with just over a minute left in the half to make the score 24-21 at halftime.

The third quarter saw the offenses slow down a bit – a David Knudsen (St. Charles, Ill./West) 19-yard field goal was the lone points of the quarter, sending the game to the fourth tied 24-24.

Findlay re-took the lead with 8:39 to go on a touchdown, but the Timberwolves came right back. Three players later, Bryce Lindberg (Howell, Mich.) scored on a 34-yard touchdown run, leveling the score once again at 31-31.

The Timberwolves had a great chance to win in the final seconds but missed a field goal. That send the game to overtime, where Findlay scored a touchdown on their first play of the extra frame to earn the win.

For the game, Northwood finished with a season-high 544 yards of offense. The Timberwolves had 270 yards passing and 274 yards rushing. Findlay ended up with 500 yards of offense – 301 yards passing and 199 yards rushing.

Mark Morris (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) threw for 270 yards on 20-29 attempts. Briguglio ended up with 97 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns, while Carter and Lindberg finished with 84 and 76 yards, respectively. Mike Keith (Warren, Mich./De La Salle) led the NU defense with 11 tackles.

Northwood will host rival Saginaw Valley State for the annual Axe Bowl game Saturday (October 24). Game time is set for 1 pm.