Football Falls To Missouri S&T 27-16

OVERVIEW

SCORE: Missouri S&T Miners 27, Northwood Timberwolves 16,
RECORDS: Northwood (0-2, 0-0 GLIAC), Missouri S&T (2-0, 0-0 GLVC)
LOCATION: Hantz Stadium - Midland, Mich.
RECAP: Northwood can't overcome a slow start for the offense in a 27-16 loss to Missouri S&T Saturday afternoon (September 8).

INSIDE THE GAME

• Missouri S&T got on the board first blood on their first drive. Driving 75 yards down the field in 10 plays, a five-yard touchdown pass capped the run and gave the Miners a 7-0 lead 5:24 into the contest.
• After getting stuffed on their first drive, Northwood earned their first points off of an S&T error. A muffed punt gave the team excellent field position at the seven-yard line, and David Riser made good on a 36-yard field goal to cut the deficit down to four with 6:03 remaining in the first.
• On the ensuing drive, the Miners answered quickly with six. A 49-yard rush to the NU 6-yard-line set up a TD pass, extending the lead to 14-3 with just over 3 minutes remaining in the stanza.
• Northwood was able to start off the second quarter on a strong note. Christian Pinkney forced and recovered a fumble at the S&T 6-yard line with just under 30 seconds remaining in the 1^st. Grant Dunatchik began the second with a QB sneak touchdown at the goal line to make it a 14-9 game 36 seconds into the second.
• Later in the quarter, the Miners went back to work and rebuilt their lead. A fumble recovery at the NU 25-yard-line set up a 22-yard touchdown pass that extended the Missouri S&T lead back to 21-9 over the Timberwolves going into the half.
• Neither team scored again until the end of the third quarter. Taking advantage of generous field position at the NU 33, a ten-yard pass set up a 36-yard field goal later in the drive that pushed the lead to 24-9 with just over four minutes left.
• Northwood finally broke through on offense in the fourth. Forced to a fourth down and 15 situation from the S&T 29-yard-line, Dunatchik ran to his left and connected on a 29-yard pass to Gary Landless in the end zone for six to cut the lead down to 24-16 with just over eight minutes remaining in the game.
• Missouri S&T iced the game on their final drive. Taking 7:02 off the clock in a 15-play, 73-yard drive, a 19-yard field goal pushed the lead to two scores with just over a minute left.

GAME STATS

• FIRST DOWNS: Missouri S&T 27, Northwood 16
• RUSHES-YARDS: Missouri S&T 33-102, Northwood 41-53
• PASSING YARDS: Missouri S&T 196, Northwood 77
• TOTAL OFFENSE, PLAYS-YARDS: Missouri S&T 67-298, Northwood 58-130
• TIME OF POSSESSION: Missouri S&T 33:36, Northwood 26:24

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

• Dunatchik: 45 yards rushing, 77 yards passing, rushing TD, passing TD
• Landless: 74 yards receiving, TD
• Dimitri Abro: 9 tackles, INT, .5 sack

GAME NOTES

• Northwood's offense struggled until late in the third quarter – Dunatchik had 29 yards rushing over the final three plays of the third quarter. Prior to that, the Timberwolves had -10 total yards on offense. NU then had 140 yards for the rest of the game.
• Away teams have now won both meetings in the series history. Northwood won 47-34 in Rolla last season on September 9, 2017.
• Landless had his first touchdown reception of the season and fifth of his career. He had four TDs last season and currently leads NU in receiving yards through two contests this season (188).

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host to Ferris State on Saturday (September 15th) for a GLIAC matchup against the Bulldogs on Family Day. Game time is set for 1 p.m.