Football Claims 27-24 Road Win At Northern Michigan

OVERVIEW

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 27, Northern Michigan Wildcats 24
RECORDS: Northwood (1-5, 1-3 GLIAC), Northern Michigan (1-5, 0-4 GLIAC)
LOCATION: Superior Dome – Marquette, Mich.
RECAP: Northwood picks up their first win of the season in a 27-24 road victory at Northern Michigan Saturday afternoon (October 6)

INSIDE THE GAME

• Late in the opening quarter with the game scoreless, Northern Michigan put a 65-yard drive together, capped by a Jake Mayon 27-yard run that featured a number of broken tackles to put the Wildcats up 7-0.
• After a series of punts, it was the Northwood special teams that got the Timberwolves going. NU blocked a Wildcat punt in NMU territory, setting Northwood up at the Northern Michigan 19. Three plays later, Abdul Levy found the end zone on a three-yard run to tie the game 7-7 with 12:09 remaining in the second quarter.
• Northwood's defense made a but play later in the quarter, as redshirt freshman Keenan Williamson picked off a pass in the end zone on third and goal to give the ball back to the Timberwolves. Northwood then took the ball and went 59 yards in seven plays. That drive put three on the board thanks to a David Riser 38-yard field goal to put the Timberwolves on top 10-7. That is where the score remained the remainder of the half.
• The Timberwolves extended their lead to open the second half. NU possessed the ball for nearly seven minutes, going 81 yards in 13 plays. Riser connected from 25 yards to make the score 13-7 with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter.
• NMU got three points of their own on their next possession to cut the Northwood lead to 13-10.
• Late in the third, NU got a big play from their passing game to push the lead to 20-10. Christian Martinez found Gary Landless for a 70-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the drive to get the Timberwolves lead back to 10 points.
• After NMU got a touchdown to cut the advantage down to 20-17, Northwood came right back thanks largely to another big player in the passing game. Martinez connected with Alex Spicuzzi for a 75-yard pass to give NU the ball on the NMU four. Corey Burdgick capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to get the lead back to 10 at 27-17.
• Northern Michigan responded once again near the midpoint of the fourth quarter, scoring a touchdown to cut the Northwood lead down to 27-24.
• NMU got the ball back with 5:40 remaining and got into Northwood territory, but it was Williamson who stepped up again for the Timberwolves. His second interception of the day came in the end zone and gave the ball back to the Timberwolves with 5:02 remaining.
• The Wildcats forced a punt and got the ball at the Northwood 38 with 3:43 to go when the Timberwolves defense stepped up. Andrew Davis got a big sack for the Timberwolves to push the ball back to the NMU 48. That led to a punt, giving NU the ball back with 2:19 to go.
• NU's offense got the job done on the final drive of the game, holding the ball for the remainder of the game to close out their first win of the season.

GAME STATS

• FIRST DOWNS: Northern Michigan 22, Northwood 15
• RUSHES-YARDS: Northern Michigan 45-286, Northwood 48-136
• PASSING YARDS: Northern Michigan 187 (10-24-105, 1 TD, 2 INT), Northwood 178 (4-9, 178, TD, 0 INT)
• TOTAL OFFENSE, PLAYS-YARDS: Northern Michigan 69-473, Northwood 57-314
• TIME OF POSSESSION: Northern Michigan 28:43, Northwood 31:17

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

• Martinez: 178 yards passing (four completions), touchdown
• Levy: 48 yards rushing, TD
• Burdgick: 30 yards rushing, TD
• Landless: 70 yards receiving, TD
• Spicuzzi: 75 yards receiving, 35.5 yards per kick return
• Mykhael Sanford-McCarver: 11 tackles
• Williamson: Two Interceptions

GAME NOTES

• This was the first time this season Northwood did not allow their opponent to score a touchdown on the opening drive of the game.
• Prior to today's game, Northwood's first four opponents were a combined 19-3, with three teams standing at 5-0 (Tiffin, Ferris State, Grand Valley State) and one at 4-1 (Missouri S&T).

UP NEXT

• The Timberwolves will host homecoming next Saturday (October 13) against Davenport. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.