Football Wins Third Straight - Defeating Walsh 31-24 To Conclude Season

OVERVIEW – WALSH
SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 31, Walsh Cavaliers 24
RECORDS: Northwood (5-6, 5-4 G-MAC), Walsh (3-8, 1-8 G-MAC)
LOCATION: North Canton, Ohio
RECAP: Northwood football finishes the season with their third straight win, earning a 31-24 victory over Walsh Saturday (November 11)

INSIDE THE GAME

• After getting a stop on defense to start the game, the Timberwolves went right down the field to take the lead. After a 32-yard Andy Durand punt return, the Timberwolves went 21 yards in four plays. Cashual Goldsmith capped the drive with a two-yard run to take a 7-0 lead.
• The Walsh defense made a big play to tie game. The Cavaliers returned a fumble 33-yards for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 10:20 remaining in the first.
• Northwood's special teams came up with another big play right away. Following the Walsh touchdown, Deonte Higgins took the following kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-7.
• The Timberwolves expanded their lead early in the second quarter on a Max Gonos 30-yard field goal to push the lead to 17-7 with 13:36 remaining in the second.
• Walsh got a late touchdown in the second quarter to make the score 17-14 heading to halftime.
• Higgins and the Northwood special teams came up big to start the second half. Higgins took another kickoff back for a touchdown, once again from 95 yards to get the lead back up to 10 at 24-14.
• The Cavs responded with a 74-yard drive in just three plays. Their touchdown made the score 24-21 with 13:59 remaining in the third.
• Northwood got pinned at their own 10 on their next drive but responded. NU went 90-yards in seven plays. Backup quarterback Ethan Hamby found Andy Durand for a 66-yard touchdown to get the lead to 31-21.
• Walsh connected on a field goal early in the fourth, making the score 31-24.
• In the final moments of the game, the Cavaliers appeared ready to tie the game, getting the ball to the Northwood seven. But NU linebacker Mbaimba Tunkara stepped up, intercepting a pass with 48 seconds remaining to clinch the victory.

GAME STATS

• FIRST DOWNS: Northwood 15, Walsh 20
• RUSHES-YARDS: Northwood 41-108, Walsh 45-133
• PASSING YARDS: Northwood 135 (11-20, TD, 0 INTs, Walsh 205 (14-28, TD, INT)
• TOTAL OFFENSE, PLAYS-YARDS: Northwood 61-243, Walsh 73-338
• TIME OF POSSESSION: Northwood 28:07, Walsh 31:53

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

• Higgins: 37 yards rushing, TD, two 95-yard kickoff returns for TDs
• Durand: 83 yards receiving, TD
• Brock Cook: Six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss
• Duwayne Legette: Seven tackles, tackle for loss

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• Northwood's three-game winning streak to finish the season is the first for the football program since 2017
• The Timberwolves 5-4 record in conference is their first winning record in league play since 2017. It also is the second time since 2010 NU ended the year with a winning conference record.