It was a win that the Northern Michigan University football team needed badly, and the Wildcats got it in the form of a 13-10 victory over NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Saturday afternoon.

Last season, the Titans stormed into the Superior Dome and drubbed NMU 28-10. This time around, the Wildcats were the better team, and it showed in a small sample size how the Northern program is improving.

NMU (1-1) showed what it can do on the ground when running back Tyshon King is healthy. He carried for 89 of the Wildcats’ 149 rushing yards as he averaged better than five yards per carry and the team more than four yards each touch.

The Wildcats outgained Oshkosh 386-331, with NMU junior quarterback Drake Davis completing a sizzling 19 of 23 passes — an 83 percent completion rate — for 194 yards and no interceptions. Teammate Zach Keen completed his only pass attempt

Northern Michigan University's Justin Peake, right, tackles Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Clayton Schwalbe as the Wildcats' Kobie Jamison converges on the play during their football game played in the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

Northern’s defense stepped up on plenty of occasions, including big plays at opposite ends of the game — stuffing Oshkosh running back Peter MacCudden on 4th-and-1 at NMU’s 5-yard line on the Titans’ first drive, and getting a game-sealing interception by cornerback Isaiah Morrison with 1:35 remaining.

The Wildcats’ complementary football didn’t result in too many points on the board, but it was enough to get their record back to .500. Although played indoors and not in the mud, it was a game played with some early season sloppiness.

But it was also a game that head coach Kyle Nystrom’s bunch had to have.

“I’m just really happy for our players and I’m proud of them,” Nystrom said. “There was a lot of adversity out there, we tried to beat ourselves here and there, but we got through it and managed to find a way to slug it out and get a win against a team that really whooped our tail last year.

“That game (last year) was probably the lowest point of my career, and that’s a long time.”

Northern Michigan University's Kenyon'TA Skinner runs for yardage after making a pass reception as Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Carson Raddatz falls while trying to make the tackle during their football game played in the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Travis Nelson)

This time around, NMU got possession of the ball first and went downfield inside of the Oshkosh 30-yard line with a balanced offensive attack. The drive stalled when the ‘Cats got behind schedule, and only got a one-yard rush from Davis on first down when a passing play broke down. Daniel Riser came on and drilled a 50-yard field goal, making it 3-0.

The Titans were also determined on offense, and quarterback Kobe Berghammer began an excellent day throwing and running the football as he finished with a total of 283 all-purpose yards.

After going for it on fourth down at midfield and getting the first down, Oshkosh’s luck ran out at the NMU 5 when Berghammer was stuffed on fourth down. A drive lasting more than seven minutes resulted in zero points.

Then the Oshkosh defense forced an NMU punt, giving them the ball back at midfield. Berghammer couldn’t take advantage, missing a wide-open tight end Jimmy Duval over the middle, and a third-down deep pass to the end zone to wideout Trae Tetzlaff was knocked away by Wildcat safety DJ Hutcherson.

However, the Titans kept the ball after a 15-yard personal foul penalty was called on NMU during the punt. Penalties, which were a big issue for the ‘Cats nine days earlier in the opener when they had 12 of them for 105 yards, didn’t get cleaned up in this game as they were called for 11 more for 104 yards.

Oshkosh had all the momentum following the penalty, but the NMU defense held UWO to a field-goal try. Kicking would haunt the Titans in this close game as Nolan Mobley’s 27-yard attempt was no good.

That quickly gave the Wildcats the momentum back, and they built on it with a 26-yard run by Tyquan Cox to start the drive. Davis had to come out for a play due to injury, and backup quarterback Zach Keen made the most of his opportunity with a 43-yard TD strike to wide receiver Kenyon’TA Skinner. With Riser’s extra-point kick, NMU led 10-0 with 9:06 remaining.

“What’s everyone expecting? Oh it’s a backup, they’re not throwing,” Nystrom said. “Zach has played a lot of football around here the past three years, he’s started and won some games for us.

“In my mind, Zach’s not a (No.) 2, he’s just another one of our quarterbacks. I don’t worry one bit about him going deep.”

The Titans responded with a long drive after catches by Tetzlaff and Tony Steger to move the chains. Berghammer led the offense inside the 10, but the NMU defense got off the field again when cornerback Bo Bell broke up a 3rd-and-goal pass to Tetzlaff. Mobley would make this short field goal from 21 yards out, cutting the Wildcats lead to 10-3.

Oshkosh’s second drive of the second half was more successful by way of a short field after an off NMU punt, and Berghammer found Steger in the back corner of the end zone for their only TD of the day. Mobley’s extra point knotted the score 10-10 near the midpoint of the third.

The Wildcats got their offense going again on their next possession, holding the ball into the final period. Davis used his legs to pick up some yards, and the ‘Cats got passing gains from Skinner and wide receiver Kam Karp, a Marquette Senior High School graduate.

With penalties pushing the Wildcats back to 3rd-and-19, probably their biggest play of the game came when Davis rolled out and found Cox downfield for a huge 46-yard grab.

Nevertheless, the drive stalled as the fourth quarter began, though Riser nailed a 25-yard field goal to put NMU back in front 30 seconds into the final period.

Credit went to the Wildcats’ defense on the subsequent Oshkosh drive, as it stopped the Titans and Mobley missed another 27-yearfield goal, this one to tie the game.

“We’ve persevered through a lot of hard times, I’m not going to lie to you or the people out there,” Nystrom said. “We had a lot of difficult times getting through and getting ready. Staff issues, a few player issues, but mostly program issues.

“You just find a way to get better that day and get to tomorrow, and we did that. All of the misery that it creates just for this one short time is worth it, we loved what happened today.”

The Wildcats look to build off the victory with a road trip Saturday to face GLIAC foe Davenport in a nonconference clash. Those two teams will meet later in the season in the Superior Dome for their game that counts in the league.

Travis Nelson can be reached by email at tnelson@miningjournal.net.