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MARQUETTE — A mighty challenge in is front of the Northern Michigan University football team, just like it has been for most weeks so far this season.

The Wildcats under first-year head coach Shane Richardson have yet to win a game. A major part of that can be attributed to NMU playing four nationally ranked teams in its six games.

But tonight’s task is a different kind of mountain to climb in the Superior Dome. Northern hosts Michigan Tech, a team that has beaten the Wildcats 12 straight times to claim the Miners Cup trophy as the symbol of the superiority in their Upper Peninsula rivalry.

Dustin Brancheau 2009 Northern Michigan University football photo

NMU last beat the Huskies on Sept. 19, 2009, a 48-16 decision in Houghton as the Wildcats’ first touchdown pass was caught by Dustin Brancheau, a Republic-Michigamme High School graduate and now owner and special strengths coach at AdvantEdge Sports in Marquette.

The game will be televised on Fox-U.P. and broadcast on radio station WUPZ 94.9 FM The Bay, which will carry the game as the Wildcats’ hockey game that overlaps it will be carried on a sister radio station.

Northern fans are being encouraged to fill the stands with NMU green for Saturday’ Green Out in support of the Wildcats.

They can also follow @NMU_Football and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game, or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and looking under the football schedule for links to purchase tickets; see live statistics, Fox-U.P. video and FloFootball Video; and listen to the game or see game notes.

Richardson looks at this game as a chance to put a stamp on this season.

On the final drive, Northern Michigan University’s Sam Peiffer looks for yardage after making a pass reception from Wildcats quarterback Aiden Hoard during a college football game played against Wisconsin-La Crosse at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Sept. 16. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

“It’s an exciting week and an exciting opportunity,” he said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the game. “We have to make sure (we) are still in the process of getting better and improving. A lot of these games (vs. Michigan Tech) have been extremely close, and I have no doubt that our guys will take it very seriously and we’ll know the importance of it.”

A look at the Northern record book points out the closeness of the rivalry. Of those 12 straight losses, eight were by one score, including seven in a row from 2014 to 2021 as there was no game in the coronavirus pandemic year of 2020. That includes a 51-45 double-overtime loss in 2016, 24-23 setback in 2015 and 35-33 loss in 2018.

Last year’s game score was 21-7 in Houghton as the Huskies have a narrow 46-43-5 lead in the all-time series dating back to 1920. In nearly every season of the first 25 years of the rivalry, the teams met twice a year, then they went for two decades not playing each other, playing in 1961 and not again until 1981. There was another break of almost a decade between 1987 and 1996 as they’ve played every year since except for the pandemic.

Despite the rivalry being more than a century old, the Miner’s Cup wasn’t introduced until 2002 and Tech holds a 17-3 overall advantage.

Last weekend, the Wildcats lost at NCAA Division II No. 16 Davenport 28-12 as the NMU defense forced three turnovers to keep it a 14-6 game until early in the fourth quarter.

NMU junior defensive back Kyle Manzo was the individual star on defense, making an interception and forcing a fumble. Northern’s lone TD involved a pair of freshmen hooking up, receiver Michael Love catching a 47-yard scoring pass from quarterback Aidan Hoard after graduate student and starting QB Mariano Valenti was injured.

Northern fifth-year running back Tyquan Cox leads the league in all-purpose yards with 718 and is seventh in rushing yards per game at 51.1.

Sophomore teammate Sam Peiffer is tied for sixth in GLIAC receiving TDs with two, while the Wildcats are the least penalized in the conference with 4.5 penalties and 33.2 yards per game, each also putting NMU in the top 10 nationally.

On defense, sophomore linebacker Mitch Larkin tops the GLIAC with 57 tackles, which includes 31 solo, while freshman linebacker Jax Hertel is tied for third in conference interceptions with two and sophomore lineman Jake Price is fifth in QB sacks with three.

Tech is 3-2 overall but has the same 0-2 record as NMU in the GLIAC, having lost the past two weekends to conference foes Davenport 28-0 at home and 23-21 at Wayne State.

In the Wayne State game last Saturday, the Huskies had a healthy 406-269 advantage in total yards, including QB Alex Fries throwing for 215 yards and two TDs and back William Marano rushing for 116 yards and a score. Though MTU scored one more TD and neither team had a turnover, WSU kicked three field goals that made the difference, two in the fourth quarter.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.