Marquette’s Maxwell Lackey, left, gets excited in the first quarter after recovering a fumble during a Big North game played against Cadillac at William R. Hart Stadium in Marquette on Saturday. (Journal photo by Caden Sierra)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Sentinels bounced back from last week’s loss to Petoskey with a thrilling 41-32 victory over the Cadillac Vikings on Saturday evening at William R. Hart Stadium.

Marquette improved to 6-2 while Cadillac dropped to 4-4. After this Big North Conference game, the Sentinels are also 5-1 in the league as the Vikings slipped to 3-3. Petoskey leads the league with a perfect 6-0 conference and 8-0 overall marks.

“The kids played hard and rebounded from the loss last week,” MSHS head coach Eric Mason said. “Cadillac obviously played well. I was just happy with (our) effort in the fact that every time Cadillac would get something, we responded and came back and scored ourselves.”

In the first quarter, neither team was able to gain much traction. Both offenses stalled early, and the game remained scoreless after the first 12 minutes.

Marquette’s offense got going in the second quarter, though, as quarterback Ford Richardson connected with wide receiver Kyler Sager for a 46-yard touchdown, giving the Sentinels a 7-0 lead with 10:33 remaining.

Cadillac immediately answered. On the ensuing kickoff, Kaiden Westdorp returned it all the way for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

Penalties hurt Marquette early, but the Sentinels pushed through with big plays. Running back Drew Bradley found the end zone on a short run with 4:19 left in the first half to put Marquette up 14-7.

Then a long pass from Cadillac’s Domenic Wing to Payton Sampson set up a Vikings’ score by Westdorp to retie the score 14-14 in the second quarter.

Despite time running low, Richardson and Sager weren’t finished yet. The duo connected on a stunning pass-and-catch play that gave Marquette a 21-14 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the half.

Then a tipped-ball interception by Noah Wautier gave Marquette one more shot, and they took advantage. Richardson found Sager in the back of the end zone for their third touchdown of the half, extending the lead to 28-14 just 51 seconds before halftime.

Cadillac closed the gap with a 30-yard field goal from Sampson as time expired, sending the teams into halftime with Marquette ahead 28-17.

The second half saw a shift in momentum as rain started to fall. Cadillac’s Eli Main would then take over at quarterback and lead a strong opening drive as Porter Westdorp ran it in for a touchdown to pull Cadillac within 28-24.

Marquette answered once again, though, with Richardson scrambling for a 15-yard TD run with 1:55 left in the third quarter, getting the Sentinels back to a two-score lead at 35-24.

The fourth quarter started with Cadillac on the move again, and Main rushed in for his second touchdown. After a successful 2-point conversion by Cadillac, the Vikings cut the lead to 35-32 with 10:35 to play.

The Sentinels kept their composure, driving down the field with help from Jacob MacPhee and Brady Audette. Richardson capped off the drive by leaping into the end zone for a touchdown, and although the extra point was blocked, it was enough to re-establish Marquette’s two-score lead at 41-32 with 5:22 left.

With Cadillac looking for a last-minute rally, Marquette’s defense came up big once again. Ben Rayhorn intercepted a pass with 3:35 remaining, and Bodi Bennett sealed the game with another interception in the final minute, allowing the Sentinels to kneel down, run out the clock and secure the win.

“We obviously, in order to get to the postseason, we know we had to win out,” Mason said. “And that’s the situation we’re in. There’s nothing we can do about that, but just control the next game.

“At this point with Kingsford, that’s going to be a game that our kids are ready for.”

The Sentinels travel south for their 7 p.m. EDT Friday game at undefeated Kingsford, which slipped past fellow undefeated Menominee 13-12 on Friday night.

Caden Sierra can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 551. His email address is csierra@nmu.edu.