Wildcats’ freshman QB shows promise in loss at MTU
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HOUGHTON -- The steps might seem small, but the Northern Michigan University football team is working to improve during the inaugural season of head coach Matt Janus.
Freshman quarterback Matt Stevens might be one of those players taking a big step as he looked impressive in his first college start at Michigan Tech on Saturday.
While the Huskies won 56-33 in the annual Miner's Cup game, Stevens put up big numbers, completing 25 of 38 passes for 319 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.
Looking for its first win this season, the Wildcats had a tough task facing the No. 14 team in NCAA Division II at its home of Sherman Field.
Northern fell to 0-7 overall and 0-3 in the conference, while Tech improved to 6-1 and 3-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
NMU's next challenge is at home game against past league doormat Roosevelt, which while only 1-2 in the GLIAC has posted a 5-2 record overall. The Lakers' league losses are to the same MTU team plus No. 9 Davenport.
The Huskies have a big challenge this week, traveling to national No. 1 Ferris State for a chance to take over the lead in the conference.
On Saturday, Tech won its 16th straight Miner's Cup -- Northern hasn't won it since 2009 -- with a big offensive output, gaining 492 yards in total, including 293 yards passing and 199 on the ground.
But the Wildcats actually won the yardage battle, churning out 553 yards -- with 319 accounted by Stevens through the air, while its 234 yards on the ground included 110 by All-American sophomore Noah Dobert, but also 68 yards from Stevens.
NMU's potent output hadn't been seen in several years. Stevens' passing yards were the most by a Northern QB since Mariano Valenti threw for 368 yards vs. Quincy on Sept. 23, 2023. And its total offense was the most since gaining 566 yards in a 42-14 win over Post on Sept. 24, 2022.
Dobert not broke the 100-yard rushing mark again, he scored two TDs. Fellow running back Noah Hofmann contributed 55 yards and his own TD, while Stevens scored a TD with his legs, too.
A pair of Northern receivers each caught seven passes. Wilson Ptacek totaled 82 yards in his catches while also making a TD reception, while Menominee product Trevor Theuerkauf, who threw one incomplete pass, rolled up 76 yards receiving.
Additionally, NMU's Isaac Olson had four catches for 39 yards, CJ Cunningham two grabs for 55 yards and Jacob Halicek nabbed two for 41 yards.
The teams played the turnover battle to a draw, Northern losing a fumble while Tech threw an interception.
The Wildcats' pickoff was made by Murphy Monreal, while Jax Hertel led NMU tacklers with 10 as he also got credit for a half-tackle for a loss.
Defensive teammates Xavier Wade and Simonique Carter Jr. each had a pass breakup, while Nathan Pralle and Jace Miller each had a half sack.
Despite Northern's nice statistics, it was the Huskies who used a pair of big scoring plays to build a 35-12 halftime lead.
The game's first three possessions led to TDs, but unfortunately for the Wildcats, MTU had the ball first.
Tech marched 61 yards in eight plays after the opening kickoff for a Jake Rueff 6-yard TD with 10:54 left in the opening quarter.
Northern immediately answered, needing just six plays covering 65 yards after Stevens threw a 45-yard bomb to Cunningham on the first play to get the ball into the Tech red zone.
Five plays later, Dobert rushed right for a 4-yard TD, but with Sawyer McLinden's extra-point kick sailing wide, the Huskies still led 7-6.
Then on the second play of MTU's ensuing possession, QB Alex Bueno bombed it deep down the middle to Abram Larner for a 64-yard score.
NMU's next possession looked good, the Wildcats moving it nearly 50 yards, but on the 11th play couldn't gain the needed yardage on 4th-and-4 and turned the ball over inside the Tech 30.
The Huskies took over, and after three short runs, Elliott Larner broke loose up the left sideline for a 58-yard TD that made it 21-6 as the first quarter ended.
For there, Tech scored again in the final minute of the second quarter, NMU answering quickly on a drive that Dobert ended with a 1-yard TD run to get it within 28-12.
But for the second time in the first half, the Huskies bracketed a Northern score with TDs both before and after it, scoring on the final play before intermission on a 53-yard bomb from Bueno to Abram Larner that didn't become a touchdown until Larner lateraled to Bryce Kurncz as the latter ran it in.
The Wildcats made three first downs on its first two possessions of the second half, but it wasn't enough to garner points.
Instead, MTU used a Bueno-to-Abram Larner 72-yard pass to set up an Elliott Larner 4-yard scoring run that made it 42-12 with a little more than five minutes left in the third.
Northern started generating some real scoring drives in the fourth, the first less than a minute into the quarter when Stevens completed a 6-yard TD pass to Ptacek that, with Ptacek's catch on the 2-point conversion, made it 42-20.
Though the Huskies were stopped on their ensuing possession with Monreal's interception, NMU then fumbled it away on the next play, Dobert coughing it up at Northern 9.
Tech needed just two plays to punch it in on an Abram Larner pass catch of 7 yards.
While the Wildcats were able to score on back-to-back possessions after that, it was too little, too late to really get back in the game.
The first NMU score was a Stevens 1-yard rush up the middle with 5:57 left, with the next Hofmann's 3-yard run through the middle of the line with 1:38 to go to get it to 49-33.
The Huskies had to get the last word in, however, scoring on a Robert Lalain 15-yard TD pass to Jaxon Lippert with 26 seconds remaining for the final score.
Bueno finished just 10 of 13 passing, but rolled up a big 268 yards with three TDs and Monreal's pickoff. Lalain was 3 of 5 in mop-up duty for 25 yards and another score.
Elliott Larner led Tech rushers with 93 yards in 10 carries, while Abram Larner had a huge day catching the ball, making eight receptions for 236 yards.
MTU 56, NMU 33
Saturday at Houghton
Score by quarters:
Northern Michigan 6 6 0 21 -- 33
Michigan Tech 21 14 7 14 -- 56
First quarter
MTU -- Jake Rueff 6 run (Avery Kucharski kick) 10:54
NMU -- Noah Dobert 4 run (kick failed) 8:10
MTU -- Abram Larner 64 pass from Alex Bueno (Kucharski kick) 7:16
MTU -- Elliott Larner 58 run (Kucharski kick) 0:00
Second quarter
MTU -- E. Larner 3 run (Kucharski kick) 4:28
NMU -- Dobert 1 run (run failed) 0:14
MTU -- Bryce Kurncz 16 run after A. Larner pass from Bueno (Kucharski kick) 0:00
Third quarter
MTU -- E. Larner 4 run (Kucharski kick) 5:20
Fourth quarter
NMU -- Wilson Ptacek 6 pass from Matt Stevens (Ptacek pass from Stevens) 14:08
MTU -- A. Larner 7 pass from Bueno (Kucharski kick) 11:59
NMU -- Stevens 1 run (Sawyer McLinden kick) 5:57
NMU -- Noah Hofmann 3 run (pass failed) 1:38
MTU -- Jaxon Lippert 15 pass from Robert Lalain (Kucharski kick) 0:26
Game statistics
First downs -- NMU 29, Michigan Tech 18
Total plays-net yards -- NMU 86-553, Michigan Tech 50-492
Rushes-yards -- NMU 47-234 (Dobert 27-110, Stevens 13-68, Hofmann 5-55), Michigan Tech 32-199 (E. Larner 10-93, Rueff 7-37, Bueno 6-32)
Comp-Att-Int-Yards -- NMU 25-39-0-319 (Stevens 25-38-0-319, Trevor Theuerkauf 0-1-0-0), Michigan Tech 13-18-1-293 (Bueno 10-13-1-268, Lalain 3-5-0-25)
Top receivers -- NMU, Ptacek 7-82, Theuerkauf 7-76, CJ Cunningham 2-55, Jacob Halicek 2-41, Isaac Olson 4-39; Michigan Tech, A. Larner 8-236, Kurncz 1-27, Lippert 2-23
Punts-average -- NMU 3-34.3, Michigan Tech 3-35.0
Fumbles-lost -- NMU 3-1, Michigan Tech 2-0
Penalties-yards -- NMU 6-54, Michigan Tech 2-25
Time of possession -- NMU 35:31, Michigan Tech 24:29
Story contents based on a
Northern Michigan University quarterback Matt Stevens drops back and looks for a receiver to throw to during the Wildcats' football game at Michigan Tech in Houghton on Saturday. (Photo courtesy NMU)