Northern Michigan University defensive back Adam Saleh readies for a snap during a game played at the Superior Dome earlier this season. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University football team plays its final home game of the season on Saturday afternoon at the Superior Dome, facing national power Ferris State at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.

The Bulldogs are ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II, having just beaten fellow GLIAC powerhouse and national No. 1 Grand Valley State 34-7 in Allendale last weekend.

Saturday’s combatants are at opposite ends of the spectrum, the Wildcats 0-8 overall and 0-4 in the league while Ferris is 7-1 and 4-0. The Bulldogs’ only loss was in its opener at current No. 1 Pittsburg State (Kansas), 19-3, another team that is 7-1.

NMU lost last Saturday 39-9 at Michigan Tech in the annual Miner’s Cup game in Houghton, sending Northern to its 19th straight loss under second-year coach Shane Richardson.

Senior Day recognition will take place before the game, which will be broadcast on radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point. Fans 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 look under the football schedule for links to ticket information, live video, live audio, live statistics, a game preview, an online version of the game program and a series history.

“We have to make sure we don’t allow the disappointment from Tech to carry over too long and also at the same time, looking at Ferris and not blowing them (up) way bigger than what they are either,” Richardson said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the game. “They’re a good team, but we have to stay focused on what we can correct and address the mistakes we made last Saturday.”

In the game at Tech, NMU scored its touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard run by Tucker Welch, the longest rush of his career. Fellow Northern running back Nico Lukkarinen, a Negaunee High School product, led all rushers with 75 yards in 15 carries, including a 24-yard scamper, as NMU totaled 123 yards on the ground.

The Wildcats’ other points came off the foot of kicker Michael Karlen, who booted a 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter that tied the score 3-3 at the time.

NMU did break a two-game passing drought as it hadn’t completed a pass since the first weekend of October. Versus the Huskies, Northern quarterbacks Aidan Hoard and Duke Shovald combined to complete 8 of 17 passes for 87 yards with no interceptions. The previous two weeks, Hoard was a combined 0 of 7 with the Wildcats de-emphasizing the passing game in these latter stages of the season.

The Wildcats’ defense also forced four Huskies turnovers, with Jacquille Brown getting his first interception this season to go with a fumble recovery, while teammate Kade Manzo had his second pick of the campaign and Justin Peake recovered a fumble.

For the season, another NMU defender, Adam Saleh, has moved up in the conference leaderboard to fourth in total tackles with 56, while his 40 solo tackles lead the GLIAC. He’s had at least five tackles in every game this fall.

Saleh is the nephew of former Wildcats football player Robert Saleh, who played at NMU from 1997-2000 and was recently let go as head coach of the NFL’s New York Jets.

Northern is tied for the conference lead with eight forced fumbles, while Karlen is still a perfect 7 of 7 on field goals, and even with a miss vs. MTU, is still 13 of 14 on extra-point kicks.

On offense, freshman Jahi Wood is sixth in GLIAC rushing with 428 yards, with Elizin Rouse’s 228 is good for 15th, Lukkarinen’s 223 is 16th and Vince Martin’s 214 is 17th.

Lukkarinen’s three rushing touchdowns still rank him in the top 10 in the league, while the team rushing attack at 152.3 yards per game ranks fourth.

Despite the lack of passing recently, Northern wide receiver Michael Love in fourth in the league with four TD catches and seventh in receiving yards with 351. His two TD receptions vs. Wisconsin-La Crosse marked the first time an NMU receiver had multiple TD catches in a game since September 2022.

For Ferris, the Bulldogs not surprisingly have some pretty impressive statistics. They are third nationally in three categories — total offense at 499.0 yards per game, scoring offense at 44.0 points per game and total defense at 214.6 yards per game.

FSU leads the league with 13 interceptions and is tied with the Wildcats for third with five fumble recoveries, good for No. 1 in turnovers caused with 18, a half-dozen better than any other league team.

Individually, dual-threat QB Trinidad Chambliss is tied for first with 17 passing touchdowns and second in passing yards with 1,763. But he also leads the league by a good margin in rushing TDs by all backs with 10 — second place is six — and is even fourth in rushing among all back with 471 yards.

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