Northern Michigan University quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf, center, is pursued by multiple Michigan Tech defenders during their GLIAC game played at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Oct. 25. Theuerkauf is a Menominee High School graduate. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

BIG RAPIDS — The result was anything but unexpected, but still the football team at Northern Michigan University accomplished some things during its 70-35 loss to the nation’s No. 1 team in NCAA Division II on Saturday afternoon.

Ferris State prevailed to improve to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in its quest to repeat as national champion this season.

The Wildcats slipped to 1-8 overall and 1-5 in the GLIAC as they haven’t been able to build on their long losing-streak-ending victory at Roosevelt two weeks earlier.

But one thing NMU did accomplish was scoring more points against the Bulldogs than any other team has this season, exceeding the 31 scored by another national powerhouse, Grand Valley State, a week earlier and the 34 by Tiffin back on Sept. 13.

The 70 scored by FSU, however, was its second most this season after a 76-0 win over Rio Grande on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs have scored at least 38 points every time out, averaging a gaudy 53.9 points per game.

The Wildcats also got out to a fast start Saturday, something crucial when they want to have a chance to win. Northern held a 116-88 advantage in yards in the first quarter while also scoring first and keeping FSU off the scoreboard until the final four minutes of the opening quarter.

NMU also retook the lead late in the first period, though they gave that up barely more than a minute later.

While Northern was outgained 597-355, the Wildcats’ yardage was nearly 100 yards more than Ferris normally gives up, 257.5 yards per game.

And while NMU still had more rushing than passing, redshirt freshman quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf had his best game throwing, completing 8 of 16 passing for 131 yards and an interception but also two touchdowns.

Northern’s Sebastian Boyea caught three passes for 56 yards and a TD, while teammate Jake Heemstra had two snags for 42 yards and also a TD. NMU’s Tucker Welch made one catch for 18 yards.

The Wildcats’ running game had a solid 224 yards, led by Noah Dobert running for 117 yards in 29 carries. Theuerkauf had 42 yards in 10 tries, while Welch had 40 yards in 11 attempts and Austin Ridl 14 yards in two rushes.

Theuerkauf is a Menominee High School graduate, while Welch and Ridl are Marquette Senior High School products.

Dobert’s total pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark this season at 1,007, the first Wildcat to do that since Jake Mayon had 1,505 yards in 2018.

The Bulldogs’ potent offense was again quite balanced as they are the No. 1 rushing team and No. 3 in passing in the GLIAC.

On this day, Ferris’ Wyatt Bower was 10 of 14 for 177 yards, a TD and a pickoff as the team totaled 18 of 25 for 332 yards. Easily the most prolific receiver was Tae Boyd with three catches for 131 yards and a TD.

On the ground, the Bulldogs rolled up 265 yards as four players had at least 40 yards, led by Chase Carter with 62 yards in seven tries as he scored three TDs that way.

Northern actually won the turnover battle, 2-1, with each team throwing one interception and Ferris also losing a fumble.

Wildcats defender Luc Damiani made the interception, while teammates Jax Hertel and Damarcus Chappell each forced a fumble and Jeremiah Gossett had a fumble recovery.

Additionally, Murphy Monreal, who’s made several turnovers in recent games, this time led NMU in tackles with 14, including nine solo. Chappell and Tyshaun Campbell each had a tackle for a loss, while Brady Redmer had a QB hurry.

One curious statistic pointed out by NMU Sports Information was that the teams combined to convert all seven fourth downs they attempted, Northern with five of them. Yet they were only 10 of 23 on third down, NMU making 7 of 18.

In a good sign for the Wildcats attempting to control the ball, they took the opening kickoff and used 17 plays and more than 8 1/2 minutes to march 75 yards downfield and open the scoring with a 1-yard TD run by Theuerkauf.

The two big plays were both engineered by the QB, a 15-yard pass to Boyea to convert an early third down and a 25-yard run by Theuerkauf that brought the ball to the FSU 2-yard-line.

Nicholas Gruesen made the extra point, going 5 for 5 for the day, to make it 7-0.

Employing a no-huddle offense, the Bulldogs needed just over 2 1/2 minutes to answer with a five-play scoring drive of their own to quickly tie it 7-7.

But the Wildcats one-upped their hosts with a TD drive of less than two minutes that went 83 yards, powered by three Ferris penalties, one that negated a Theuerkauf interception, and a Dobert 37-yard run. Northern retook a 14-7 lead on Welch’s 2-yard scoring run with 1:50 left in the first.

But FSU still had time to engineer one more TD drive before the quarter ran out, needing just three plays led by Bower’s 28-yard rush that set up his 5-yard TD run with 41 seconds left.

Then the Bulldogs took control in the second period, scoring what would become 28 straight points with three TDs in the first seven minutes of the second quarter to take a 35-14 lead. The first two were scored by Carson Gulker on a 19-yard run and 52-yard reception from Bower, along with a Boyd 61-yard catch from a different QB, Brady Rose.

The first score of quarter No. 2 followed Theuerkauf’s interception that did stand, with the next two following NMU three-and-outs.

But Northern had one methodical scoring drive left in the first half, using almost eight minutes and 19 plays to drive 76 yards and score on another Theuerkauf 1-yard TD run eight seconds before halftime to keep the Wildcats within 35-21.

After intermission, though, Ferris scored on five of its six possessions, the only one thwarted on Chappell’s fumble recovery with about four minutes to go.

NMU scored twice in the fourth quarter, but that wasn’t nearly enough to keep pace. Those came on a Boyea 8-yard TD reception from Theuerkauf with 4:10 left and Heemstra 27-yard scoring catch from the QB with 3:52 to go right after Ferris’ lost fumble.

Northern has two more chances to double its win total, the first coming at noon Saturday in Grand Rapids against Davenport. This will be the Wildcats’ second meeting with the Panthers this season, this time nonconference, after DU scored a 35-16 victory in the Superior Dome on Sept. 20 that opened both teams’ GLIAC campaign.

The final game should give NMU an excellent chance at its second win when Wayne State comes to Marquette at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, to end the season, since the Warriors are 0-9 overall and 0-5 in the league.

Ferris St. 70, NMU 35

Saturday at Big Rapids

Score by quarters:

Northern Michigan 14 7 0 14 — 35

Ferris State 14 21 14 21 — 70

First quarter

NMU — Trevor Theuerkauf 1 run (Nicholas Gruesen kick) 6:23

FSU — Taariik Brett 5 run (Mitchell Middleton kick) 3:47

NMU — Tucker Welch 2 run (Gruesen kick) 1:57

FSU — Wyatt Bower 5 run (Middleton kick) 0:41

Second quarter

FSU — Carson Gulker 19 run (Middleton kick) 14:17

FSU — Gulker 52 pass from Wyatt Bower (Middleton kick) 9:56

FSU — Tae Boyd 61 pass from Brady Rose (Middletown kick) 8:02

NMU — Theuerkauf 1 run (Gruesen kick) 0:08

Third quarter

FSU — Rose 4 run (Middleton kick) 12:32

FSU — Chase Carter 1 run (Middleton kick) 3:39

Fourth quarter

FSU — Carter 16 run (Levi Tuinstra kick) 13:53

FSU — Carter 10 run (Tuinstra kick) 9:08

NMU — Sebastian Boyea 8 pass from Theuerkauf (Gruesen kick) 4:10

NMU — Jake Heemstra 27 pass from Theuerkauf (Gruesen kick) 3:52

FSU — Jaden Edington 1 run (Tuinstra kick) 0:22

Game statistics

First downs — NMU 21, Ferris St. 30

Total plays-net yards — NMU 75-355, Ferris St. 63-597

Rushes-yards — NMU 58-224 (Noah Dobert 29-117, Theuerkauf 10-42, Welch 11-40), Ferris St. 38-265 (Carter 7-62, Gulker 6-44)

Comp-Att-Int-Yards — NMU, Theuerkauf 8-17-1-131; Ferris St. 18-25-1 (Bower 10-14-1-177, Carter 6-8-0-95, Rose 1-1-0-61, LeeShaun Mumpfield 1-2-0-(-1))

Top receivers — NMU, Boyea 3-56, Heemstra 2-42, Welch 1-18; Ferris St., Boyd 3-131, Gulker 2-57, Jeremiah Lee 3-46, Cam Underwood 4-32

Punts-average — NMU 5-40.8, Ferris St. 0-0

Fumbles-lost — NMU 1-0, Ferris St. 2-1

Penalties-yards — NMU 6-60, Ferris St. 6-53

Time of possession — NMU 36:03, Ferris St. 23:57

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the game. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.