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Keep a close eye out: Pair of Wildcats make online football ‘watch’ list

By Steve Brownlee 3 min read

MARQUETTE -- Fans of the Wildcats don't need to be told who to watch, but for the rest of the college sports landscape, a national website has singled out a pair of Northern Michigan University football players to look out for this season.

Sophomore running back Noah Dobert and senior linebacker Jax Hertel were the NMU players mentioned on the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List.

This national list was selected by D2Football.com staff with input from a number of current head coaches and pro football scout Josh Buchanan, according to an NMU Sports Information news release about the two Wildcats players.

There are 100 players earning honors nationwide in NCAA Division II -- 25 players on the First Team and another 25 on the Second Team on offense, defense and special teams. Then another 50 were named Squad players on offense and defense, similar to honorable mentions on many awards lists.

Dobert and Hertel each made the Squad players list in the Elite 100.

Dobert, a native of Dearborn who is actually in his third year at NMU, had the biggest of breakout years in 2025 after carrying the ball just three times for 12 yards as a true freshman in 2024.

Last season, with the Wildcats in the midst of a long losing streak that stretched beyond 20 games, he almost single-handedly turned around the team's fortunes by finishing with school records of 1,656 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. While ranking third nationally in rushing yards per game with 150.5, he really did his damage in the trio of games NMU won in the second half of the season.

In just those three games, he gained an amazing 892 yards on the ground after piling up 243 yards in wins over both Roosevelt and Davenport on the road, then putting up a near-record all-time Division II single-game total of 406 yards in the season's last game at home vs. Wayne State.

The D-II record listed on Wikipedia is 425 yards by Connor Silveria of South Dakota Mines on Oct. 13, 2018.

Dobert's huge season finale earned him D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week honors, which he soon followed up by being named GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year, a spot on the GLIAC First Team and a spot on the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association All-Super Region 3 First Team.

Then it culminated in December with him earning NMU's first All-American award on the Second Team by the D2CCA.

Hertel, meanwhile, led a defense that also made its contribution to renewed Northern success after that unit had surrendered more than 60 points a game multiple times in the previous two seasons.

A native of Walworth, Wisconsin, Hertel joined Dobert in making the D2CCA All-Super Region 3 First Team along with a berth on the GLIAC First Team.

While starting all 11 games last year, he anchored NMU's defense with 101 tackles, ranking third in the conference, with 14 1/2 tackles for loss to lead the GLIAC, a forced fumble and interception returned for a TD.

The Wildcats will try to improve upon their 3-8 season, which included a 3-2 finish, under new head coach Matt Janus by opening at Minnesota State-Moorhead at 7 p.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 27.

Northern's home opener in the Superior Dome will be about 10 days later at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5, against Tiffin.

The D2Football.com news release can be found online at www.d2football.com/d2football.com-elite-100-watch-list-2026/#google_vignette.

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

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