Wildcats football falls in new coach’s opener
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MOORHEAD, Minn. -- A slow start put the Northern Michigan University football team behind the 8-ball as Minnesota State-Moorhead prevailed 41-19 in the season opener for both teams at the Dragons' field on Thursday evening.
In the first game under new NMU head coach Matt Janus, Moorhead went on a 28-2 run in the middle two quarters to turn a close 7-3 game after one quarter into a 35-5 rout by the time the final period began.
Janus' Wildcats will get their first try to get a win in their own Superior Dome at 6 p.m. next Saturday facing Tiffin, a past member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
In stark contrast to last season when the Wildcats were reluctant to throw the ball, Northern quarterbacks Liam Oczkowski and Duke Shovald totaled 272 yards passing between them on Thursday, alternating who played QB throughout.
Last year over the entire 11-game season, NMU had just 871 yards through the air, averaging less than 80 yards per game.
Oczkowski completed 18 of 29 passes for 216 yards but two interceptions, while Shovald added 9 of 16 for 56 yards with a touchdown and no pickoffs. In all, that was 27 of 45 passing, a 60% completion rate.
The Dragons had similar numbers out of their single signal caller, as QB Drew Huebner was 21 of 31 for 265 yards. But he was able to throw four TD passes with no interceptions.
Moorhead outgained NMU on the ground, but not by a large margin, 212-157. Northern's Noah Dobert, who set many of the program's rushing records last season, had a modest 78 yards rushing in 18 carries, a 4.1-yard-per-carry average.
He also scored NMU's lone rushing TD and the first one of any kind by the Wildcats this season when he scampered into the end zone from 2 yards out with 12:02 left in the game.
Oczkowski added 16 yards on 10 runs, while Shovald, Noah Hoffmann, Menominee native Trevor Theuerkauf and Wilson Ptacek also had carries.
Huebner led Dragons rushers with 104 yards in nine attempts and a TD, while Tyson Brandt had 54 yards and also a score.
NMU's Isaac Olson, Ptacek and Theuerkauf were the top recipients of the team's increased passing attack as each caught five passes -- Olson gained 91 yards on his, Ptacek 61 and Theuerkauf 21.
In all, 10 receivers caught at least one of Northern's 27 completions.
On defense, Logan McGraw led the the Wildcats with seven tackles, five of them solo, while adding in two pass breakups as he was credited with half a tackle for loss.
Teammate Jax Hertel, a returning GLIAC First Teamer, had five tackles, all solo, with a QB hit, while Damarcus Chappell had four tackles, all solo, including the team's only QB sack. Daniel Simon had two pass breakups and two tackles, while Brock Gauthier blocked a kick.
Northern held the edge in first downs, 26-19, and ran a lot more plays, 85-57, though it was outgained 462-387 in total yards.
Each team had a fumble that it recovered itself with Oczkowski's two interceptions the only turnovers by either team.
The Wildcats also kept a statistical advantage it had all last season -- time of possession, in this game by nearly 9 1/2 minutes, 34:44 to 25:16.
Janus was also a bit of a gambler as NMU converted on 3 of 5 fourth-down attempts, though its QBs were sacked four times to just once for Moorhead.
Things looked good for Northern in the early going, with the Wildcats taking the opening kickoff for a touchback before Olson caught a 46-yard pass from Oczkowski on the third play of the ensuing drive on 3rd-and-5. That brought the ball to the Moorhead 24-yard line.
That potential scoring drive short-circuited when, on 1st-and-goal from the Dragons' 9, Oczkowski was intercepted in the end zone by Moorhead's Jacion Owens.
The hosts then marched 80 yards in seven plays, culminated by Brandt's 39-yard TD run up the middle to break the scoreless tie with 8:42 left in the opening quarter.
Undeterred, NMU on the next possession marched 57 yards to set up a Mason Bratonia 35-yard field goal that made it 7-3 with 5:52 left in the first.
The teams then traded punts over the next five possessions, including one that ended early in the second quarter with the Dragons having to get off a kick from their own 7. However, despite taking over at midfield, the Wildcats actually punted the ball back after losing yardage, mostly due to an 8-yard sack taken by Shovald.
The defense -- or really special teams -- gave Northern's offense another chance on Moorhead's next possession. That's when Gauthier made a partial block on a Dragons punt taken by Tristan Ulmer that allowed NMU to take over near midfield.
Then the Northern offense drove it all the way to the Moorhead 2. Trying a field goal from the Moorhead 7 a few plays later, Bratonia's 24-yard try was blocked by the Dragons' Brodie Brunssen.
That might have re-energized the Dragons, who, after recovering the ball at their own 27, saw Huebner rush to the right for a 73-yard TD on the next play. With the extra point, Moorhead extended its lead to 14-3 with 5:04 left in the first half.
The Dragons also scored on their next and final possession before halftime, a Huebner 45-yard TD pass to Kalen Lucas with 1:26 to go before intermission that made it 21-3 at the break.
Northern tried a last-ditch drive with the remaining minute-plus left and drove just over midfield before Oczkowski was intercepted on a fourth-down play that ran out the clock.
In an interesting twist, it would be accurate to say somebody scored on every Moorhead possession of the third quarter, since NMU pounced for a safety between the two Dragons' TDs in the period.
The safety occurred when a bad snap on a punt from the Moorhead 27 sailed all the back to the end zone with the Dragons recovering it to give Northern two points, at the time making it 28-5.
On the possessions before and after that, however, Moorhead scored on TD throws with a 2-yard pass from Huebner to Kelly Johnson and a 44-yarder from Huebner to Owen Wiersma.
By the time the Wildcats were able to put another scoring drive together, they trailed by 30 points.
Early in the fourth, Northern did drive downfield as Dobert cashed in on 2nd-and-goal from the 2 with 12:02 remaining.
Bratonia's extra point made it 35-12 with most of the period still to go.
But Moorhead not only ground out just over half of the remaining time, but scored with 5:57 left on another Huebner-to-Johnson TD, this one of nine yards.
NMU took its final possession and ran off most of the time left, but did cash in for a TD on Shovald's 11-yard aerial to Kyle McGowan with 1:01 remaining to cap off a 13-play, 65-yard drive for the final score.
Moorhead 41, NMU 19
Thursday at Moorhead, Minn.
Score by quarters:
Northern Michigan 3 0 2 14 -- 19
Minn. St.-Moorhead 7 14 14 6 --
Northern Michigan University's Damonte Lee, left, gives instructions to a teammate during a drill at the Wildcats' football open spring practice held at the Superior Dome in Marquette on April 11. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)
First quarter
MOOR -- Tyson Brandt 39 run (Max Watson kick) 8:42
NMU -- Mason Bratonia 35 FG 5:52
Second quarter
MOOR -- Drew Huebner 73 run (Watson kick) 5:04
MOOR -- Kalen Lucas 45 pass from Huebner (Watson kick) 1:26
Third quarter
MOOR -- Kelly Johnson 2 pass from Huebner (Watson kick) 10:03
NMU -- Safety, bad snap recovered in end zone 6:37
MOOR -- Owen Wiersma 44 pass from Huebner (Watson kick) 3:31
Fourth quarter
NMU -- Noah Dobert 2 run (Bratonia kick) 12:02
MOOR -- Johnson 9 pass from Huebner (kick failed) 5:57
NMU -- Kyle McGowan 11 pass from Duke Shovald (Bratonia kick) 1:01
Game statistics
First downs -- NMU 26, Minn. St.-Moorhead 19
Total plays-net yards -- NMU 85-387, Minn. St.-Moorhead 57-462
Rushes-yards -- NMU 40-115 (Dobert 19-78, Oczkowski 10-16, Noah Hofmann 6-15), Minn. St.-Moorhead 26-197 (Huebner 9-104, Brandt 6-54)
Comp-Att-Int-Yards -- NMU 27-45-2-272 (Liam Oczkowski 18-29-2-216, Shovald 9-16-0-56), Minn. St.-Moorhead, Huebner 21-31-0-265
Top receivers -- NMU, Isaac Olson 5-91, Wilson Ptacek 5-61, Sebastian Boyea 4-41, Joe Mueller 3-29, Trevor Theuerkauf 5-21; Minn. St.-Moorhead, Lucas 9-116, Johnson 6-49
Punts-average -- NMU 4-39.2, Minn. St.-Moorhead 4-17.2
Fumbles-lost -- NMU 1-0, Minn. St.-Moorhead 1-0
Penalties-yards -- NMU 6-30, Minn. St.-Moorhead 6-64
Time of possession -- NMU 34:44, Minn. St.-Moorhead 25:16
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.