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Some good home cookin’: Wildcats football seeks to even record in dome Saturday vs. Tiffin

Wildcats football seeks to even record in dome Saturday vs. Tiffin

By Steve Brownlee 6 min read

MARQUETTE -- New head coach Matt Janus and the Northern Michigan University football team look to even their record at 1-1 when they host Tiffin at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Superior Dome.

NMU dug itself too deep a hole in the middle two quarters and lost 41-19 in its season opener on Aug. 27 at Minnesota State-Moorhead.

Northern had several strong efforts on both offense and defense for what would've been its fourth victory in its last six games after snapping a 2 1/2-year-long, 28-game losing streak in the middle of last season.

Saturday's game -- which will for the second straight week be against a team nicknamed the Dragons -- is available to watch live on Flo College or hear on Marquette radio station WUPT 100.3 FM The Point.

Fans can also follow @NMU_Football on Instagram and X 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 and a game preview.

"There are ups and downs to the game," Janus said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the game. "There will be moments when things don't go our way, and we have to find a way to energize ourselves."

New staff

Janus comes to Marquette after compiling a 45-14 record over six seasons at Wisconsin-La Crosse. He led the Eagles to five straight NCAA Division III playoff appearances, also winning consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, La Crosse went undefeated in the regular season and reached the D-III national quarterfinals.

The new head coach brought in a pair of coordinators with Division I experience, Ryan Bright on defense and Boomer Roepke on offense. Bright's stops have included Wisconsin, Stanford and Arkansas, while Roepke has been at USC and Iowa State, while also leading Northwestern-St. Paul as head coach to a pair of undefeated conference titles and Division III playoff appearances.

New players

Among the transfers expected to be high impact for the Wildcats are offensive lineman Mitch Verstegen from Indiana, defensive back LeeJohn Majerus and d-lineman Jace Miller from Western Illinois, d-lineman Daniel Simon from Lindenwood, linebacker Logan McGraw from Wayne State, and junior college quarterback Liam Oczkowski.

Another interesting recruit and a "kind-of" transfer is 2026 Marquette Senior High School graduate Pavel McCutcheon, who was originally committed to play at Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference powerhouse Grand Valley State before switching his preference to NMU.

The 6-foot-7, 285-pound offensive lineman won the All-Upper Peninsula Lineman of the Year high school award from the U.P. Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association last November.

Returning stars

Among a number of returning players, the one likely catching the most interest is sophomore running back Noah Dobert, with senior linebacker Jax Hertel running a close second.

Dobert pretty much rewrote the Wildcats' rushing record book last season, gaining 1,656 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns, both Northern records. Nearly 900 of those yards, 892 to be exact, came in Northern's three victories, including a near-all-time Division II total of 406 yards in the season finale at home vs. Wayne State.

In NMU's other two wins, he gained 243 yards in each game.

Both he and Hertel were named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 watch list for this season after each was named GLIAC First Team honorees last season, Dobert also being named the conference Offensive Back of the Year.

Dobert attained his numbers as a redshirt freshman, as during his true first-year campaign he gained 12 yards in three carries.

Several other 2025 conference honorees also return, including fifth-year offensive lineman Daniel Babock as a member of the GLIAC Second Team, fifth-year defensive lineman Jake Price from GLIAC honorable mention, and sophomore defensive back Murphy Monreal, also a GLIAC honorable mention.

Last week

One thing the new coach installed was an actual passing attack after the Wildcats averaged well under 100 yards passing per game in 2025, in several games not completing a single pass.

Last week, QBs Oczkowski and Duke Shovald combined to throw for 272 yards while completing 27 of 45 passes, a 60% completion rate. They also had a touchdown pass while throwing two interceptions.

Ten receivers caught a pass, including five each by Isaac Olsen for 91 yards, Wilson Ptacek for 61 yards and Menominee product Trevor Theuerkauf for 21 yards. Fellow receiver Sebastian Boyea also caught four balls for 41 yards.

Dobert wasn't forgotten, however, though his rushing total was a modest 78 yards in 19 carries to go with two pass catches for five yards.

On defense, DeMarcus Chappell had a QB sack, Logan McGraw a team-high seven tackles and Hertel five solo tackles. McGraw and Simon each had two pass breakups.

On special teams, freshman Mason Bratonia kicked his first field goal, from 35 yards, and converted 2 of 2 extra points. Freshman punter Liam Rubino averaged 39.2 yards in four punts, his longest 48 yards, while yet another freshman, Brock Gauthier, blocked a punt in the second quarter.

Tiffin Dragons

Tiffin, located in Tiffin, Ohio, is a past member of the GLIAC and now is in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference along with former GLIAC members Northwood, Hillsdale, Ashland, Findlay, Lake Erie, Malone, Ohio Dominican and Walsh.

The Dragons were picked to finish fourth in the G-MAC after a 7-4 season in 2025.

In its opener, Tiffin lost 41-38 at Carson-Newman, a team receiving votes in the preseason American Football Coaches Association poll.

The Dragons threw the ball a lot last season, averaging more than 275 passing yards per game compared to 125 yards rushing. They also held opponents to just over 20 points per game while averaging 31.6 ppg.

Last week, though, they almost reversed those numbers, getting 292 on the ground and 150 through the air, led by Ronald Blackman rushing for 144 yards on 23 carries.

Defensively, lineman Jacob Tueimeh is a member of the D2Football.com Elite 100 that NMU's Dobert and Hertel are on.

The series

Northern and Tiffin haven't met since 2017, when the Dragons prevailed 35-24 in Ohio. All other previous meetings dating back to 2008 were when Tiffin was in the GLIAC.

Overall, they're 3-3 vs. each other, NMU's last win a 59-3 shellacking at Tiffin in 2011, only outdone by the Wildcats' 62-0 blowout in the Superior Dome in 2009.

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

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