Tough day for winless NMU football vs. No. 1 Ferris
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Northern Michigan University's Carter Schmitt, left, makes an interception of a pass intended for Ferris State's Kevin Simes during their GLIAC game played at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)
Winners of four of the last five NCAA Division II championships, the Bulldogs came to the Superior Dome and waltzed off with a 42-0 victory even while only scoring once in the second half.
NMU fell to 0-5 while Ferris is 5-0 as this was the opening game of the season for both in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
If it was any consolation, this was a bit on the lower end of the scoring scale for the Bulldogs, who won 73-6 over Kentucky Wesleyan a week earlier.
Northern won the turnover battle, 2-1, as Wildcats junior defensive back Carter Schmitt and leading tackler and senior linebacker Jax Hertel each made an interception.
But Ferris held a nearly 3 to 1 advantage in total yards, 508-176, with a particular advantage through the air, 265-63, even with the two pickoffs.
NMU had a tough time converting on third downs, going 1 of 13 there even while converting 2 of 3 on fourth downs. Actually, the Bulldogs also struggled on third down, converting 2 of 7 with 1 of 2 on fourth down, too.
Wildcats All-American sophomore back Noah Dobert had a decent day, gaining 109 yards on the ground in 24 attempts while also catching a pass for three yards.
Northern quarterback Duke Shovald completed 10 of 21 passes for 63 yards, with no touchdowns but also no interceptions.
Wilson Ptacek led NMU receivers with four catches for 30 yards, while Jacob Halicek was the only other Wildcat receiver with double-digit yards, making one catch for 15 yards.
Ferris employed four players throwing passes, two doing most of the work -- Chase Carter was a perfect 6 of 6 for 128 yards and a TD, while Wyatt Bower was 9 of 20 for 126 yards, a TD and a pick. In all, Bulldogs passers were 18 of 31 for 265 yards, two TDs but also two interceptions.
Tarick Bower was FSU's leading receiver, catching two passes for 93 yards including one TD, while Kevin Simes caught five throws for 61 yards.
Ferris split up its ground game even more, seven players gaining at least 20 yards, led by Key'Vell Cooper with 43 yards on four tries and Wyatt Bower making 37 yards in five attempts.
Despite the long day for NMU, the defense started by halting Ferris on fourth down on a long march downfield.
After Northern went three-and-out on the first possession after the opening kickoff, the Bulldogs put together a nine-play drive that moved to the Wildcats' 18-yard line.
On the 10th play, 4th-and-3, Hertel and sophomore defensive lineman Nathan Pralle brought down Wyatt Bower for a two-yard loss to stop the drive.
It was a short-lived victory, however. NMU went three-and-out again, and when Ferris took over at Northern's 40, the Bulldogs needed just two plays before Carter plunged over from a yard out, and with the extra point, led 7-0 with 5:09 left in the opening quarter.
The Wildcats, who didn't make a first down until the final few minutes of the first half, kept giving the ball back to FSU fairly quickly, and the Bulldogs pounced with a 14-yard TD run by Wyatt Bower, 54-yard TD pass from Carter to Tarick Bower, 19-yard scoring aerial from Wyatt Bower to Jaylin Townsend, and Jake Price 2-yard TD run for a 35-0 lead by halftime.
Ferris' yardage advantage was particularly massive in the first half, 367-20, with the first downs even worse, 20-1.
The Bulldogs tacked on just one more second-half TD, an 8-yard scoring run by Cooper in the first two minutes of the third quarter.
Northern had an excellent chance to score in the fourth, driving 84 yards in 14 plays to the FSU 4, before Dobert fumbled into the end zone with about five minutes left.
NMU will attempt to get in the win column on Saturday afternoon at a field where they also won last year, Davenport's in suburban Grand Rapids. Last year, Dobert scored in the fourth overtime for a 47-45 victory over the Panthers, the second time he rushed for 243 yards in a game last season and a prelude to the following week's amazing 406 rushing yards to end the season at home vs. Wayne State.
This year's game, the second of their two meetings after a Panthers' 42-7 win in Marquette on Sept. 19, is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and will be their game that counts in the GLIAC.
Ferris St. 42, NMU 0
Saturday at Superior Dome, Marquette
Score by quarters:
Ferris State 21 14 7 0 -- 42
Northern Michigan 0 0 0 0 -- 0
First quarter
FSU -- Chase Carter 1 run (Jay Cady kick) 5:09
FSU -- Wyatt Bower 14 run (Cady kick) 0:58
FSU -- Tarick Bower 54 pass from Carter (Cady kick) 0:00
Second quarter
FSU -- Jaylin Townsend 19 pass from W. Bower (Cady kick) 9:53
FSU -- Jake Price 2 run (Cady kick) 5:50
Third quarter
FSU -- Key'Vell Cooper 8 run (Cady kick) 13:15
Fourth quarter
No scoring
Game statistics
First downs -- Ferris St. 29, NMU 10
Total plays-net yards -- Ferris St. 70-508, NMU 58-176
Rushes-yards -- Ferris St. 39-243 (Cooper 4-43, W. Bower 5-37, Jones 8-30), NMU 37-113 (Noah Dobert 24-109, Noah Hofmann 6-17)
Comp-Att-Int-Yards -- Ferris St. 18-31-2 (Carter 6-6-0-128, W. Bower 9-20-1-126, Marcel Jones 3-4-1-11, Taariik Brett 0-1-0-0), NMU, Duke Shovald 10-21-0-63
Top receivers -- Ferris St., T. Bower 2-93, Keith Simes 5-61, Townsend 3-39, LeeShaun Mumpfield 3-32; NMU, Wilson Ptacek 4-30, Jacob Halicek 1-15, Trevor Theuerkauf 2-7
Punts-average -- Ferris St. 2-43.0, NMU 9-36.8
Fumbles-lost -- Ferris St. 2-0, NMU 1-1
Penalties-yards -- Ferris St. 7-55, NMU 3-22
Time of possession -- Ferris St. 30:35, NMU 29:25
Story contents based on a Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the game. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee's email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.