MARQUETTE – Two weeks ago, the Northern Michigan University football team rallied against No. 8 Ashland, but lost by one point on a last-second touchdown.

On Saturday, the Wildcats took on another team ranked among the nation’s top 10, No. 3 Ferris State.

Although they fought hard to pull within three points in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t finish off the comeback as the Bulldogs scored in the late going to win 49-39.

Northern quarterback Shaye Brown completed 18 of 28 passes for 263 yards and four touchdowns.

But that performance was overshadowed by FSU quarterback Jason Vander Laan, who finished with 372 total yards and five touchdowns, four coming on the ground.

Vander Laan also set an NCAA Division II record for most rushing touchdowns in a career as a quarterback with 75.

“This is a team that’s had a tremendous amount of success for four years and the best running quarterback in the history of college football,” NMU head coach Chris Ostrowsky said. “They pound him and pound him and pound him. Clearly, they pounded him today.

“God bless the kid. He’s got the heart of a lion and he’s a great football player.”

Down by 11 early in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats drove the field and Brown threw his fourth TD pass of the day on a short throw to senior Marcus Tucker. Senior receiver Austin Young ran in for the two-point conversion and NMU pulled within three points of the Bulldogs.

When asked about the play of his seniors and what they mean to the program, Ostrowsky said it was hard to measure it.

“Their legacy will be forever linked to this program’s future and we’re off and running,” he said. “We’re not an OK or average program. We’ve gone toe-to-toe with the very best and it’s not about talk anymore. It’s about what the results are.

“We’re a 5-5 football team without question, but we feel like we are a strong 5-5 team. I’m indebted to them personally for their commitment level. It’s immeasurable. I can’t even put it in terms.”

However, while Northern’s offense put on a show, the Wildcat defense couldn’t stop Ferris’ senior signal caller.

After Northern scored to pull within three early in the fourth, Vander Laan marched the Bulldogs to near midfield, then found Jake Lampman for a long pass play to move deep into NMU territory.

Just one play later, Robert Thomas III capped off the drive with an 11-yard scoring run with six minutes remaining.

Northern had one last chance at a comeback as Brown connected with Paris Woods on a long pass down the right sideline to bring the ball into FSU territory. Brown threw the ball just over Woods’ shoulder and perfectly into the receiver’s arms.

But after that, the Wildcats faced fourth down and Brown was hit as he threw the ball. The pass fell incomplete to seal the Bulldogs’ win.

While the Wildcats started to gel offensively in the second half, they got off to an awful start. Northern fumbled away its first possession, which led to a Bulldogs touchdown. NMU also fumbled twice on its next possession, but was able to recover both.

The Wildcats took advantage of Jared Vuksan’s recovery of a Ferris fumble, tying the score 7-7 when Brown hit Tucker with an 18-yard scoring pass.

The Bulldogs fumbled the ball away again on their next possession, this one on a quarterback sack. NMU then took its first lead on a field goal by Tyler Blackburn to lead 10-7 after one quarter.

That was a preview to the five TDs scoring by both teams together in the second quarter.

Ferris drove down the field to start the period, mostly through the air, and Vander Laan scored on a short run to give the Bulldogs a 14-10 advantage. Later in the period, Vander Laan scored his record-breaking 73rd touchdown on a 6-yard run and FSU went up 21-10.

The Wildcats weren’t shaken by the double-digit deficit and answered with a 91-yard scoring toss from Brown to Keyondre Craig. Craig broke free down the right sideline and ran untouched into the end zone to keep his team with four points, 21-17.

“We executed our plan and those guys (the wide receivers) played great,” Ostrowsky said. “I can’t say enough about Paris Woods and Keyondre Craig and how great players they’re going to be here in the future.”

The next two series for the both teams were marred by missed scoring chances. Brown overthrew Tucker on a sure touchdown and Vander Laan didn’t see a wide-open Antonio Agurs where there wasn’t a defender within 20 yards of him.

Vander Laan was picked off on the next play, which led to a nice halfback touchdown pass from NMU’s Aaron Harris to Woods for the Wildcats’ final lead of the day, 24-21 with 1:50 to go before halftime.

However, Ferris marched quickly downfield in the closing seconds of the half and Vander Laan made up for his interception, hitting Jamel Lockett over the middle for touchdown. The Bulldogs closed out the half with a 28-24 advantage.

NMU wraps up its season on the road against Findlay at noon Saturday.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.