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Michigan Tech Wins Eleventh Straight Miner's Cup
 The Michigan Tech Huskies scored a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the game to break a 14-14 tie to beat Northern Michigan, 21-14, Saturday at the Superior Dome. Click AUDIO buttons to hear RRN interviews with NMU's Casey Wolf and Jake Witt. (Michigan Tech University Athletics photo) STORY BY MICHIGAN TECH ATHLETICS: MARQUETTE, Mich. – For the 11th straight season, Michigan Tech defeated rival Northern Michigan for the Miner's Cup 21-14 at Superior Dome in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game. Tied 14-14 late in the fourth quarter, quarterback Will Ark delivered an eight-yard strike to a wide-open Jordan Janssen on a slant down the right sideline, giving the Huskies the final lead with just 18 seconds to play and the victory. John Paramski also made a crucial fourth quarter interception to help turn the momentum. "It's awesome," said senior linebacker John Paramski. "We knew they were going to come out and play hard on their home field like they always do. We knew we had to play all the way to the end as hard as we could and I was proud we came out on top." "It means a lot to us," said senior wide receiver Hunter Richards. "First of all, hats off to Northern. They always give us their best effort out there. To fight through that adversity and prove it to ourselves that we could win late, I think that it shows a lot about this team." Michigan Tech (4-2, 3-0 GLIAC) improved to 48-41-5 in the all-time series against NMU, including a 16-3 record since the first Miner's Cup was built in 2002. Northern Michigan (3-4, 1-2 GLIAC) led 14-7 after three quarters but the Huskies came back. "I'm tremendously proud of our coaching staff and our players for hanging in there and continuing to battle," commented head coach Steve Olson. "It wasn't the prettiest game but I was very pleased at how they worked and fought the whole way today." After a pair of three and outs to begin the contest, Ark constructed an 8-yard completion to Janssen to end an eight-play, 85-yard drive. The Wildcats countered in the final minute of the first quarter when Drew Davis took a quarterback keeper into the endzone from the one-yard line. Neither team scored in the second quarter and Marvin Wright collected a sack prior to the break and forced a fumble by DJ Stewart. After James Daanan recovered, Tech's offense stagnated in their own territory. Drake Davis found Wyatt Davis up the middle of the field for a 42-yard connection on the Wildcats' first drive of the third quarter to give NMU a 14-7 edge. The Huskies drove the ball deep into Wildcat territory and after an extended timeout, Ark ran against the grain on an end around for a 10-yard score. Will Marano ran the ball four times on the six-play, 30-yard drive. The Huskies avoided catastrophe on their next possession when Ark fumbled the ball, but Preston Graf fell on it and the Huskies punted. Then Paramski patrolled the middle and nabbed an interception at the 10-yard line to end the opposing threat. Northern Michigan sacked Ark on the one-yard line on third down, forcing Drew Wyble to punt out of the back of the endzone with 3:20 to play. Starting out on the Husky 28, Tech's defense forced a 41-yard field goal try, which Daniel Riser missed to the right. The Huskies started out their final drive with 1:42 to play. Will Marano shuffled up the right sideline for 12 yards through plenty of contact on third down. Then Ark completed a pass to Richards for 25 more. Ark found time in the pocket and delivered a perfect floater to Jordan Janssen, left unattended for the winning touchdown. The Huskies ended with 358 of total offense, including 297 through the air. Janssen led the receiving corps with 89 yards and two touchdowns. Darius Willis made four receptions for 82 yards while Richards ended with three receptions and 42 yards. Marano led the ground game with 54 net yards on 17 attempts. The Huskies mustered just 21 yards on the rush in the first half but held Northern Michigan to 15. Ark completed 22 of 29 passes with one interception and two touchdowns. He was sacked three times. Conversely, Drake Davis went 17 of 25 for 230 yards, one interception, and a pair of sacks. Wyatt Davis led the Wildcats with 199 yards receiving and one touchdown. Wyble went 0-1 on field goal tries with a 34-yard miss in the second quarter. Both teams punted well. The Huskies picked up just one penalty for 10 negative yards. Michigan Tech hosts No. 3 ranked Ferris State next Saturday for a 1 p.m. EST kickoff at Kearly Stadium. STORY BY NMU SPORTS INFORMATION: MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University football team (3-4, 1-2 GLIAC) led from 9:47 of the third quarter to a little over nine minutes left in the game before falling in heartbreaking fashion 21-14 to the Huskies of Michigan Technological University in the battle for the Miner's Cup. The Huskies scored first with a touchdown coming for MTU at 8:20 in the opening quarter of action. With 4:34 left in the first quarter, NMU took over at their own 24-yard line after a Huskies punt. Drake Davis began the drive with a 13-yard pass to Charlie Gerhard. The Wildcats lost two yards on the next play, a DJ Stewart rush, but then bounced back with a five-yard pass to Benjamin Loutsis. The Davis to Davis connection shone on the next play as Drake Davis threw a 47-yard pass to his brother Wyatt Davis to set NMU up at the opposing 13. The pass was the longest reception for Wyatt Davis in a WIldcat uniform. It only took three rushes after the long pass for the home team to find the end zone. The score was punched in by Drake Davis on a one-yard rush. A Daniel Riser extra point tied the score at 7-7 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter. After a scoreless second quarter for both teams, NMU was the next to put a touchdown up. The score came on the 'Cats first possession of the second half and took over six minutes of game time off the clock. Tyquan Cox took the kickoff return 13 yards to the NMU 20 to set the Wildcat drive up. DJ Stewart rushed for six yards on the first offensive play of the half and, after an incomplete pass, Drake Davis found Wyatt Davis again for an 11-yard strike. The pass set up first down. A rush that went for no gain was next but two positive yardage passing plays put NMU at third and six on their own 41-yard line. DJ Stewart got the 'Cats a fresh set of downs with a three-yard rush. Drake Davis found Yale Van Dyne on the next play, a five-yard pass, which placed the Wildcats at the 50. Davis then rushed for three yards to set up a third and two at the MTU 42. The next play showed off the Davis brother-to-brother connection yet again as Drake Davis threw a long ball to Wyatt Davis who received it in the end zone for the NMU score. The 'Cats went up 14-7 after a Riser extra point went through the uprights. Michigan Tech was able to put up two touchdowns in the final quarter to take a 21-14 lead. With 14 seconds left on the clock, NMU received the ball at their own 36-yard line with one last chance to tie or take the lead in the Miner's Cup game. An incomplete pass was followed by a nine-yard Drake Davis rush out of bounds. The quarterback found the sideline with three seconds left in the game. The final play was a short pass to Tyquan Cox who took it 25 yards before a lateral attempt sent the ball out of bounds and ended the game 21-14 in favor of the visiting Huskies. In the Wildcat passing game, Drake Davis went 17-25 for 230 yards, which was a season-high in passing yards for the quarterback. He also led the team in rushing yards with a total of 37 and a touchdown. Wyatt Davis was the leading receiver with had 119 yards receiving. The mark is the highest for any NMU player this season and a career-high for Davis. Isaiah Popp had a season-high 15-yard punt return in the game. Howard also led the NMU defense with a season-high 12 total tackles. The sophomore also tallied one and a half tackles for loss for two yards while adding two quarterback hurries. Will Borchert and Andre Whitley had 10 tackles each. Borchert had nine assisted and one solo while Whitley had four solo and one assisted. Whitley also had a team-high three quarterback hurries. It was Antonio Howard Jr. and Tavion McCarthy who led the team in solo tackles with both WIldcats having five each. Howard also forced a fumble. McCarthy was also key in disrupting the passing game with four pass breakups. Edward Pierson had 1.5 sacks in the game, a team-high on the season, for a total loss of 20 yards and also forced a fumble. Andre Whitley assisted on one of those sacks. John McMullen also had a sack in the contest which led to a loss of nine yards. NMU remains in Marquette to take on Grand Valley State University on Band Day. Kick-off from the Superior Dome is slated for 1 p.m. |
