A week full of nostalgia and celebration wrapped up Saturday night at Northern Michigan University as the 1975 national championship football team was honored. The highlight was the retirement of Steve Mariucci's jersey, the Iron Mountain native who was the quarterback of that team and went on to play and coach in the NFL. The 'Cats lost to Grand Valley State. 35-7. (NMU Photos)
For the second consecutive week, the Michigan Tech football team spoiled Homecoming for the opposition. This time, the Huskies won a 16-14 defensive road battle at Davenport on Saturday afternoon. The win marks the first Homecoming loss for the Panthers, who entered the contest 8-0 on the special day. Click the above headline for details courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics. (MTU Photo)
The Gladstone High School football team fell behind the Houghton Gremlins, 14-0, but rallied to post a 34-22 win Friday night at the Marble Athletic Field. A 41-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass from Vinny Rebholz to Aiden Burie on the last play of the second quarter turned the game around, giving the Braves their first lead and Gladstone dominated from there. Click the above headline for photos, videos, interviews.
In a marathon contest lasting more than three and a half hours, the Northern Michigan football team fell 47-25 to the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on Saturday afternoon at Wickes Stadium. Though the Wildcats outscored SVSU 22-14 in the second half, a 26-point second quarter from the home team proved too much to overcome. NMU found the end zone three times, but it was not enough.
For the second time this season, the Michigan Tech football team shut out its opponent in the second half, spoiling Wayne State's Homecoming by doubling up the score 48-24 at Tom Adams Field on a hot Saturday afternoon in October. Story, photo courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics.
The Menominee High School football team scored four touchdowns in the first quarter and never looked back Friday night, blowing out the Gladstone Braves, 61-6, on Maroons Homecoming at Blesch Stadium. Senior quarterback Tanner Theuerkauf threw three touchdown passes, all of them to fellow senior Landen Daigneau, to help the Maroons jump to a 27-0 lead before the first quarter was over.
Another Upper Peninsula high school football team has forfeited a game because of a lack of healthy boys to field a team. The Westwood Patriots announced on Wednesday that it will not be able to play the Negaunee Miners this Friday night. The game was going to be Negaunee's homecoming game.
Owen Gereau scored four touchdowns and Trevor Thorbahn added two scores as the Gladstone Braves overcame a great first half by Westwood quarterback Ethan Marta to beat the Patriots, 59-22, Friday night, at Westwood High School.
A ceremony was held Tuesday night to celebrate the brand new bleachers at the Escanaba football stadium. The Eskymo Fan Club spearheaded the $450,000 project, which stripped out all of the old wooden seats and replaced them with new metal seats. They also put in 156 “stadium seats”.
The Northern Michigan football team picked up right where they left off last week against St. Tomas, finding themselves in a back-and-forth game with GLIAC foe Davenport University on Saturday. Northern jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Davenport answered, making the score 7-3. NMU briefly reclaimed the lead with Noah Dobert's first touchdown of the afternoon. Ultimately, Davenport's explosive second half proved to be too much for the Wildcats, as the Panthers won 35-16.
Saturday was not Michigan Tech football's day as the No. 24 nationally-ranked Huskies fell to Upper Iowa 21-14 in front of almost 2,800 fans at Kearly Stadium for Homecoming. Michigan Tech (3-1) saw the defense record three turnovers and a 7-0 lead after the first quarter, but six penalties for 70 yards and a 21-point outburst in the second quarter by Upper Iowa (2-1) proved to be too much to overcome.
Senior running back Owen Gereau scored four touchdowns and Trevor Thorbahn scored twice as the Gladstone High School football team cruised past the Hancock Bulldogs, 57-8, on Braves Homecoming Friday night at the Marble Athletic Field.
Northern Michigan University announced Sunday that Steve Mariucci's No. 18 Wildcat football jersey willl be retired. The news was first revealed in a surprise video message from Mariucci's lifelong friend, Hall of Fame basketball coach and fellow NMU alum Tom Izzo, which aired on NFL Network's GameDay Morning on Sunday. Mariucci's jersey will be officially raised to the rafters of the Superior Dome on Saturday, October 11, as a highlight of NMU's 50th Anniversary Celebration honoring the Wildcats' historic 1975 National Championship team. Further details regarding the celebration weekend (October 9-11) can be found here.
The Northern Michigan football team held a 7-6 lead halfway through the fourth quarter against Division I St. Thomas, but two late touchdowns from the Tommies proved enough to down the Wildcats, 20-7. It is NMU's 25th straight football loss over the past three seasons.
The Michigan Tech football team once again used a full team effort to move to 3-0 on the season, securing a 34-21 victory over Hillsdale at Frank "Muddy" Waters Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Kingsford Flivvers football team jumped to a big early lead and cruised to a 25-13 win over the Gladstone Braves Friday night at the Marble Athletic Field. The game was played in Gladstone because major renovations at Flivver Field are not yet completed. Flivver senior quarterback Jack Kriegl, a Michigan Tech University recruit, rushed for a touchdown on the ground and threw two touchdown passes in the win. Kingsford's defense also scored four points on a pair of safeties.
The Escanaba High School football team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 27-10 win over the defending conference champion Petoskey Northmen Friday night in Petokey. Senior quarterback Nolan Bink threw three touchdown passes, two of them to Brody Ison and one to Alex Stalboerger. Senior placekicker Graham Johnson kicked a school-record 42-yard field goal in the win.
Northern Michigan University will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its 1975 NCAA Division II champion football team with several events for alumni and campus/community members Thursday, Oct. 9, through Saturday, Oct. 11. The Wildcats achieved the most remarkable turnaround in the history of NCAA or professional sports by following a winless season with a championship.
The Northern Michigan University football team could not break its losing streak on Saturday, losing to Northwood University, 23-18, in Midland. NMU has not son a game since late in the 2022 season. NMU has lost 24 straight football games, going back to the 2023 season.
The Negaunee High School football team used its strength in the trenches to overwhelm the Gladstone Braves, 25-2, in a high school football game Friday night at the Marble Athletic Field. It was a hard-hitting game all night by both teams, a typical Gladstone-Negaunee physical battle like so many others in this rivalry.
The Michigan Tech football team once again used a full team effort to bask in victory with a 45-9 decision on the road over South Dakota Mine at O'Harra Stadium on a windy Thursday evening. Despite the long trek to the Mount Rushmore State, the Huskies were primed and ready from the jump, with the defense forcing a fumble on the first drive with defensive tackle Pierce Miller forcing a fumble on the Hardrockers second play of the day. The Black & Gold followed that up with a blocked punt by Desmond Mullen, tracked down by Kolby Hindenach for Michigan Tech's first touchdown, setting the tone for the night defensively.
The Gladstone Braves and Durand Railroaders battled in a back-and-forth football game Friday night in Lower Michigan, and the normal four quarters weren’t enough to settle the outcome. The Railroaders won the game in overtime, 28-22, after the Braves turned the ball over on their final possession in regulation time, and on their only possession in overtime.
The Escanaba High School football team rallied from eleven points down in the final quarter to beat the Kingsford Flivvers, 21-18, Thursday night, at the Escanaba Athletic Field. Brody Ison’s “jump-pass” to Alex Stolboerger for a touchdown put the Eskymos in the lead with three minutes left, and Keagan Braun's interception with 27 seconds left sealed the win.
The Michigan Tech football squad earned its first top-25 win in nearly six years after a convincing 37-17 win over the No. 16 nationally-ranked Bemidji State Beavers at Kearly Stadium on Thursday evening. The first ranked win since Sept. 7, 2019, was made possible by the Black & Gold shutting out the Beavers in the second half while rattling off 21 points of their own to overcome a first-half deficit (16-14).
The Northern Michigan football team jumped out to a 21-0 lead and carried a 27-15 advantage into halftime, but Minnesota State University Moorhead rallied with a 29-10 second half to defeat the Wildcats in shootout fashion, 44-37, in the first game of the 2025 season. The game would hold true to each team's strength, as Northern dominated the ground game, rushing 59 times to MSUM's 14. NMU rushed for 291 yards while totaling 384 yards of offense. QB Austin Ridl ran for a career-best 106 yards while Noah Dobert (97) and Jahi Wood (85) weren't far behind.
Northern Michigan University football head coach Shane Richardson has announced an open tryout for the 2025 NMU football team. The tryout will take place on Wednesday, August 27th at 6 p.m. at the Superior Dome. To participate in the tryout, students must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours for the fall semester at NMU and maintain good academic standing.
As high school sports practices begin, and some of the first contests are played in some sports, the Michigan High School Athletic Association is again ramping up awareness of necessary hot-weather precautions as schools and families prepare for activity. Practices for all Fall 2025 sports – cross country, football, boys soccer, girls tennis, and volleyball began on Monday. The first soccer, tennis, volleyball, and cross cluntry contests are this weekend.
The Escanaba High School football team got the jump on the rest of the Upper Peninsula Monday morning by holding its annual Midnight Madness practice at the Escanaba Athletic Field. The team took advantage of the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s official practice begin-date by having a practice at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Perhaps the biggest football event ever held in Green Bay was held Thursday at Lambeau Field as the National Football League put on its annual Players Draft. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell estimated that 125,000 people jammed into the Lambeau area, a number that is more than the entire normal population of Green Bay. Click the above headline for details.
High school game officials with 20 or more years of service will be honored at the Officials Awards & Alumni Banquet on April 26. A total of 706 officials will be praised for reaching their milestones, 47 of them from the Upper Peninsula. Click the above headline for details.
