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NMU Football Finishes Season With Victory In Ohio
 This story was written by NMU Sports Information. Click the AUDIO buttons to hear RRN player spotlight interviews with NMU seniors Tyquan Cox and Eddie Pierson. PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The Northern Michigan University Football team finished off the regular season with a 33-11 win over the Lake Erie College Storm. The Wildcats finished the season with a record of 4-7 (1-5 GLIAC). The Wildcats won the toss and elected to defer to the second half, so the Storm got the ball first. The Wildcat defense got to work early forcing a three and out by the Storm, and they punted it away. Faced with a third down early in the drive, Zach Keen moved the chains with an eight yard rush. Two plays later, Tyshon King took the handoff, found a hole and dashed 34-yards to the endzone for a Wildcat touchdown. The Wildcats took and early 6-0 lead, after the missed extra point. The Storm put together a 12 play, but were faced with a fourth short. The Wildcat defense stood tall and forced the turnover on downs. Gaining possession back, the Wildcats looked to put together another drive. Tyshon King got it started with a seven yard rush, followed by a twelve yard rush. Zach Keen found Charlie Gerhard over the middle for a 16-yard gain to move the chains again. The Wildcats methodically moved it down the field, Zach Keen found Kyle Sahr from five yards out for a touchdown. The Wildcats went for a two point conversion, and failed, so the Wildcats led 12-0. The Wildcat defense continued a strong start to this game by forcing another three and out. After one quarter the Wildcats led the Storm 12-0. The second quarter started with a 30-yard completion from Zach Keen to Tyshon King. Faced with a fourth down, Tyshon King took a handoff and gained nine yards on the play to gain a first down. Not being able to do much else with it, the Wildcats punted it away. The Storm started to move the ball, faced with yet another fourth down, the Storm decided to go for it, the Wildcat defense forced an incompletion and got the ball right back. After gaining possession back, Zach Keen completed three passes in a row. The first two to Charlie Gerhard for a 16-yard gain and a nine yard gain, then he found Rad Premovic for 18-yards, but the ball was put on the ground and the Storm jumped on it. The Storm were able to put some points on the board before halftime, converting a 49 yard field goal to make the score 12-3 at the half. The Storm kicked it to the Wildcats to start the second half, and it started with a bang, as Tyquan Cox fielded the kick and took it 81-yards to the house. With the extra point the Wildcats led 19-3. The Wildcat defense continued some great play, forcing a three and out on the Storms first possession of the half. The Wildcats were faced with a 4th and 13, Zach Keen dropped back and swung it out to Tyshon King and King decided to not only pick up the first down, but take it 60-yards for a touchdown. The Wildcats extended the lead to 26-3. The Storm started to put a drive together, but it stalled as the Storm coughed it up and Will Borchert jumped on the fumble. The Wildcats were getting the ball back again. Zach Keen started the drive with a completion of 17-yards to Brenden Sersaw. Keen then found Kenyon'TA Skinner for nine yards. Tyshon King found eight tough yards and moved the chains for the Wildcats. Unable to moved it for anymore yardage, the Wildcats punted it back to the Storm. John McMullen was in the backfield, and came away with a sack on the first play from scrimmage for the Storm. This took the game to the end of the third quarter. The Wildcats held the lead. The fourth quarter started with John McMullen and Mequon Hudson meeting in the backfield for a sack. The Storm punted it away. The Wildcats went three and out on their next possession. On second down of the Storms possession, John McMullen and Edward Pierson had a meeting at the quarterback for another sack. A few plays later, Tavion McCarthy jumped a route and came away with an interception to get the ball back for the Wildcats. On the first play after the interception, Tyshon King was stopped in the endzone for a safety, two points were put on the board for the Storm to make the score 26-5. After a punt by the Storm, on the first play, Zach Keen found Brenden Sersaw for a 61-yard touchdown to extend the lead even bigger for the Wildcats. They now led 33-5. The Storm were able to find the endzone for a late score to make it 33-11. Looking to kill some clock, they put in on the shoulders of Tyshon King, who has already put together a great day on the ground. King was able to keep pick up yards and let that clock drain. Final: Wildcats 33, Storm 11. STATS LEADERS Zach Keen went 15-24 for 260 yards through the air and three touchdown passes. Tyshon King finished off a tremendous season with another 100-yard game. King ran for 124-yards and a touchdown. Tyshon King also was the leading receiver on the day as well, finishing with 95-yards on three catches and a touchdown. Brenden Sersaw finished the game with two receptions for 78-yards and a touchdown. Antonio Howard Jr. was the teams leading tackler with 11 total tackles. DJ Hutcherson and Brian Schieweck finished with 9 total tackles each. The Wildcat defense finished the game with 5 sacks. (McMullen, 2; Soletski, 1; Borchert, Hudson, Pierson, Schieweck all with 0.5) |
