Huskies second half leads to 37-17 victory
HOUGHTON, Mich. – 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).
“As many new faces as we have, I felt like the confidence and like the way we went about our business in early camp was incredible and there was nobody with big eyes tonight—that’s a really good football team we beat,” said head coach Dan Mettlach “I feel like in the first half a lot of their first half success came from us getting in our own way with penalties and turnovers but to be down by one point the way that the first half went, the talk was all positive and I felt like the response from everybody was just an incredible way to come out of the locker room at halftime and finish off a really good team.”
Bemidji State received the ball to start the game and needed 3:04 to reach the endzone in six plays after earning great field position off the opening kick, capped by six plays going 42 yards and a finishing 25-yard run by quarterback Connor Carver.
The Huskies also converted their first drive into points, earning a 32-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Avery Kucharski, needing 4:09 and eight plays to put points on the scoreboard. Alex Bueno was electric from the start of the game in his first game as the starting quarterback, with an emphatic 45-yard run putting the Black & Gold in field goal range.
Carver put together another long-distance run in the opening minute of the second quarter to put the Beavers ahead by two scores, with a 39-yard run to the house. Although the Huskies answered with a touchdown of their own with senior wide receiver Ethan Champney dashing to the visiting sideline pylon with 9:34 to go in the first half, trailing 14-10.
The defensive efforts by the Black & Gold forced a three and out and began to take the run game away from the visitors allowed the Huskies offense to takeover and execute their run game to the endzone with Bueno having two rushes totalling 26 yards before wide receiver Nic Nora executed an end around play 14-yards for his first touchdown since Oct. 18, 2023 giving the Black & Gold its first lead of the day at 16-14.
The defense once again provided, saving a potential touchdown, forcing Bemidji State to settle for a 14-yard field goal to head into halftime with a 17-16 edge.
The Huskies’ defense put on a clinic out of the break as the Beavers went 0-for-3 on fourth down conversions and just six-of-15 on third down conversions. Michigan Tech’s second drive of the half resulted in Nora’s second score of the day with a three-yard completion from Bueno, pushing the Huskies ahead by a touchdown.
Joe Marano earned a sack on Carver at the Michigan Tech 36-yard line and caused a turnover on downs with 20 seconds to play in the third quarter.
The Huskies offense controlled the final frame, eating up 10:25 of time while also finding the endzone twice. Michigan Tech’s stalwart running back, Jake Rueff, capped a five-play, 61-yard drive–with the help of Rowland Ball, trekking 47 yards after receiving a pass from Bueno to make it a two-touchdown advantage for the home squad early in the fourth quarter.
Michigan Tech received the ball back instantly after Desmond Mullen forced and recovered a fumble on Kucharski’s kickoff, seeing another Huskies’ touchdown occur two minutes later with the Black & Gold only needing to go 23 yards, which they did in three plays with Bueno finishing the job on a three-yard run, putting the game out of reach for the Beavers, deciding the game at 37-17.
Bueno was calm and collected in his first start at quarterback, finishing with 188 yards through the air on 15-for-24 with two touchdowns and an interception while also being a weapon on the ground with 102 yards, a long of 45 and a touchdown.
Linebacker Porter Zeeman had a team-leading eight tackles (four solo four assisted) as linebacker Joe Marano had an impactful seven tackles, including two sacks for four-yards.
Up Next
The Huskies will play in their second-straight Thursday night game of the season, taking to the road for a matchup against South Dakota Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota, slated for an 8 p.m. (EST) kickoff.
