Bueno throws three touchdown passes
HILLSDALE, Mich. – The Michigan Tech football team once again used a full team effort to move to 3-0, securing a 34-21 victory over Hillsdale at Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Quarterback Alex Bueno was stellar once again, throwing for a career-high 364 yards (25-41) with three passing touchdowns in the first half, while three receivers reached over 100 yards from Bueno. Veteran Ethan Champney had a game-leading 119 yards on nine receptions, while Bryce Kurncz had six receptions for a career-high 110 yards, with Nic Nora earning 106 receiving yards on eight receptions.
On the opposite side of the ball, the Black & Gold held the opposition to just four of 13 on third down conversions and limited the run game to 72 yards, a season-high four sacks, four quarterback hurries and an interception by Dante Basanese at the end of the first half.
“I thought that we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides for the whole game, which was good to see,” Tech head coach Dan Mettlach said. “They had a really good drive to start the game and like week zero, there was no panic, we answered it and got a two-score lead. The guys came out and took care of business after another long road trip for the second week in a row. Especially in the first half, AB did not miss many throws—-I thought he did well in terms of when to throw it and when to hand it off.
“We played really well on defense and I thought outside of the first drive and trick play, the defense was really good.”
Both teams scored on their opening drives of the day, with Hillsdale taking 11 plays to go 75 yards while eating 6:15 off the clock, capped with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Colin McKernan to Andrew Konieczny. The Huskies’ offense answered with an eight-play drive, also going 75 yards with quarterback Bueno finding Nora in the endzone off a 13-yard strike to tie the contest at 7-7.
The offense found momentum in the second quarter with two touchdown passes by Bueno, who also had 32 rushing yards in the period. The Rochester Hills, Michigan, standout connected with Nora for 38 yards before finding Ethan Hull in the endzone for a 14-yard touchdown, his first of the season.
The stalwart defense forced a three and out and the offense got back to work, needing seven plays to go 59 yards, eating up 3:30 of the clock. Bueno commanded three chunk plays in the drive to find the endzone with a 16-yard run, a 29-yard pass to Kurncz, before connecting with Nora from 15 yards out for the touchdown, making it 21-7 with 8:26 to go.
Hillsdale found its second touchdown of the day using a trick play as wide receiver Shea Ruddy orchestrated a double pass finding Ryan Skura for a 70-yard bomb, making it a one-touchdown game again (21-14).
A controversial no-call on fourth down gave the home team the ball for the final time in the first half. However, the Black & Gold’s defense stood tall with Basanese erasing a potential score with an interception in the endzone to keep the Huskies ahead 21-14 entering halftime.
The Huskies held the Chargers scoreless in the third quarter while adding a quick touchdown, taking the opening 3:18 of the period with Bueno hitting Champney for back-to-back passes of over 25 yards and Kurncz for 12 yards before Jake Rueff muscled his way into the endzone from the one yard line. A 35-yard field goal by sophomore Avery Kucharski pushed the score to 31-14 midway through the quarter.
Kucharski would produce the only points for the Huskies in the final quarter with a 44-yard field goal after going 51 yards in 12 plays.
The Huskies accrued three sacks in the fourth quarter, with Porter Zeeman and Connor Hindenach accounting for back-to-back sacks on the Chargers’ first drive of the period. Noah Johnson and Nolan Schopp also earned a sack on McKernan on Hillsdale’s last drive of the day.
The home team scored its third touchdown of the day with the game already decided, taking 2:42 to trek 80 yards in 10 plays capped with an 11-yard touchdown pass from McKernan to Skura, making the final score 34-21 in favor of the Huskies.
Dakota Blackwell led the way with 10 tackles, five solo and five assisted, as Basanese and Zeeman accounted for six and five total tackles, respectively.
Up Next
The Huskies have completed the road non-conference portion of their schedule and will return home to conclude the out-of-conference competition, welcoming GLVC affiliate Upper Iowa to Kearly Stadium on Saturday for homecoming, with a 4 p.m. kickoff.
