Dragons’ outscore Wildcats 21-7 in second quarter
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan football team hosted the Tiffin Dragons in its home opener on Saturday night in the Superior Dome, falling 35-7.
The Wildcat defense played stout in a scoreless first quarter in which they held Tiffin to just 58 yards, but the visitors exploded for 213 yards and three scores in the second quarter to lead 21-7 at the break. They found the end zone two more times in the second half.
Noah Dobert scored NMU’s lone touchdown, an 11-yard scamper in the second quarter. He toted the rock 18 times for 113 yards to account for over half of the Wildcat offense (222). Tiffin QB Kyle Antoine threw for 267 yards and a pair of scores to lead the Dragons’ 454-yard effort.
How it Happened
NMU had the ball to start the game, and a 14-yard completion to Joe Mueller helped the Wildcats reach midfield in three plays, but a sack backed them up and forced a punt. Tiffin took over at its own 15, where Jace Miller batted down two pass attempts to help force a Tiffin punt.
A Liam Oczkowski interception on the first play of the second drive gave Tiffin the ball in NMU territory, but the defense stood tall, getting their first of several 4th down stops on the night. The first quarter closed scoreless.
Tiffin wasted no time in the second, going 52 yards through the air on the first play of the quarter, a Kyle Antoine pass to Trey West, to take a 7-0 lead. NMU answered right back. Noah Hofmann’s kickoff return set the offense up at the 37. Back-to-back 17-yard completions to Sebastian Boyea moved the chains, and Noah Dobert capped the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run, tying it 7-7 with 11:07 left in the half. The drive covered 63 yards on eight plays in 3:29.
Tiffin methodically worked its way back down the field and again faced a 4th-and-1, this time at the 30, but NMU’s defense held again with Jax Hertel making the stop. NMU’s offense couldn’t get going in response, going three-and-out, and a penalty on the punt gave Tiffin the ball at the NMU 36. The Titans needed just one play to reach the end zone again, with a 36-yard run from Ronald Blackman making it 14-7 with 4:19 left in the half.
Dobert opened NMU’s next drive with a 20-yard run, but two sacks stalled the possession and forced a punt, giving Tiffin the ball back at its own 30. The Titans capitalized with a late drive, scoring on a 2-yard pass to Jowy Zalewski with 14 seconds left. Tiffin led 21-7 at the break.
NMU’s defense came up big to open the third quarter, forcing another turnover on downs. The offense answered with back-to-back first-down runs from Dobert and Oczkowski to reach first and goal, but the drive stalled and a 29-yard field goal attempt missed.
Tiffin responded with two chunk plays and appeared to score, but the touchdown was overturned after Xavier Wade forced a fumble at the half-yard line. Tiffin kept possession and punched it in on the next play, extending the lead to 28-7 with 2:32 left in the quarter. Tiffin marched down the field again on its next possession, reaching first and goal as the quarter closed with the score still 28-7.
Tiffin opened the fourth quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run from Daniel Weems, pushing the lead to 35-7 at 14:55. NMU pushed into the red zone on its next drive but was stopped on 4th-and-5 with seven minutes to play.
Up Next
The Wildcats will travel to Division I St. Thomas on Saturday, September 12.
