Darius Willis scores two touchdowns for Huskies
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech football team increased its win streak to four with a 22-7 victory over Wayne State on a windy homecoming and 50-year reunion of the undefeated 1974 team Saturday at Kearly Stadium.
While the Black & Gold improve to 4-1 overall, beginning league play with a 1-0 ledger, Wayne State returns downstate still without a win in the fall campaign, now 0-5 overall and 0-1 in the loop.
The Huskies held Wayne State to its second-lowest scoring game (seven points) of the season after entering the week averaging 17.5 points per outing.
“I’m very happy with the way our guys played from an effort and toughness standpoint,” second year head coach Dan Mettlach said. “I felt like we were in control the whole time on both sides of the football. Although I felt like going into halftime there were too many times where we stopped ourselves offensively. Defensively I thought we played very well and Wayne State has a dynamic player that touches the football every snap and has the chance to go the distance at any time–I felt like we did a nice job of limiting those chunk plays.
“I felt like Coach Thomas and the defensive staff did a nice job of getting guys home but there were too many times where people were rolling off guys instead of taking them to the ground. Especially in this league, there will always be guys that can make those kinds of plays so we’ve got to be able to get guys to the ground better.”
MTU’s defense found success early and often against the Warriors with WSU’s first offensive drive capped with a missed field goal from 55 yards with junior defensive back Dante Basanese continuing to deliver with his first interception of the season returned for 24 yards the possession after Tech lost a fumble on the Warriors 31-yard line.
The Huskies also struggled with field goal attempts in the first quarter, missing a 22-yard attempt with over five and a half minutes to play although neither team would score in the opening period.
Senior quarterback Alex Fries got Tech on the scoreboard first, capping a 10-play drive for 62 yards with Fries finding daylight downfield for a 25-yard rushing touchdown, his first touchdown with his feet this season.
Wayne State answered on its next possession with three plays on the ground gaining 16, 19 and 12 yards, respectively to open the drive, capped with a three-yard rushing touchdown by Jeremiah Sterling, Jr. with the extra point by Griffin Milovanski making it a tie game at 7-all with 5:56 to play in the half.
Fries threw for sixty yards in the next drive, finding Ethan Champney for a 29-yard reception then an eight-yard grab two players later before connecting with Tech’s all-time reception leader, Darius Willis, on a 23-yard touchdown pass to make it a six-point game following a missed extra point and conclude the scoring for the first half.
Tech’s first drive of the second half was stopped short of a score as MTU failed to convert on fourth and nine on the Warrior’s 29-yard line. However, the defense was ready to perform for the Black & Gold as Basanese erased a 13-play drive that took 7:32 off the clock by blocking the 51-yard field goal attempt by Milovanski recovered by sophomore linebacker Chase Koch and returned for nine yards. The Warriors gave yards to the Huskies following the play with a personal foul granting MTU an additional 15 yards.
The offense gained momentum from the defense and trekked downfield with two passes caught by Champney for a combined 22 yards in the first two plays of the drive. Tight end Jordan Dent had his most productive play of the season off a short pass from Fries that Dent ran for 24 yards before Fries connected with Willis again, this time a short pass for six yards to make it a 20-7 edge for MTU. This marked the first two-touchdown game of the season for Willis.
“It was a complete team battle although I think we left quite a bit of points out there,” Fries added. “I felt like we dominated both sides of the ball and I’m really proud of the way guys showed up today from the first quarter—we didn’t have to wait around until the third quarter to put up some points. Super proud of my teammates. Establishing the run game allows us to get the play action going so establishing the line of scrimmage early in the game helps the entire offense out.”
Michigan Tech’s defense continued to stand tall in the fourth quarter with Owen Watson leading multiple Huskies in a defensive stop at MTU’s one-yard line on fourth and one for the Warriors once again producing a drive that lasted over six minutes with nothing to show for their efforts.
The final offensive possession for the Warriors started with an excellent punt by senior punter Brenden Lach downed at the two-yard line by holder Chandler Ward setting up the defense to once again make a big-time play and once again, they delivered.
Wayne State got the ball at the two with two minutes to play and quarterback Cane Mack got swarmed and brought down in the endzone by senior linebacker Josh Cribben for the safety, allowing Tech to kneel the game out and secure the 22-7 homecoming victory.
Fries finished with 210 yards through the air and two touchdown passes to Willis on 19-for-32 while adding a 25-yard run with his legs, totaling 50 rushing yards on the day. Sophomore running back Jake Rueff continued to be a problem for the opposition with 93 yards on 23 carries. Ethan Champney recorded a team-leading seven receptions for 80 yards as Willis added 62 yards and two touchdown receptions.
Basanese, Watson and Hunter Buechel all finished with eight total tackles. Basanese also recorded a blocked kick and an interception. Buechel accounted for one sack for eight yards while Lach recorded three punts for an average of 41.3 yards with his long of the day going for 53.
Up Next
The Huskies continue the home stand next week welcoming Davenport to Kearly Stadium slated for a noon kickoff.
