Wildcats gain nearly 400 yards in total offense
MIDLAND, Mich. – The Northern Michigan football team dropped another tight game on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Northwood Timberwolves 23-18 at Hantz Stadium.
It was another hard-fought contest for the Green and Gold, but for the second consecutive week, the ‘Cats fell just short of getting back in the win column.
It was the passing game that was working for NMU, as Duke Shovald threw for 232 yards (14-24) while the ground game accounted for 164. Shovald connected with Hayden May for a touchdown, and Jahi Wood added another rushing. Michael Karlen also kicked a 40-yard field goal, and Damarcus Chappell stopped a run for a safety to complete the scoring.
Noah Dobert ran the ball 14 times for 89 yards to lead the team in rushing, while Isaac Olson hauled in a 60-yard reception to pace the aerial attack.
The Wildcats outgained the Timberwolves 396 to 255 and had 10 more first downs, but NMU was plagued by turnovers, suffering three (2 INT, 1 FUM) while Northwood did not turn the ball over.
Jax Hertel led the defense with seven tackles, two of those coming for a loss. Jake Price and Brady Redmer shared a sack, and Xavier Martinez broke up a pass.
Northwood opened the scoring with a 15-yard TD run from Devin Brown at 11:12 of the first quarter, capitalizing on an early Wildcat fumble. They’d add a field goal just a few minutes later to push the score to 10-0 with 7:03 left in the first.
NMU got on the board early in the second quarter when Chappell read an outside handoff and buried the rusher in the endzone for a safety. NMU trailed 10-2 with 12:10 left in the opening half.
The Wildcats then found the endzone on a Jahi Wood 3-yard run, capping off an impressive 8-play, 80-yard drive. An unsuccessful 2-point conversion kept the score at 10-8 with 7:47 before halftime. The Timberwolves added another FG with 3:08 left to maintain a 13-8 lead at halftime.
The second half opened just how the Wildcats didn’t want it to. The Timberwolves took the kickoff back 97 yards to quickly jump back ahead by two scores, 20-8. NMU added the only other score in the third quarter, a 40-yard FG from Karlen at 8:38. Northwood led 20-11 going to the final frame.
A 25-yard Northwood FG made it 23-11 with 7:50 to play. The Wildcats got the ball back late with just over 90 seconds left, and Shovald led a methodical 11-play, 97-yard drive in just 1:31 to close the gap to 23-18. Shovald connected with May for his first career score from 13 yards out.
An onside kick attempt in the final seconds was unsuccessful, giving Northwood the victory.
Up Next
The Wildcats will return to the Superior Dome next Saturday, hosting Division I St. Thomas with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
