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HOMECOMING SETBACK: Wildcats Lose To UWL
 This story was written by NMU Sports Information MARQUETTE---The Northern Michigan University football team welcomed the UW-La Crosse Eagles to the dome for the Wildcats homecoming game. The Eagles would go on to win 34-3. The loss drops the Wildcats to 0-3, with the Eagles improving to 2-1. It will be a tough stretch ahead for NMU as they look for their first win, with three road games coming up.
A Wildcat 3-and-out followed, and the offense of UW-La Crosse kept flowing, this time covering 74 yards on nine plays, as Helterbrand found Ryan Bartol on a corner fade to jump ahead 14-0 just over halfway through the opening frame. The Wildcats continued to look stagnant on offense, failing to move the ball again leading to a punt. UWL would then march again, but fall short on NMU's side of the fied, settling for a field goal attempt. It was 17-0 early in the 2nd quarter in favor of the visitors. After another NMU 3-and-out, Davion Brooks made a splash play on defense, picking off Helterbrand to give Northern positive field position. After a brief march into the redzone, the Wildcats were unable to capitalize, missing a 22-yard FG. Nearing halftime, UW-La Crosse capped off their third long drive of the half, this time a 13-play, 80-yard march, that ended in a second score on the afternoon for wideout Ryan Barkol. In response in the final seconds of half one, Michael Karlen hit from 44-yards out to get the 'Cats on the board, but trailing 24-3 heading into the locker room. The Eagles commanded total yards 247-96 in the half, while having their way on third downs, going 8-9. NMU was an empty 0-4 on 3rd downs in the half. Neither side was able to manage a score in the third quarter. NMU had the best opportunity to add another field goal, but the 32-yard attempt sailed wide right as the 'Cats continued to face a 24-3 deficit heading to the final 15 minutes of play. The first score came from UWL with just over six minutes left in the contest, a successful field goal following an extended drive of draining the clock to make it 27-3. To cap off an impressive road performance, the Eagles gained the ball on the Wildcats 37 with just under four minutes left and marched the distance in three plays, scoring on a QB sneak from the one yard line to make it 34-3. The clock would run down, and the Wildcats dropped homecoming by a final score of 34-3. The Wildcats will hit the road for three straight weeks, starting with a trip to Quincy for a battle on Saturday, September 23, with opening kickoff slated for 2 p.m. ET. |
