Michigan Tech wide receiver Darius Willis highlighted the night by aiding in all three touchdowns and breaking the stalemate nine minutes into the second quarter with a 41-yard touchdown reception. Willis totaled six passes for 99 yards catching two husky touchdown passes, a 41-yard grab in the second quarter and a 29-yard reception in the fourth. He also threw 24 yards for a touchdown on a trick play in the third quarter to Brandon Michalak.
Sophomore linebacker Marc Sippel led the Husky defense with 13 total tackles. Jason Janquart’s sack for a Wildcats 11-yard loss in Husky territory in the first quarter killed the Wildcat’s momentum which seemed to persist for the rest of the night: Michigan Tech earned 297 yards of total offense with an even battle plan resulting in 134 rushing and 163 passing yards.
MTU head coach Steve Olson said, “We’ve had a couple of rough games the last couple, so it means a lot to everybody in this program right now to be getting that Miner’s Cup for the 12th straight year. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Northern battled their tails off out there. We saw some stuff that we didn’t see on film, so credit to our guys for getting lined up.”
The Wildcats gained 220 yards of total offense resulting in 173 passing and only 47 rushing yards. The Huskies visit No.1 Ferris State next at 1pm on Saturday, Oct. 22 and host No. 2 Grand Valley State on Oct. 29. The Michigan Tech vs Ferris State game will be broadcasted on Mix 93 WKMJ.