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Michigan Tech, NMU expect physical battle on Saturday

David Archambeau/Daily Mining Gazette Michigan Tech’s John Williams breaks free against Grand Valley State, Sept. 16, at Sherman Field. Tech hosts Northern Michigan on Saturday.

HOUGHTON — The rivalry between the Michigan Tech Huskies and Northern Michigan Wildcats dates back to 1920, when football lacked the intricacies of today’s passing game and was more about lining up, running the ball at each other and seeing who’s tougher.

Now in 2017, expect the same type of physical slugfest in the 90th edition in the rivalry Saturday at 7 p.m. at Sherman Field, as both Tech and NMU will look to impose their own running styles on each other. 

“This is going to be one of those games where it’s bloody in the box,” NMU first-year head coach Kyle Nystrom said. “We’re getting ready for a war in there, as Tech is also. It’s good the game is like this where the teams are identifying with the regions that we inherit.”

While the focus for each team is to establish the run, Tech (2-2, 1-1 GLIAC) and NMU (1-2, 1-1) go about in different ways. The Huskies feature a downhill style with senior quarterback Jake Brown under center and a lead blocker for senior running back John Williams in the majority of Tech’s formations. For NMU, they utilize a spread approach from the shotgun to allow the speedy junior back Jake Mayon to work in space and get out along the edge.

Different styles, similar success. 

Mayon is second in the country in yards per game (171), while Williams is second in the nation in rushing touchdowns (nine). Williams is also 16th in the country in yards per game (127.5). 

“Both teams are preparing for tough, downhill run games on both sides,” Tech head coach Steve Olson said. “We’ll see who gives.”

In between Mayon’s 205-yard performance (8.2 per carry) against Angelo State in the Wildcats’ 47-20 defeat and his 247 yards (9.5) in NMU’s 24-14 win over Davenport last week, Mayon was held to just 61 yards on 19 carries against a loaded Ferris State defensive box. Tech may utilize a similar approach the Bulldogs used to top NMU 42-10, and force NMU true freshman quarterback Ryan Johnson to beat Tech over the top. Johnson made his starting debut against Davenport and completed 12 of 19 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

“When they load the box on us, we have to go to other options,” Nystrom said. “That’s been our struggle a little bit — especially against Ferris. You got to take what the defense gives you. We’ll look at Tech and prepare for the looks they give us and go from there.”

Williams has been consistently solid throughout the season after Tech’s change to a downhill approach in the offseason. In Tech’s 28-24 comeback win over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on Saturday, he ran for 116 yards and scored three touchdowns on 16 carries. He’s ran for 176, 89, and 129 yards in Tech’s other three games, averaging no less than 4.7 yards per attempt in either contest. But his best performance might be coming Saturday. 

NMU features the worst run defense in the GLIAC and the 224 yards allowed per game ranks 151st out of 168 teams in the country.

“The emphasis on the run game will certainly be there,” Olson said.

CLOSE CALLS

Tech owns a 44-41-4 advantage in the rivalry with NMU, and since the Miner’s Cup was introduced in 2002, Tech holds a 12-3 edge and has won the last seven meetings in the series. 

But if Tech’s dominance wasn’t hard enough for NMU to endure, the last three defeats have been the epitome of heartbreak — all ending on the final play of the game. 

• In 2014, Garrett Mead converted a 39-yard field goal as time expired to give the Huskies a 34-31 victory in the Superior Dome.

• A year later, NMU was set to exact revenge until Tech’s Tanner Agen and Evan Mayer blocked the potential 45-yard-game-winning field goal attempt of NMU’s Ryan LaBerge to preserve a 24-23 win. 

• And in 2016, following a missed field goal by Tech in overtime, Mayon fumbled and allowed Tech to recover to force a second overtime. NMU then missed a field goal, and Williams scored a 9-yard touchdown to secure a 51-45 Tech win.

“I think what we’ve done is a decent job executing from all those games when it’s been close and tight,” said Olson, who will be a head coach in for the first time in the NMU-Tech rivalry. “I think Coach Nystrom will do a good job there. He’s a good coach, and I hope that as we get down the road, we become two of the more powerful football teams in the GLIAC, and every time you come to watch our game, it’s a game of two top-tier teams in the league.”

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