Michigan Tech quarterback Joe Hartlieb throws a pass during a game against Ferris State Saturday at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — In the aftermath of a tough battle with the top-ranked Ferris State Bulldogs football team, Michigan Tech Huskies coach Dan Mettlach felt that his team had their chances to win the game. The Huskies held the Bulldogs to 428 yards of offense and 38 points in a 38-10 loss at Kearly Stadium on Saturday.

By Tuesday, he still felt like the Huskies had their chances, even given the Huskies turned the ball over five times in the first half, all on interceptions.

“Our guys played hard. We were physical, played right to the very end, but just never in the game after those first half turnovers,” he said. “So, not a whole lot different than what we thought post game. (The game) film kind of held true, but I was proud of the way the guys played.”

One highlight for the Huskies (5-2 overall, 2-1 GLIAC) was their final drive. They marched 17 plays, for 75 yards, alternating between senior quarterback Joe Hartlieb and freshman quarterback Elliott Larner. Hartlieb took on the passing attempts, while Larner handled the running plays.

“Again, same thing I talked about after the game, I loved the mentality that they had when they came into the game to execute what we were asking them to execute,” Mettlach said. “Guys played right to the final whistle, and were able to get one across the goal line, which was good to see. But, at that point they (Ferris State) had made their substitutions. Obviously, we had made a couple as well, and still love that we were able to execute, but it didn’t mean a whole lot when we got to that point.”

Of those five first-half interceptions, four were thrown by redshirt sophomore Alex Bueno, who has won five of his first seven starts now as a starting quarterback.

“Well, two of them are unlucky,” said Mettlach. “One gets batted up, batted and picked, and the other one we had caught, and their guy just made a really nice play on it to get the ball loose. Looking back on it, that’s one thing I went back, and kind of beat myself up a little bit. We should have done a little bit more to help out ‘AB.’ (We) put a lot on his plate, and by no means are those four picks 100% on the ‘Q’ (quarterback). Obviously that’s what everybody sees is a quarterback throwing the interceptions, but there was just nowhere to go with the football. It was tight windows.

“Obviously, they had really good athletes, and they made some plays. The one that ended up going back for six, looking back on it, he wishes he could have that one back. We had somebody open on the underneath route, and he’s just trying to make a play.”

Mettlach says he has himself to blame.

“He’s still a young ‘Q.’ Things moving 100 miles an hour, maybe a little bit faster with that team that we saw, and it was a lot on him,” Mettlach said. “That’s my fault at that point. We should have done some things to help him out, to get him in more of a rhythm. I regret that, looking back on It. But ‘AB’ is fine; plays hard, makes some plays. Obviously, we’re in the situation we are in right now being 5-2, a lot of it having to do with what he does. So, he’ll bounce back from it.”

Despite giving up 38 points, Mettlach felt that the Huskies’ defense stood up to the test of the Bulldogs as much as they could, given some of the situations they found themselves in.

“I thought they played really well on that side,” he said. “Let’s call it what it is. Any time that team can get bodies in space, the advantage is in their hand. So, we did a nice job, for the most part, with the run game, and they got some guys loose on the edge with some of their Jet sweeps, and then the short throws. Obviously, that’s where they’re dangerous. (But, we) played well on that side, played hard, got the turnover with the touchback on that one drive there, going in, playing right to the end, and a lot of very good things. We were physical on that side, as well, and got hats to the football when the opportunity was there.”

Scouting the Wildcats

This Saturday, the Huskies travel the 100 miles to face their U.P. rivals, the Northern Michigan Wildcats in the 23rd game of the Miner’s Cup game at the Superior Dome. The Huskies have won the last 14 times the two teams have played, and are 20-4 since 2000, but the Wildcats feel better about themselves than they have in some time, given that they broke a 26-game losing streak by beating Roosevelt on the road, 42-21, to improve to 1-6 on the season and 1-2 in GLIAC play.

They set a new school record with 538 yards of rushing in the game.

Redshirt freshman Noah Dobert drives the offense from behind the line of scrimmage with 146 rushes for 818 yards and seven touchdowns. Sophomore running back Jahi Wood has also been good, rushing 125 times for 597 yards and six touchdowns.

Former Ewen-Trout Creek star Austin Gordon, a freshman, was in at quarterback for the Wildcats’ first win of the season.

“(Playing Northern Michigan,) that’s a big deal to everybody in our locker room, has been for a long time,” said Mettlach. “Growing up in the U.P., understanding what it is, 20 minutes from the dome with my hometown having watched them, was on their staff for a while. I’ve been on both sides of it, know what it means to both schools, programs, and alumni, fans. It’s just a big deal. So, it’s circled on our calendar every single year. Our guys know what it means in our locker room, and there’s no struggle to get our guys up for this one. So, we know what we’re going into and our guys will be ready to go.”

Game time

The Huskies and Wildcats are set to renew their rivalry Saturday at 12 p.m. at the Superior Dome in Marquette.