HOUGHTON — In a battle last Saturday with the No. 23 Grand Valley State Lakers, the Michigan Tech Huskies football team held them to just three points in the second half, but could not overcome an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter in an 18-15 loss in Allandale.

The Huskies gave the Lakers everything they could handle, especially given that Grand Valley was celebrating their Homecoming during the contest.

Michigan Tech’s defense held strong throughout the contest.

“(We) played really well; got off the field quite a bit,” Huskies coach Dan Mettlach said. “They’re talented on that side of the football at their skill spots. So, there’s a couple of chunk plays that we gave up, obviously, but that’s going to happen against them.

“I thought, as a whole, everybody played well. We were physical, no big eyes. We just (made) too many crucial mistakes at bad times, and you can’t do that against those teams.”

With the loss, the Huskies fell to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in GLIAC play. They are tied for second in the conference with Grand Valley, Davenport, and their opponent this week, Saginaw Valley State.

The logjam after top-seed Ferris State is not surprising.

“No, after going through the schedule, especially (given that) Ferris is Ferris, everybody else is kind of in that same situation where anybody can beat anybody,” Mettlach said. “So, it doesn’t surprise me a ton. Obviously, things will get separated after this weekend, but are there a couple games that we thought would go a different way? Yes. But, in terms of how the middle of the pack is right now, it’s not overly surprising.”

As the Huskies prepare to face the Cardinals, Mettlach lamented one of the bigger mistakes the Huskies had against the Lakers.

“Yeah, it’s another talented team coming in, as skilled as the rest of the top of the GLIAC in terms of their skill spots,” said Mettlach. “So, we’re going to have our hands full from that standpoint. We need to do a better job of taking care of the football and the red zone. We can’t continue to shoot ourselves on the foot. We get opportunities to put points on the board, we’ve got to be able to execute at that time. We have to get back to playing complimentary football.

“I felt like on Saturday, we go down and get the score to make it a 8-7 game, immediately give up the kick past the 50, and then they’re in the end zone three plays later. The momentum of playing off of each other didn’t match up. We have to get back to being able to execute on both sides of the football at the same time, where we can get points on the board, get stops, so on and so forth to where we can potentially build a lead at that point.”

While redshirt quarterback Alex Bueno continues to recover from an ankle injury, Mettlach has really liked what he sees out of freshman Elliott Larner, who has stepped in to help out at various points in recent games.

“(Alex) battled through it, (but) he’s not himself. That was obvious with the way he was moving,” Mettlach said. “But what Elliott gives us with his feet allows us to play both of them. ‘AB’ made some plays on Saturday in terms of throwing the football. We had the rushing score on the one where he just went up the middle. But, he’s doing everything he can to not only get himself back to healthy, but battling through what I’m sure doesn’t feel great when he’s playing. (He) was effective on Saturday. So, love his effort and toughness that he showed, and then, obviously, getting the young kid involved, he’s going to do his part as well.”

With temperatures set in the mid-to-high 40s for Saturday, with potential for rain, the weather could play a factor against the Cardinals.

“Weather, it is what it is,” said Mettlach. “When you live up here, it’s part of the deal. So, we’ll practice in it all week, and whatever ends up happening on Saturday, rain, snow, 50 degrees, whatever it’s going to be, we’ll be ready for that part of it.

“But, it’s part of the deal. We’ve actually been pretty fortunate in terms of what the weather’s been like throughout the fall. So, even last week ended up being alright from a temperature standpoint. Can’t complain about that. It just is what it is, and we’ll deal with it.”

Scouting the Cardinals

The Saginaw Valley State Cardinals come into this weekend 5-5 overall and 4-2 in GLIAC play after a 51-45 loss to No. 1 Ferris State in two overtimes. The Cardinals beat Grand Valley State, but lost to Davenport this season as well.

They are led offensively by redshirt sophomore quarterback Mason McKenzie, who is 150-of-255 for 1,846 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He is also the team’s leading rusher with 146 carries for 902 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His favorite target has been redshirt junior wide receiver Terrance Brown Jr., who has 48 catches for 627 yards and seven touchdowns.

Game time

The Huskies and Cardinals will meet Saturday at 12 p.m. at Kearly Stadium in Houghton.