Michigan Tech wide receiver Nic Nora runs with the ball during a game against Upper Iowa Saturday, Sept. 20, at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — While coach Dan Mettlach earned recognition from the GLIAC for guiding the Michigan Tech Huskies football team to their second straight 7-4 season, junior offensive lineman Brandon DeVries and redshirt sophomore wide receiver earned All-GLIAC First Team Offense honors, several other Huskies had strong performances throughout the season.

Senior wide receiver Ethan Champney earned All-GLIAC Second Team Offense honors, while senior tight end Drew Collins, redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Matthew Daanen, redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Rowland Ball, sophomore kicker Avery Kucharski, and junior running back Jake Rueff all earned All-GLIAC honorable mention.

One who didn’t receive league accolades, but made tremendous progress was redshirt sophomore quarterback Alex Bueno. Affectionately known as ‘AB,’ Bueno led the Huskies’ offense, going 133-of-240 through the air for 1,571 yards and 13 touchdowns. He added 88 rushes for 418 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

“I would say the one thing that stands out the most right now is the toughness that he showed towards the end of the year,” said Mettlach. “He had four weeks to start the year where he played incredible football, and then gets dinged up. Compound that a little bit more with another injury on top of the first one, he misses two games, and is not himself when he is playing in the middle of the season. But, the toughness he showed wanting to get back for ‘GV’ (Grand Valley State) and Saginaw (Valley State) when he was not 100%, says a lot about not only who he is, but what this team means to him. He wants to be on the field to help us get to that next step.

“That was probably the most satisfying thing for me to see, was that it was going to take a whole bunch of stuff to keep him out of those two big games.”

When Bueno was unable to play, freshman quarterback Elliott Larner stepped in and made the most of his opportunities. He went 21-of-36 through the air for 311 yards and two touchdowns, but, more impressively, he rushed 49 times for 352 yards and eight touchdowns.

“Elliot, he’s different,” Mettlach said. “(He’s a) competitive kid. He’s tough. He wants the football in his hands, what you want in your quarterback. We knew we had a good one when we recruited him. Had AB’s injury come at a different time when it’s not in Week Three rather than Eight, when we played Northern, we probably could have used Elliott a little bit more earlier in the year, had we known that he was ready for it at that point. Hindsight’s 20/20, you’re a true freshman ‘Q’ (quarterback) Week Three of the year. Is he ready? Isn’t he ready? Looking back on it now, we probably could have used him in (the) Upper (Iowa game) like we had towards the end of the year.”

Both quarterbacks had strong seasons both in the air and on the ground, thanks to an offensive line anchored by DeVries. Mettlach loved the growth he saw from the line throughout the season.

“That’s been awesome,” he said. “The guys up front did an incredible job this year, and I think when you have success early in the year, that gets them more confidence as well.

“I said this throughout the fall as well, that having a ‘Q’ that’s capable of running the football makes it tougher to defend as well. So, all of that combined, obviously made our offense more balanced this year than it’s been in the last two years. So, that has been good.”

Mettlach wants the group to keep making the kinds of strides they did this season.

“Those guys are going to have to take the next step as well,” he said. “We were dinged up throughout the fall. Some of those guys played through injuries. Some of our young guys that are in the program currently, whether it be freshmen or second year guys, we’re going to be able to count on them as well.

“The ‘O’ line is no different than any of the other positions. If we get guys that we can count on, that we trust, we can mix and match throughout the fall with those guys as well. So, we’re not playing the same five for 10 straight weeks. That part will be good if they can all take that next step as well. But, I can’t say enough good things about what Brandon and the rest of the guys did up front the entire year. Whether it be rushing the football, or the amount of sacks we gave up, was very minimal as well. So, just an outstanding job by those guys.”

Mettlach admits that the Huskies put a lot on Nora’s plate, but the first-year starter took it all in stride and earned accolades for his efforts. Along with him, the Huskies also had nice years from Champney, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Bryce Kurncz, and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ethan Hull.

“We asked Nora to do a ton,” Mettlach said. “His growth since his freshman year has been awesome. Another guy that wants the football in his hands. It doesn’t matter how it gets there. So, I thought he took a nice step this year with his physicality as well, blocking on the edges. Doing the stuff that isn’t as glamorous, if you will.

“‘Kurnczy’ is the one that, I think, I don’t want to say surprised, because he’s been as steady as anybody we’ve had since he’s gotten on campus, but he had to play some different roles when guys were dinged up or different personnel groupings, ‘This guy’s back. We’ll put Kurnczy here, because he knows everything.’ Whether it be big catches and key moments, or, again, his physicality on the edges, he is a guy that I think opened up some eyes, at least from our staff, in terms of we could probably put more on his plate moving forward, and I think that’s going to be welcomed by him.”

Having Nora and Kurncz as a duo moving forward bodes well for the Huskies’ offense.

“Both of those guys coming back are going to be huge for our quarterbacks moving forward,” said Mettlach. “(That) allows us to mix and match some of the young receivers in spots, knowing that those two can play wherever.”