Balanced attack leads Huskies football to win over Mustangs
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HOUGHTON -- The Michigan Tech Huskies football team put up 240 yards through the air and 253 on the ground to roll over the visiting Midwestern State Mustangs Saturday afternoon at Kearly Stadium, 48-27.
Despite scoring 48 points offensively, coach Dan Mettlach believes there is still plenty for the Huskies to clean up in their game.
"It’s a win, obviously," he said. "There’s some stuff that we have to get cleaned up, and (we) got a little bit sloppy at times, but (we) score 48 points and keep that offense to seven points in the first half.
"Really, that first score I’ll put on myself, getting a little bit selfish with the surprise onside. That obviously didn’t work out. So, we give them a short field and they’re in three plays later. But, too many guys running behind us still. We have to get that cleaned up. But overall, I mean, with the talent they had, to come out with a 21-point victory. We’ll take that every time."
A wild first quarter saw both teams possess the ball three times in the game's first 10:30 before Michigan Tech finally put a seven-play, 56-yard, drive together, culminating in a sophomore quarterback Elliott Larner 16-yard pass to junior wide receiver Bryce Kurncz for a touchdown in the right corner of the end zone. After junior kicker Avery Kucharski made the extra point, the Huskies led at that point, 7-0.
The drive was set up by a junior defensive back Jamison Stamps interception. The Huskies had three of them on the day, the other two made by senior linebacker Chase Koch. Seeing Koch able to make those key plays was uplifting to the Huskies' defense,
"(Our) defensive plan, having guys drop to those spots, knowing what they were running, executed the calls, and give him (Koch) credit when the ball was thrown to him," Mettlach said. "He makes the play, and (catches the ball), so, that was good to see. Last year he didn’t pick off a ball unless he had a cast on one hand. So, today, to see it with two hands, that was good to see."
The Huskies extended that lead to 14 after Koch's second interception of the day early in the second quarter. With only 10 yards to go to get to the end zone, Elliott Larner ran one in from a yard out to get the score and put the Huskies up 14-0 at that point.
After a turnover on downs, the Huskies got the ball back, and this time, senior running back Jake Rueff punched one in from eight yards out to cap a four-play, 41-yard series. After Kucharski's kick, the Huskies led 21-0.
Rueff finished his day with 18 carries for 113 yards, which included one carry of 35 yards.
"It felt good," he said. "It’s nice to have a lot of weapons at wide receiver. It helps open up the run game a little bit. Hopefully, in the next couple games, I can break a long one."
The Huskies tried to surprise the Mustangs after the Rueff score with an onside kick attempt, but Midwestern State snatched the ball up. Seven plays later, Joseph Dodds punched one in from a yard out to get the Mustangs on the board, 21-7.
It took the Huskies all of 97 seconds of game time to answer. On the fourth play from scrimmage, Elliott Larner found his twin brother Abram, a freshman wide receiver, with a 53-yard pass across the middle of the field and he ran it in for a touchdown to put the Huskies back up by three scores, 28-7.
"They’ve got a cheat code, being twins," said Mettlach. "They know what they’re thinking. Abe is as talented (as any) of the guys we have. So, to see him make the plays he did today was awesome."
The Huskies did not have many big plays, but Mettlach loved how his receiving corps got the job done all game long.
"You go down the list of the skilled guys, and it wasn’t necessarily chunk plays that we were calling, but (junior Nic) Nora gets behind them a couple times on broken plays, and Kurncz, he did what he did, and (he did it with) the physicality he plays with.
"Overall, I thought the skilled guys, especially at key times, made plays to keep us on the field, or (they got loose) for big shots with a touchdown before half and whatnot. So, very good by that room."
Just before the half came to a close, Kucharski kicked a field goal from 51 yards away that hit the right upright before bouncing through to give the Huskies a 31-7 lead at halftime. The kick tied a school record that has stood since 1978.
The Mustangs pulled back into the game on their first possession of the third quarter when Kaden Brown found Aanjay Feliciano from 78 yards out. However, the Huskies answered a little over six minutes later with a 28-yard field goal from Kucharski.
Midwestern State scored again from four yards out when Sean Jastrab hit Damien Cox with a short pass to open the fourth quarter just five seconds in.
Again, Michigan Tech had an answer just over four minutes later when Rueff capped a two-play, 11-yard drive with a five-yard scamper for a touchdown, putting the Huskies ahead 40-21.
Brown wasn't finished, and just under two minutes later, he found Case Peacock from 16 yards out to cut the lead down again, this time to 40-27. The Mustangs tried a two-point conversion, but the Huskies broke it up in the end zone.
Elliott Larner punched one more in from a yard out to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive to seal the win for the Huskies. He followed that effort up by running in the two-point conversion.
Up next
The Huskies hit the road again this Saturday to take on Emporia State in Emporia, Kansas.