Huskies football needs overtime to defeat Peacocks for Homecoming
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HOUGHTON -- A bruised and battered No. 25 Michigan Tech Huskies football team used some Homecoming magic to their advantage in overtime to get past the Upper Iowa Peacocks thanks to an extra point from junior kicker Avery Kucharski on the game's final play to emerge victorious, 33-32, Saturday at Kearly Stadium.
With the win, the Huskies improved to 3-1 on the season. The game was far from perfect, according to Huskies coach Dan Mettlach.
"I thought it was sloppy, bad football for the most part," he said. "At the same time, very happy that our guys found a way to get it done. When we were playing well, obviously it was special teams, defense, and offense all doing what they needed to do. But, (we had) way too many turnovers, bad penalties, bad eyes in the back end right before half.
"(These are) the same things we’ve been talking about for the last three weeks (that) just keep rearing their head. We have a lot to fix in the bye week, and it needs to get fixed in a hurry."
Yet, the Huskies won, and at the end of the day, that's the most important thing.
"It’s like I said, I’m very happy, a win’s a win," Mettlach said. "I don’t care if it’s 33-32 in overtime, or if it’s 50-0, coming out of here with a win is a good win.
"At the same time, I just, we need to start playing to our standard, clean football, and not letting teams benefit from our mistakes that we’re doing to ourselves. Three turnovers in the first half are just inexcusable. The touchdown we gave up right before half, we should have had the lead going in, at the very worst giving up a field goal in that situation."
Mettlach does not like having to make the same points to his team.
"It’s four weeks in a row now that those same things are happening, whether it be the turnovers by our side, or the guys getting behind us on the defensive side," he said, "just situational stuff. Our guys' discipline needs to show up. We’ll keep coaching it and get it fixed in the bye week."
The Huskies had to answer a Damon Head 3-yard touchdown run in overtime if they wanted to either tie the game or potentially win on an extra point. Five plays later, junior quarterback Alex Bueno got some help from his teammates to cross the goal line on a 1-yard run to even the score before Kucharski's extra point sealed the win.
The Huskies had to turn to Kucharski's leg late in regulation just to get to overtime. He capped a nine-play drive with a 50-yard field goal to tie the game at 26-26. It was the second time this season Kucharski has hit from 50 yards or more at Kearly Stadium this season.
Upper Iowa took an early lead when Zamar Wise finished off a five-play, 34-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Michigan Tech needed just seconds to even things up. Sophomore quarterback Elliott Larner exploded from the line of scrimmage on the Huskies' second drive, ran down the left sidelines and scored from 75 yards out on a play that took 13 seconds to happen.
Nathan Behne hit back-to-back field goals of 27 and 40 yards to put the Peacocks up 13-7 before the first quarter came to an end.
Then something special happened for the Huskies.
Redshirt junior Darius Jones Jr. snatched a Wise throw 35 yards out, and he ran it home for a touchdown to help put the Huskies up 14-13 after Kucharski hit the extra point.
"They (the defense) showed up big when we needed them to," said Mettlach.
Upper Iowa wasn't finished before halftime, however. They marched right back down the field and scored on a 34-yard pass from Wise and LJ Nyenow Jr. The entire drive was four plays and covered 67 yards to give the Peacocks a 20-14 lead at the break.
The Huskies forced a turnover at the Peacocks' 3-yard line early in the second half, but could only manage a 41-yard field goal from Kucharski, which pulled the Huskies back within three at 20-17.
The score remained in favor of the Peacocks into the fourth quarter, when Larner broke open an 18-yard run up the middle of the field to reach the endzone, capping a three-play, 30-yard drive. After a Kucharski extra point attempt missed, the Huskies led 23-20 with 9:25 remaining.
Upper Iowa regained the lead six minutes later when Ronald Wilson Jr. ran it in from three yards away. Fortunately for the Huskies, the extra point attempt was blocked, so the Huskies remained just three points back with 3:24 left in the quarter.
Larner went 6-of-14 through the air for 23 yards. On the ground, he ran 12 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Senior running back Jake Rueff rushed 15 times for 101 yards.
Up next
The Huskies have a week off before traveling to Chicago, Illinois, to face the Roosevelt Lakers to open GLIAC play.