HOUGHTON, Mich. — The Michigan Tech football team found its
game today. The Huskies controlled both sides of the ball and even
tallied a special teams touchdown en route to a 40-12 victory over
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Ferris State
amid sloppy field conditions at Sherman Field. Considering the last
two weekends and the fact it was Homecoming, the timing couldn't
have been better.
Tech registered six takeaways on the day, starting with a sack by
Chris Nowak and fumble recovery on FSU's opening possession. Two
plays later, Steve Short found Keith White open for a 25-yard pass
play and 6-0 lead.Alex Tiseo's extra point attempt was missed.
Later in the first quarter, four-year starting cornerback DaVaughn
Dixon tallied his first career interception. He stepped in front of
C.J. Van Wieren's pass at the 42-yard line and returned it 31 yards
to the Ferris 11. Two plays later, Steve Short sprinted around the
left end inside the pylon for a 12-0 lead.
Bobby Slowik broke the game open with a 69-yard punt return down
the left sideline at the 14:32 mark of the second quarter. The
Huskies defense forced FSU to turn the ball over on downs twice in
the second quarter. The second of those led to an 11-play drive and
a Marvin Atkins four-yard TD run for a 26-0 advantage.
Van Wieren hooked up with Mike Guevara for two consecutive long
strikes to get Ferris State on the board heading into halftime. The
intermission score was 26-6.
Michigan Tech's offense continued to roll in the second half with a
nine-play, 57-yard drive to open the quarter. Short found Slowik on
a slant round for a 20-yard score on a fourth-and-four situation to
expand the hosts' lead to 33-6.
A Robert Haynes interception and 41-yard run-back to the Ferris
State nine led to the final Tech touchdown of the afternoon. Two
plays later, Short scrambled to his right and appeared as if he
would try to run for the goal when he flipped an underhanded pass
to Kirk Williams in the back of the endzone.
Senior safety Cheyne Nelson put an exclamation on the day with
back-to-back sacks on third and fourth down at the 7:22 mark of the
fourth quarter.
"Our defense set up our offense all day and we were looking at
short fields on quite a few occasions," said Huskies' head coach
Tom Kearly. "We converted our opportunities with touchdowns and any
time you can go plus five in turnovers, you've got a great chance.
It was a nice all-around win."
Fans were forced to sit through a lightning delay, which pushed the
start of the game back 20 minutes. A nice crowd of 2,350 waited out
the weather and watched the Huskies roll up 303 yards of total
offense — 217 yards rushing and 86 passing.
Atkins gained 133 yards on 30 carries, while Short added 62 on 12
attempts. Short went six-of-13 through the air with three
touchdowns to three different receivers and just one
interception.
Nelson and linebacker John Vanderlaan led Tech's defensive effort
with 12 tackles apiece. Nelson added three tackles for loss
including the two sacks. Vanderlaan was also credited with three
tackles for loss to go with a fumble recovery and forced
fumble.
Michigan Tech, which has now won five straight Homecoming contests,
improved to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in league play with the win. Ferris
State's record drops to 3-3 overall and 2-3 in the GLIAC.
The Huskies will head back on the road Saturday (Oct. 13) for a
noon kickoff at Saginaw Valley State.
Notes: Slowik's punt return for a touchdown was the first by a Tech
player since Dominique Moultrie returned one 84 yards against
Northern Michigan on Sept. 22, 2001 ... Michigan Tech's four
interceptions were just one short of the school record of five, set
Nov. 3, 1979, against Minnesota State Mankato ... The Huskies are
2-1 at home this season and 14-4 at Sherman Field since the start
of the 2004 season.
