HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech football team continues the nonconference slate with the home opener, welcoming fellow STEM school South Dakota Mines to Kearly Stadium on Thursday at 6 p.m.
This marks the first Thursday home game for MTU since the season opener against Wis.-Platteville in the 2022 season.
LevelUPÂ Embroidery T-Shirt Toss
Fans in attendance will have an opportunity to claim t-shirts from LevelUP Embroidery who will be tossing t-shirts into the crowd during the game.
Watch The Huskies
All home and GLIAC games will be streamed on FloSports. Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football and soccer with one subscription. FloSports provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription. Subscriptions are offered in two different billing packages - monthly and annual. Discounts are available for students enrolled at GLIAC member and associate member institutions. You must subscribe with a .edu email address to be eligible. FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.
The Game
Although both institutions have over 100 years of history, this will be the first time that the two institutions will clash.
About the Hardrockers
South Dakota Mines opened its season at home with a 35-6 loss to CSU Pueblo on Thursday evening. The Hardrockers had a tough going being on the opposite end of a school record performance as the opposition set a school record with 548 passing yards.Â
Despite the lopsided affair on defense, linebacker Jacob Schwab accounted for five total tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack for five yards and an interception. Isaac Engle also came up big for South Dakota Mines with a blocked field goal on the Thunderwolves' opening drive.Â
Offensively, the Hardrockers struggled to find offense on the ground-–gaining just 50 yards in the run game. On the flip side, quarterback Jake Martinelli threw for 164 yards on 20-for-47 with a long of 19-yards. Max Hoatson was the top receiver with five receptions for 38 yards.
Punter Kaleb Tischler was a bright spot on special teams, accounting for 11 punts (474 yards) for an average of 43.1 per punt. Additionally, the Hardrockers got their lone points from kicker Connor Taylor, who connected on a 37 and 42-yard field goal.
About the HuskiesÂ
Michigan Tech returns home for the first time this season following a tough overtime loss against No. 20/25 Bemidji State 19-13 in Bemidji, Minnesota on Thursday night.
MTU scored first with a 10-yard pass from quarterback Alex Fries to Ethan Champney—who took it 17 yards for a touchdown, completing an eight-play, 85-yard opening drive. Freshman kicker Avery Kucharski went 2-for-3 on field goals, with his first (30-yard) make pushing the Huskies ahead 10-0 with 12:35 to play in the third quarter and his second (32-yards) tying the game 13-all as time expired to send the game into overtime.
The Huskies' all-time reception leader, Darius Willis, looked to be in midseason form, producing 148 all-purpose yards and 10 receptions for 113 yards to lead the team.
The defense was stout for both teams as Michigan Tech had two takeaways in defensive back Sam Ahern snagging an interception at the one-yard line at the end of the first quarter and a forced fumble by defensive back Hunter Buechel picked up by transfer Pierce Miller at the 3:04 mark in the second quarter. Bemidji State controlled the ground, holding MTU to 19 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
One Last ThingÂ
The duo of kicker Avery Kucharski and punter Brenden Lach impressed in game one as Lach amassed seven punts for 315 yards (45-yard average), with the longest of the day being an impactful 64 yards. On kickoffs, Kucharski averaged 63.7 yards per on three kicks totaling 191 yards.
