Strong Second Half Leads NU Past Bulldogs

Midland, Mich. - A strong third quarter showing by the Northwood Timberwolves broke Saturday's (Oct. 24) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game open as NU snapped a halftime tie to pull out a 33-7 victory over Ferris State at Hantz Stadium in Midland, Mich.

The Bulldogs put together one of their best first-half outings of the season as the score was tied 7-7 at halftime.  However, NU tallied 26 unanswered points in the final half while improving to 5-3 overall and in league play.

FSU suffered its eighth-straight loss despite holding NU's potent rushing attack to 173 yards on 42 carries.  Ferris had two punts blocked in the game and turned the ball over three times.

Northwood took advantage of a Bulldog fumble on the opening offensive play of the game to score with 12:20 to play in the first period on Anthony Brandon's one-yard TD run.

The score remained 7-0 until the Bulldogs recorded their only points of the afternoon with 2:20 to play in the first half as freshman Skyler Stoker scored from three yards away to finish a short 29-yard Bulldog drive covering eight plays.

In the third quarter, the Timberwolves took control with a pair of touchdowns to grab a 21-7 advantage.  Dmitri Banks scored first on a 12-yard carry with 8:26 to play in the quarter following an interception at FSU's own 20-yard line.

Then, with 4:53 to play in the period, Banks caught a 40-yard scoring pass from Spencer Klukowski as the Timberwolves drove 65 yards in four plays.

NU pinned the Bulldogs deep in their own territory late in the third quarter and came up with a safety as Stoker was stopped in the endzone with 1:09 left.  NU then tacked on a 24-yard field goal from Pat Sijan on the ensuing drive to make it 26-7 with 12:30 to play.

The final Northwood touchdown was scored on a two-yard run by Joe Bitterman with 2:06 left after FSU's punt was blocked deep it its own end and recovered by the Timberwolves.

Ferris State totaled 193 offensive yards with senior quarterback Kyle Parrish throwing for 141 yards on 16-of-30 passing with one interception.  Sophomore receiver Mike Ryan had a game-high five catches for 41 yards and sophomore Tom Schneider finished with four grabs for 33 yards.  The Bulldogs totaled 52 rushing yards on 31 attempts with Stoker running for 57 yards on 22 attempts.

Meanwhile, Northwood totaled 281 offensive yards on 56 plays.  In addition to 173 rushing yards, Klukowski completed four-of-14 passes for 108 yards.  Banks caught two passes for 61 yards and Antoine Carr made two catches for 47 yards.  Anthony Brandon paced the Timberwolves on the ground with 54 yards rushing.

Defensively, senior linebacker Matt Ryan finished with 11 total stops for FSU, which fell to 1-8 overall and 0-8 in the GLIAC.  Redshirt freshman defensive end Jordan Morgan added nine tackles while Andrew DeWeerd led NU with nine stops.

Ferris State will next host the Hillsdale Chargers in their home finale next Saturday, Oct. 31, at Top Taggart Field.  Kickoff for the Halloween game is set for 2 p.m.  (EDT) with it also being designated as both Senior Day and the 10th annual Bulldog Athletics Hall of Fame Game.