MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University football team cruised to a 63-14 win over Northern Michigan inside the Superior Dome on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (4-1, 1-0 GLIAC) racked up 486 yards of total offense in the dominant win over the Wildcats (0-5, 0-1 GLIAC).
"Defensively we were rock solid. I give a lot of credit to our defensive line and linebackers. They are a grind-it-out, heavy-run team and I thought we came out and defended the run very well today," said head coach Ryan Brady. "It was a great team win."
Mason McKenzie threw three touchdowns in the first half, the first to Terrance Brown Jr., to get the scoring going in the final two minutes of the first quarter. The 26-yard touchdown pass finished a 4-play, 54-yard drive.
Brady Devereaux scored his second touchdown of the season with a three-yard rush to move the lead to 14-0 with 11 minutes left in the first half.
Northern Michigan running back, Jahi Wood scored on a four-yard run in the middle of the second quarter to cut the Cardinal lead in half, 14-7.
McKenzie responded with a 14-yard pass to Joseph Walker that ended a five-play drive and pushed the advantage to 21-7 with 4:50 remaining in the opening half.
Brown Jr., poured it on with a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown for his second score of the game to make things 28-7.
DJ Voltz recovered a fumble on the next NMU drive to give the ball back to the offense with 2:25 left. Braden Hill punched it in from three yards out with 58 ticks on the clock for a 28-point lead.
Eli Gordon snagged his fourth interception of the season on the next play and McKenzie threw a 21-yard pass to RJ Manning that increased the lead to 42-7 as the teams entered the break.
The Wildcats scored in the third quarter with a one-yard rush by Vince Martin that put the score at 42-14.
Jaquon Howard had the first 100-yard rushing performance of his career with seven carries for 121 yards and two touchdowns. His first score was on a 38-yard rush at 4:27 of the third, pushing the lead to 49-14.
Manning scored his second touchdown on a 54-yard pass from Tanner Slazinski near the end of the third frame. The touchdown toss was the first of Slazinski's career. Howard ended the scoring with a 62-yard scamper in the opening three minutes of the final quarter.
McKenzie played a half and was 13-for-20 passing for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Slazinski went 3-for-4 for 61 yards and a touchdown pass. Howard averaged 17.3 yards per carry on his stat line. Austin Bills rushed 10 times for 50 yards. McKenzie had 45 yards on four carries.
Manning caught three passes, scoring twice, for 76 yards. Joseph Walker had three catches for 62 yards and a score. Brown Jr. scored once with his two catches for 29 yards.
Alfred Dailey Jr. and Micah Cretsinger led the defense with six tackles. Cretsinger had a forced fumble in the game as well. Jahmere LaSane and James McDonald had five tackles. Carl Biddings was credited with the lone Cardinal sack. Gordon and LaSane registered interceptions.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals have one final long road trip as they go to Chicago next week to face GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt on Saturday, October 12 at 2:00 p.m. (ET).
