Michigan Tech beats Ferris State 41-14
(Courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics)
HOUGHTON, Mich. — Michigan Tech’s football seniors ended their home careers at Sherman Field today on a high note, toppling Ferris State 41-14. A blocked punt for a touchdown early in the second quarter started a string of 34 unanswered points for the Huskies, who improved to 6-4 overall and 5-4 in GLIAC play.
Freshman quarterback Tyler Scarlett, who had 211 yards passing, reset the school record for yards in a season with a third-quarter touchdown pass. The rookie owns 2,214 yards with another game to play. The old record was Steve Short’s (2006-10) at 2,194.
“This was maybe the most complete game we’ve played all year,” said head coach Tom Kearly. “We had a special teams touchdown, our defense held a very good offense in check and our offense possessed the ball for 40 minutes.”
Tied at 7-all in with three minutes gone in the second quarter, Ferris State was forced to punt from their own endzone. Ben Potter broke through the line to block Shawn Snoor’s punt, and the loose ball was recovered in the endzone by Dan Perralt to make the score 14-7.
Four minutes later, Cedrick Barber extended the margin on a 10-yard run. The extra point was blocked, leaving the score 20-7.
Tech’s defense made the Bulldogs (5-5, 4-5 GLIAC) punt for a third time in the quarter. Bryan LaChapelle’s juggling catch in the endzone with 3:50 left in the half made it a 27-7 score.
FSU drove down to the Tech six-yard line in the final moments before the intermission, but Todd Storm and Ian Coughlin combined for a quarterback sack. The Bulldogs could not get their field goal unit on in time for an attempt, leaving the score 27-7 at the break.
The hosts added to the margin in the third quarter. Akeem Cason tallied his second TD of the day with a 45-yard run from scrimmage. Cason went on to a season-high 117 yards on 17 carries on the day.
Scarlett added his record-breaking pass on the first play of the fourth quarter on a perfect fade route to Justin Springer for a 41-7 lead.
FSU added a touchdown at the 13:42 mark of the fourth quarter, but the Huskies were able to eat up 12:20 of the final 13:42 minutes to claim their ninth straight win in the series vs. Ferris State.
Tech recorded 447 yards of total offense compared to 274 for the Bulldogs. The Huskies defense held the visitors 176 yards below their incoming season average of 450.0.
Senior Drew Vanderlin, who had a third-quarter sack, moved within 1.5 of the school record for career sacks. Coughlin, also a senior, led the team in tackles with 10.
Sixteen Huskies’ seniors played their last games at Sherman Field. The group has compiled a 24-17 record over the last four seasons.
“This was a big win for the 16 seniors,” said Kearly. “They have a chance to have at least seven wins in at least three of their four years. That’s the type of success and expectations we’d like to continue.”
Michigan Tech will wrap up their 2011 campaign next Saturday (Nov. 12) at arch rival Northern Michigan. The battle for the Miner’s Cup will commence at 1 p.m. in Marquette.