NMU football preps for the Panthers

The Northern Michigan University football team already has one victory against a team from the GLIAC South Division this season. The ‘Cats defeated Findlay last week, 41-31.

Ohio Dominican will make the long bus ride from Columbus to Marquette to battle the Wildcats. The Panthers may be the hottest team in the GLIAC.

Dating back to last season, Ohio Dominican has won seven straight games. Panthers quarterback Mark Miller leads the conference with six touchdown passes in two games this season.

The Panthers defensive line leads the GLIAC in sacks with 11. Keeping NMU quarterback Cody Scepaniak on his feet and away from the Panthers pass rush will be a big key for the Wildcats come Saturday afternoon.

“I think you need to be real conscious of why they’re creating those sacks and then go about your protections fundamentally in a way that is as sound as possible,” said Wildcats head coach Chris Ostrowsky.

“Ohio Dominican is arguably one of the best teams if not the best team in the south. It’s another great test and another great barometer to see where we are as a football program,” Ostrowsky added.

“They’re pretty talented wide receiver wise,” said Wildcats linebacker Nick Krause. “Their quarterback can scramble a little bit. The main key to this weekend I think is to keep the quarterback in the pocket and hopefully we can get to him.”

“We just need to execute our blocks,” said NMU running back Wyatt Jurasin. “We blocked pretty well against Findlay, but we can always get better, we can always work harder,” Jurasin added.

Kickoff between the Wildcats and the Panthers is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Superior Dome.