Wildcats ‘D’ to face Woodbone offense

MARQUETTE – The Northwood Timberwolves will come to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Wildcats this Saturday. The T’Wolves may give NMU’s defense a number of different looks on offense.

Northwood ran the spread last season. Don’t be surprised to see them run a ‘woodbone’ offense, which is a version of the option offense with a little more passing to it.

“They had great success years ago running the option and we’re sure we’ll see a large dose of it,” said NMU head football coach Chris Ostrowsky. “We’re going to be as prepared as we can. At the same time, I think you’ll see some spread (offense) too, so it should be interesting to see. At this juncture of the program, I think it’s more about us. It’s about running the football, playing with great effort, tackling on defense, and the rest will take care of itself.”

The Wildcats are more than ready to begin the season according to Ostrowsky.

“Oh I think they’re ready. They’re ready and I think they understand the expectations. They’ve practice hard. They’re a great group of kids and I’m excited to see them play,” added Ostrowsky.

“Triple option defense is just staying disciplined,” said NMU senior linebacker and captain Levi Perry. “You have to know your assignments and you have to do what you’re told. You have to your job and that’s it. If they do this way you have a certain thing you have to do. If they go that way you have a certain thing you have to do.”

“They’re (Northwood) real physical up front,” said NMU sophomore quarterback Shaye Brown. “They’re fast, real physical up front, and they like to move around a lot. We’ll have to see how they play us.”

NMU was won four in a row against Northwood. The Wildcats defeated the T’Wolves, 34-15 last season at the Superior Dome.