Marquette Senior High School graduate Austin Ridl rolls out looking to make a play for the Northern Michigan University football team during a game against Saginaw Valley State in the Superior Dome in Marquette on Oct. 5. (Photo courtesy NMU)

CALEDONIA — Though the result was numbingly the same, the Northern Michigan University football team could say it put on an entertaining show in its latest loss.

The Wildcats scored their most points this season in a 52-31 loss at Davenport on Saturday afternoon.

NMU falls to 0-10 overall and 0-6 in the GLIAC, still with a chance to get out of the conference basement with a win in its last game of the season on Saturday.

The Wildcats could forge a three-way tie for sixth place in the eight-team conference if they can win at Wayne State in Detroit at 1 p.m. Saturday while also getting a little help from GVSU. If Northern can beat WSU and Grand Valley takes out Roosevelt, the Wildcats, Wayne State and Roosevelt would all finish the conference season at 1-6.

On Saturday, NMU rolled up 324 rushing yards, its most in a half-dozen years, and scored the most points since Shane Richardson became coach before the 2023 season.

The running game came at the expense of throwing the ball, though, as the Wildcats attempted just seven passes while rushing 65 times.

Marquette Senior High School product Austin Ridl completed 2 of 6 passes for 23 yards and Jake Bilitz was incomplete in his only try.

Ridl, however, led all NMU rushers with 84 yards in 11 attempts, just ahead of freshman Jahi Wood’s 83 yards in 19 carries.

In addition, Negaunee High School graduates Nico Lukkarinen and Kai Lacar also got in on the running action. Lukkarinen gained 26 yards in nine carries, while Lacar has just 3 yards in three tries, but one of those rushes was an 8-yard touchdown run late in the game.

NMU got a first-quarter lead only to fall behind with a bad stretch in the second quarter. Unlike many other games, though, the Wildcats weren’t out of it even after the Panthers scored twice in 15 seconds early in the second period and added another TD about 10 minutes later.

Northern pulled within two scores on three occasions later in the game.

NMU took its only lead with an 8-yard TD run by Vince Martin late in the opening quarter. Michael Karlen’s PAT kick made it 7-3 The score was set by a 51-yard Bilitz QB scrambling run.

Then Davenport went on its onslaught. Quarterback Mac VandenHout, who completed just 6 of 11 passes but gained 156 yards through the air, ran in from 6 yards out 1:17 into the second quarter as the Panthers retook the lead.

Then after NMU fumbled the ball away on its first play from scrimmage on its ensuing possession, VandenHout took the next play to paydirt, scoring from 20 yards out to make it 17-7.

Javin Tomlinson added a 7-yard scoring run 3:38 before halftime that made it 24-7, but the Wildcats weren’t about to quit.

NMU set up for a field goal on its ensuing possession, but when Karlen’s attempt was blocked, teammate Jake Price “high-pointed” the ball behind the line of scrimmage, making him eligible to run the ball in for a rather unique TD.

After DU’s Myren Harris scored on a 1-yard run about three minutes into the second half, the Wildcats answered with a Sam Peiffer 9-yard TD catch as he won a jump-ball contest in the end zone off a toss from Ridl with a little over four minutes remaining in the third. NMU was back within 31-21.

Just over three minutes later, Karlen tacked on a 32-yard field goal that got Northern back within a single score, 31-24.

But the home squad answered with TDs on the last play of the third quarter and about five minutes into the fourth to all but snuff out NMU’s chances at 45-24.

NMU did answer with Lacar’s TD run with 3:23 left.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.