The Bulldog football team’s fifth 50-point output of the season propelled them to their eight straight victory and a win against the Northern Michigan Wildcats.
The No. 2 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs (8-1, 5-0 in GLIAC) claimed a 55-9 victory over the Northern Michigan Wildcats (0-9, 0-5 in GLIAC) in the Superior Dome on Saturday, Nov. 2. The Bulldogs’ win marks the 13th straight time that Ferris has beaten Northern Michigan.
The nation’s No. 4 ranked offense outgunned the Wildcats 507 yards to just 246.
Ferris started off slow on both sides of the ball. The Bulldog offense was unable to put up any points in the first quarter for the first time this season, and Northern Michigan churned out multiple long drives early on offense.
However, the Bulldogs’ defense cashed in early and put them on the board first when junior linebacker Sefa Saipaia returned a Northern Michigan fumble 56 yards for a score in the middle of the first quarter.
This was ferris’ second defensive touchdown of the year, with the first coming from junior defensive back Gyasi Mattison in the Bulldogs 55-13 win over the Roosevelt Lakers.
The second quarter saw the Bulldogs score on their first offensive possession with a rushing touchdown from junior quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.
A fumble from the Wildcats a few drives later set Ferris up in short field position which led to a touchdown on the ground from junior wide receiver Brady Rose.
The Bulldogs closed out the half with another touchdown on the ground courtesy of Chambliss before the half, giving Ferris a 27-2 lead at the break.
In addition to the touchdown in the first quarter, Saipaia led Ferris with ten total tackles and two fumble recoveries.
Saipaia was proud of how the team came out of the second half after the slow start.
“We came out of halftime and we played like the team we know we can be,” Saipaia said. “We need to finish stronger at the end, the standard is the standard.”
In the second half, the Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 28-7.
On the second play of the third quarter, junior running back Kannon Katzer extended the Bulldog lead to 32 with a 66-yard touchdown run.
Katzer led Ferris with 126 yards on just five carries and one touchdown.
Ferris ran for 325 yards on 42 attempts throughout the game, averaging 7.7 yards per carry.
“All of the running backs had a great all-around game,” Katzer said. “Our offensive line also keeps improving every week, without them we really wouldn’t be a team.”
The passing game was not Ferris’ main emphasis of attack as opposed to the previous week. The Bulldogs threw for only 182 yards and one touchdown. Chambliss was the passing leader, completing 46% of his passes (7/15) for 141 yards.
The leading receiver for the Bulldogs was sophomore wide receiver Taarik Brett who went for 53 yards on one long reception from Chambliss.
Ferris allowed over 100 yards rushing for just the third time this season, but forced two turnovers and held Northern Michigan to a 38% conversion rate (5-13) on third down.
Head coach Tony Annese was happy with how hard his team fought after the slow start.
“One of the main characteristics of our team is that we fight hard,” Annese said. “The execution wasn’t great, but our kids are gritty, they know how to be competitors and I am proud of them for that.”
This week, the Bulldogs will return home for their second to last regular season game in a matchup against the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals who are ranked third in the GLIAC. Ferris took down the Cardinals 38-17 in their 2023 matchup. The game will be played on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. at Top Taggart Field.