Football Improves To 5-1 With 52-7 Victory Over Lake Erie

OVERVIEW – LAKE ERIE

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 52, Lake Erie Storm 7
RECORDS: Northwood 5-1, 3-1 G-MAC | Lake Erie 1-5, 1-3 G-MAC
LOCATION: Hantz Stadium – Midland, Mich.
RECAP: Northwood football moves to 5-1 on the season with a dominating 52-7 victory over Lake Erie Saturday afternoon (October 11).

INSIDE THE GAME

• After the two teams exchanged punts to open the game, Northwood opened the scoring at the 5:53 mark of the first quarter. A one-yard Ethan Hamby touchdown run capped a five-play, 35-yard drive to give Northwood a 7-0 lead.
• NU got a three-and-out on defense, which was followed by the Timberwolves offense putting together a long drive. Northwood's 12-play drive took up 6:29 off the clock and was finished off by a Drew Cady 45-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.
• Northwood special teams made their mark on the next Lake Erie possession, as Jaiden Young blocked a Storm punt. That gave the Timberwolves the ball at the Lake Erie 17. Three plays later, Trent Hill scored a four-yard rushing touchdown that pushed the NU advantage to 17-0.
• On their next possession, Northwood kept their momentum going. A seven-play, 62-yard drive was finished off by a Hamby to Lake Boos 10-yard touchdown pass.
• Another big play on special teams set up the Timberwolves for one more touchdown before halftime. Carter Minix returned a Lake Erie punt 59 yards to the Storm 31-yard line. Two passes later, Hamby found Sam Dersa for a 16-yard TD that made the score 31-0 at the break.
• Coming out of the locker room, Lake Erie put together their best drive of the day – an 82-yard, nine-play possession that resulted in a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-7.
• The Timberwolves responded right away, going 76-yard on just four plays. Hamby connected with Luke Woodke on a four-yard TD to get the lead back to 31 at 38-7.
• Linebacker Joe Lathers forced and recovered a fumble on the next Storm possession, giving the ball back to the NU offense on the LE 22-yard line. Hamby once again found Lake Boos for a TD, this time from 10 yards out.
• Northwood capped the scoring for the game early in the fourth, as Pauly Seeley found Hudson Gerstacker on a 15-yard touchdown pass to make the final 52-7.

GAME STATS

• FIRST DOWNS: Northwood 24, Lake Erie 11
• RUSHES-YARDS: Northwood 33-129, Lake Erie 33-92
• PASSING YARDS: Northwood 282 (26-28, 5 TDs, 0 INTs), Lake Erie 84 (11-17, 0 TDs, 0 INTs)
• TOTAL OFFENSE, PLAYS-YARDS: Northwood 61-411, Lake Erie 50-176
• TIME OF POSSESSION: Northwood 31:57, Lake Erie 28:03

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

• Hamby: 20-21, 224 yards passing, 4 TDs, rushing TD
• Lake Boos: Four catches, 31 yards, 2 TDs
• Dersa: Three catches, 69 yards, TD
• Cole Simpson: Eight tackles, 1.5 sacks
• Jalin Pitchford: Six tackles, sack, 3.0 tackles for loss

NORTHWOOD NOTES

• This is Northwood's first 5-1 start since the 2006 season. That year, Northwood made its final of three consecutive NCAA Playoff appearance.
• NU is now a +9 on turnover margin this season, with the defense having seven interceptions and three fumble recoveries while the offense having lost just one fumble through six games.

UP NEXT

• Northwood travels to Hillsdale for a rivalry contest against Hillsdale Saturday (October 18). Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.