Fourteen seniors to be honored in their last game on Senior Day

The Wildcat football team will return home for their final game of the 2014 season when they host the University of Findlay Oilers at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Superior Dome.

NMU has 14 seniors playing their last college football game when they take the field this weekend.

Head coach Chris Ostrowsky said the team wants to end the season with a win for their senior class.

“It’s important for our seniors and program to end on a high note,” Ostrowsky said. “We’re excited to play at home, and Findlay is going to be ready to play. They have a talented senior group as well and I think when you play in this league you play talented teams every week. We’re going to bring energy, passion and a belief in each other, and those are critical components to being good down the road.

“We have a great group of young men that I have been blessed to coach and I’m sad to see leave, and I’m excited to see them be successful as they leave NMU and take on whatever challenges they take up.”

The Wildcats will lose six senior starters after this season, including linebacker Nick Krause, defensive linemen Trever Kruzel and Jordan Adediran, and outside linemen James Bester and Brad Kaatz as well as wide receiver Kelvin Smarwt.  Kruzel is currently ranked fifth for sacks in the GLIAC, totaling 5.5 this season. Senior defensive lineman Jordan Adediran has played in all 10 games this season making 33 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Adediran said the ’Cats have the ability to defeat the Oilers in his career finale.

“It’s really big if we can finish the year off right. It would help me leave Marquette with a good memory and make it all worth it at the end,” Adediran said. “I’m confident in our coaches’ game plan to put points up on the board. Obviously our record isn’t as good as it should be, but we’re working hard and getting better, and I’m excited for the future for these guys.”

Last weekend, the Wildcats were defeated by the Ferris State University Bulldogs 35-17 Saturday, Nov. 8 at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Mich. The Wildcats had a 17-7 lead in the fourth quarter after capitalizing on three turnovers, but NMU surrendered 28 straight points to FSU in the second half to drop their eighth game of the season. NMU is ranked eighth in the GLIAC North Division with a 1-8 conference record and 2-8 overall.

With the win, the Bulldogs advanced their conference record to 9-0 and gave them their first regular season GLIAC Championship for the first time since 1999.

This weekend, Findlay heads to NMU, ranked third in the GLIAC South Division with a 4-5 conference record and 5-5 overall. Findlay’s senior quarterback Verlon Reed has a 59.2 pass completion percentage, and has thrown for 19 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. Both the Wildcats and Oilers are eliminated from GLIAC postseason play.

NMU senior wide receiver Kelvin Smarwt said Saturday’s game will be bittersweet.

“It would be a lot of fun to end the season and my career at Northern with a win,” Smarwt said. “I’ve been thinking about my senior season ending a lot, as much as you don’t want to, you know the end is coming with time. I think Findlay is going to be very physical and try to mess us with defensive pressure, but we’re still going to come out and get the win.”