With nine seconds left in the fourth quarter of the 2016 Miner’s Cup, an 18-yard pass from senior quarterback Shaye Brown found junior wide receiver Jaranta Lewis in the end zone, tying the rival match-up 45-45 and forcing overtime.

The Wildcats, however were, unable to break their now 7-year losing streak against the Huskies and fell 51-45 in overtime.

Both teams failed to kick a field goal in extra time. Michigan Tech closed out the game in the second overtime period on a 9-yard touchdown rush.

“[The football team] played their heart out today and did enough to win. And somehow, it just didn’t go our way again,” head coach Chris Ostrowsky said. “I’m heartbroken. No one is happy but we will regroup tomorrow and play week 11.”

Despite the loss, sophomore running back Jake Mayon achieved a career-high 240 rushing yards and breached the end zone twice.

Brown attributed the team’s high-scoring performance in the first half to Mayons ability to run the ball.

“[Mayon] might be the best football player on the team,” Brown said. “He was making runs I’ve never seen in this league.”

The Huskies had the first score of the game after MTU sophomore defensive lineman Cody Goldsworthy sacked Brown in the Wildcat end zone taking a 2-0 lead at the 5:51 mark of the first quarter.

A forced fumble from freshman linebacker La’Ryan Johnson off a Tech kickoff would be recovered by junior running back D’Jon Meek at the Huskies’ 44-yard line. This play paved the way for Mayon to make a 3-yard dash into paydirt, capturing NMU’s first lead.

Tech found the end zone for the first time within the first five minutes of the second quarter. NMU answered back with a 51-yard run from Mayon, his second of the game.

The ’Cats capped off the second quarter with a pair touchdown receptions and went into the locker room with a 12-point lead 16-28.

Brown found senior wide receiver Paris Woods for a 13-yard pass into paydirt. The second touchdown came from sophomore wide receiver Michael Akinlade, the first of his collegiate career, after Brown found him deep for a 63-yard pass.

In his last home game of his college career, Brown threw for 293 yards and four touchdowns. Ostrowsky described Brown’s performance as “special” and credited the quarterback for being able to spread passes to various receivers.

“I thought [Brown] played winning football for us,” Ostrowsky said. “ I’m proud of him. He’s had a great career here.”

The Wildcats take on their final opponent of the 2016 campaign against the Tiffin University Dragons. The last time these two teams faced off was in the 2011 season when the Wildcats took down the Dragons 59-3 at the Superior Dome. The Dragons currently stand sixth in the GLIAC with the record of 6-3. The Wildcats are 3-6 and 11th in the conference.

The Wildcats are not viewing their final match-up as a “throw away game” and intend to put up a good fight, Brown said.

“I think there are a lot of guys on this team that have the mentality that they’re not just going to give up because there’s nothing to really play for,” Brown added.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12 at Tiffin’s Frost-Kalnow Stadium.