UNIVERSITY CENTER, MICH. — The Saginaw Valley State University football cruised to a 47-25 homecoming win over Northern Michigan at Wickes Memorial Stadium. The Cardinals (2-3, 1-0 GLIAC) start league play 1-0 and extend their winning streak to eight over the Wildcats (0-4, 0-2 GLIAC).

 

"I thought we played a really clean first half. Offense, defense, and special teams all went the way we planned," said SVSU head coach Ryan Brady. "I am really proud of the guys and thought they showed improvement on the things that we have really been focusing on these past few weeks."

 

Meijer Player of the Game Terrence Brown Jr. (Detroit, Mich. / Martin Luther King HS) led SVSU receivers with eight catches for 155 yards and two scores. The receiving yardage total was a career high for him and the first time he recorded 100+ receiving yards in a game.

 

Mason McKenzie (Caledonia, Mich. / Caledonia HS) also had a strong game. He compiled 243 passing yards and 110 rushing yards, totaling 353 yards of offense. This is his second career game with 200+ passing and 100+ rushing yards, both this season.

 

SVSU opened with a five-play, 65-yard drive, capped by a 31-yard TD pass from McKenzie to Braden Hill (Charlotte, Mich. / Charlotte HS). That early strike gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead on their first possession.

 

Wildcat quarterback Austin Ridl was picked off by Sean Hodges (Detroit, Mich. / Cass Tech HS) on the first NMU drive. The Cardinals, taking over with great field position on the Wildcat 31, saw their drive stall just short of midfield and punted the ball back to Northern Michigan.

 

The Cardinals pushed the score to 10-0 in the second quarter as Teagen Lenderink (Rockford, Mich. / Brentwood Academy TN) drilled a 26-yard field goal at 13:10, putting Saginaw Valley ahead by two scores.

 

The Cardinals took advantage of a Wildcat fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving SVSU the ball in plus territory. McKenzie hit Brown with a 15-yard pass to the one-yard line. Michael Jamerson III (Flint, Mich. / Davison HS) finished with his first score to make it 17-0 with 9:32 left in the half. Jamerson III had 11 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns.

 

Northern Michigan responded with a 10-play, 48-yard drive and a 44-yard field goal. This trimmed the lead to 17-3 with 3:59 left in the second half.

 

A 40-yard kick return by Jaquan Howard (Chicago, Ill. / Bolingbrook HS) set up SVSU at their own 42. On just the second play of the drive, Jamerson III broke free for a 42-yard touchdown run, pushing the lead to 24-3.

 

McKenzie made a man miss with a spin move and opened himself up for a 15-yard touchdown in the closing minute of the half. The play pushed the lead to 30-3.

 

NMU quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf was intercepted by Carrington Pryor (Saginaw, Mich. / Heritage HS), who returned it 39 yards to the Wildcat 21 as time expired. A Northern Michigan penalty on the return gave SVSU one untimed play. The Cardinals sent Lenderink out for a 27-yard field goal, making it 33-3 at the break.

 

McKenzie put SVSU back on the board next, finding Brown for a touchdown to push the lead to 40-3 with 5:33 left in the third.

 

Northern answered with back-to-back touchdown drives, cutting the gap to 22 points (40-18). Noah Dobert scored on a two-yard run with 12 seconds left in the third. Jahi Wood added a 13-yard rushing touchdown at 11:09 in the fourth.

 

Nick Patterson (Mooresville, Ind. / Mooresville HS) took over at quarterback for SVSU in the fourth quarter. He ended his second drive with a 47-yard touchdown pass to Brown Jr., making it 47-18 with 10:17 to play.

 

With 2:32 left, Theuerkauf found Sebastian Boyea for a 27-yard touchdown pass, capping the game's scoring at 47-25.

 

Christian Boivin (Traverse City, Mich. / Traverse City West HS) led the Cardinals with 12 tackles, five solo, plus a fumble recovery. It is his second game this season with over 10 tackles. James McDonald (Warren, Mich. / De La Salle HS) reached double digits for the first time with 10 tackles. Junyoung Chung (Berrien Springs, Mich. / Berrien Springs HS) and Adom LeDuc (Utica, Mich. / Utica Stevenson HS) each recorded six tackles. Chung added a tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Jaden Bevier (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Ypsilantis HS) and Mason Nickel (Midland, Mich. / Dow HS) had sacks. Both Hodges and Pryor had interceptions and added four and two tackles, respectively.

 

UP NEXT: The Cardinals remain at home next week to host Roosevelt in a GLIAC matchup on Saturday, October 11 at 2:00 p.m. (ET).