DEKALB, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — The NIU Huskies ended a two-game losing streak Saturday afternoon at Huskie Stadium by defeating the UMass Minutemen 34-20. It’s the Huskies first win since their victory at Notre Dame back on September 7.
This was NIU’s final non-conference game. UMass, a former MAC member and now a future MAC member, came in with a record of 1-3. All three losses were to other Mid-American Conference teams.
UMass fumbled on its second play from scrimmage. The Huskies recovered and on the next play Ethan Hampton rolled to his right and connected with fullback Brock Lampe for a 15-yard touchdown. Those were the only points the Huskies put on the board in the first half. They trailed at halftime 13-7.
To make matters worse, the Huskies lost standout running back Antario Brown to an ankle injury late in the first half. He left the game and did not return.
NIU’s other running backs stepped up though. Gavin Williams rushed for 125 yards, and he scored a fourth quarter touchdown on a one-yard run. Jaylen Poe rushed for 89 yards. He scored two second half touchdowns on runs of 22 yards and three yards. Hampton added another touchdown run from one yard out with 2:05 remaining in the game.
NIU stuck with the ground game. The Huskies churned out 367 rushing yards on 54 carries. They threw the ball only ten times in the game. On the defensive side, the Huskies recorded four sacks. Roy Williams was credited with 1.5 sacks.
NIU now gets ready to jump back into MAC play next week when it travels to Bowling Green. The Huskies lost their only MAC game so far two weeks ago to Buffalo.
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