Huskies Football Hosts Cardinals for Senior Day Saturday

• 11.07.23 Dan Mettlach Press Conference

HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech football team concludes the regular season welcoming Saginaw Valley State to Kearly Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.

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About the Game

SVSU leads 25-11 in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1980 season. The Cardinals lead 10-7 in Houghton and have won six of the last 10 meetings.

About the Cardinals

Saginaw Valley State travels to the Upper Peninsula for the second consecutive weekend, following a 62-17 victory at Northern Michigan a week ago. On the season, the Cardinals have played to a 5-5 record with a GLIAC ledger of 2-3. 

For the year, Saginaw Valley averages 24.5 points per game while holding the opposition to 24.2 points per game.

The Cardinals saw GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for linebacker Micah Cretsinger following a school-record performance of four interceptions that included his third pick-six of the season. 

Mike O'Horo has thrown for six touchdowns and two interceptions, totaling 764 yards while completing just shy of 60 percent of his pass attempts. Derrick Hinton Jr. has been the main target this season for SVSU, with a team-best three touchdowns in almost 500 yards receiving. Terrance Brown controls the run game for the Cardinals with 635 rushing and five touchdowns this season.

Of note, SVSU has seen four quarterbacks with over 30 passing attempts this season, totaling 18 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions.

Cretsinger is the standout defensively for Saginaw Valley State, leading the team in total tackles (86) and interceptions (7). He ranks third nationally with 0.7 interceptions per game. He is joined by Brandon Rawls, who averages 1.6 tackles for loss per game with 6.2 tackles per game and 62 total tackles this season.

Ryan Brady is in his fourth season at the helm of the Cardinals. 

About the Huskies 

Michigan Tech turned the page on a two-game losing streak against opponents ranked top-10 nationally with a 37-3 thumping of NSIC foe Minot State at Kearly Stadium on Saturday (Nov. 4).

Senior running back William Marano posted a season-high 23 carries for 133 yards and a touchdown. His efforts awarded him conference recognition, being tabbed the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, the first of his career. He sits second in the league, averaging 68.7 rushing yards per game.

In total, Michigan Tech poured on 329 yards of total offense compared to the opposition's 149. Quarterback Alex Fries was 13-of-18 for 101 yards passing and a touchdown to Ethan Champney. Darius Willis led the Huskies with five receptions for 45 yards, tying the program record of 154 career receptions.

Drew Wyble went 3-for-3 on field goals, connecting on his second-longest field goal of the season from 46 yards. He also went 4-for-4 on extra points to total 13 of the Huskies 37 points. The Marquette, Michigan, native ranks first in the GLIAC and 16th nationally with a field goal percentage of .786. 

Defensively, the Black & Gold held the Beavers without a touchdown, a feat that the Huskies have done twice this season. Dante Basanese nabbed his third interception of the season, this time for a pick-six. Additionally, Michigan Tech had 13 tackles for loss, which totaled 37 yards, led by Hunter Buechel with seven total tackles.

Marc Sippel leads the Huskies with 85 total tackles this season for an average of 9.6 per game. He is joined by Buechel among the top-five in the GLIAC, with Buechel averaging 7.7 total tackles, respectively. 

One Last Thing

Sippel, who has D2CCA All-Region Second Team accolades from a season ago, is six tackles away from the top-10 list in program history with 263 total tackles through 30 games as a Husky.