The Marquette Redmen hosted the Alpena Wildcats for their homecoming game on a crisp, clear night. The Redmen have been on the road for the last four games and the crowd energy crackled with anticipation for a great match-up. In spite of a slow start, the game did not disappoint in terms of excitement.
There was nothing going on the Redmen’s or the Wildcats’ first drives. A little luck went the way of the Redmen on Alpena’s second possession as Marquette recovered a fumble. That luck ran out quickly though, as Marquette struggled to gain any traction offensively.
The first quarter remained scoreless, but the Redmen’s passing game came alive as the second quarter drew nearer. Kameron Karp started started things off with an interception to force the turnover. Karp followed that up with a reception, making it down to the Redmen 20. A couple of passing plays put the Redmen down to the Alpena 36 to end the first quarter.
There was a brief intermission as former Ishpeming High School Coach Jeff Olson was honored with the Pendill Wall of Excellence award in between quarters. He received the honor for his work on mental health awareness in the community.
The second quarter started with a bang as Drew Wyble made the catch and a 27 yard gain all the way down to the Alpena nine yard line. The Redmen took the lead at 3-0 on a field goal to break the scoreless streak.
Alpena did not waste any time answering Marquette, however. The Wildcats took two plays to zip into the end zone and take the lead at 7-3 over the Redmen.
Brady Wright started the next Marquette possession with a 50-yard carry. Austin Ridl found Wright, this time for a touchdown from 20 yards out. The Redmen carried their lead into halftime with a score of 10-7 as things started to open up offensively in this game.
Alpena struck first in the second half with a 60-yard touchdown drive. Jordan Schultz took the ball in from one yard out for a lead of 13-10.
Marquette answered with a promising drive, but settled for a Wyble field goal to tie up the game at 13-13 to end the third quarter.
Isaac Johnson came out of nowhere with a nice hit on Alpena to force a turnover for Marquette at the start of the fourth quarter. Austin Ridl followed that up with a 33-yard carry to light a fire under the Marquette offense.
And it was gains for days as Brady Wright took off for a gain of 13 on the next play. Desmond Mullen had a huge carry of 12 yards to put Marquette at the Alpena 13. Ridl found Justin Jurmu in the end zone for a touchdown to seal the deal. The Redmen took back the lead at 19-13.
Alpena answered with a TD of their own. Eli Winter ran 34 yards for the end zone to retake the lead at 20-19 with seven minutes to go.
Isaac Johnson muscled his way to a gain of 43 yards on the next play to put Marquette deep in Alpena territory and a chance to strike back. Desmond Mullen set it up, carrying the ball down to the Alpena three yard line. Brady Wright took it the rest of the way to regain the lead for Marquette at 25-20.
Alpena quickly retaliated to dash Marquette’s chances at victory. The Wildcats made it to the end zone for a lead of 28-25 and two minutes to go.
Marquette collected a late-hit penalty to gain 15 extra yards on top of the six they started with on their next drive. The Redmen took it all the way down to the Wildcat 30 yard line, but ultimately could not make it happen. Alpena took home the 28-25 win in spite of a valiant effort from Marquette.
The Redmen will be back on Friday, October 11 against Menominee in the Big Game of the Week on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1-99.9 and 103 FXD. Pregame starts at 6:20 pm, kickoff is at 7:00 pm.
Listen to a recording of the live broadcast.
