UIndy Hounds bitten by the Huskies
The University of Indianapolis Greyhounds have now lost two consecutive games against undefeated teams and are now 2-2 on the season. The Greyhounds were beaten by the Michigan Tech Huskies, 24-10 on Saturday Sept. 25 after losing to Grand Valley State the previous week.
The Greyhounds were without the talents of junior quarterback Rob Doyle against the Huskies as he suffered a shoulder injury during the Grand Valley game. Freshman Chris Mills was able to start in his place.
UIndy scored first as an Alex Byrnes interception in the first quarter set up an Aaron Puntarelli 20-yard field goal. Michigan Tech answered back a quarter later as a 6-yard run by Michigan Tech running back Phil Milbrath put the Huskies up 7-3.
After halftime, Milbrath found the end zone again to put Michigan Tech up 14-3. On the very next drive, Mills found sophomore receiver Mar’Quone Edmonds for a 56-yard touchdown and Mill’s first touchdown as a Greyhound.
The Michigan Tech running attack eventually wore down the Greyhounds defense in the second half as they rushed over 50 times during the contest for 247 yards. Huskie halfback Akeem Cason scored mid-way through the fourth quarter to give the Huskies a 14 point victory.
“The bottom line is that we have to take advantage of those turnovers,” head coach Bob Bartolomeo said.
On Sept. 18, went up against the number one team in the country, Grand Valley State, and lost in the final minute. Both teams traded punches for four quarters before the Lakers eventually got the upper hand.
However, UIndy tied the game late in the fourth quarter with a Paul Corsaro six-yard run into the end zone. The score was tied 31-31 with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore Mar’Quone Edmonds is tackled by a Michigan Tech player during the first half of the game on Sept. 25 at Key Stadium . Edmonds went on to score a 56-yard touchdown for the Greyhounds later in the game. Photo by Elizabeth Wheeler.
The Lakers scored with 30 seconds left. This gained the Greyhound their first loss of the season with a final score of 38-31.
“Had a few things gone differently, we could have pulled out the win,” Doyle said after he completed half of his passes for 146 yards and a touchdown of his own to Edmonds, “we’re happy with the effort. We did what we could, unfortunately we came up short.”
A new emphasis on the running game this season has produced mixed results. After rushing for over 200 yards against Kentucky Wesleyan in the season opener, the Greyhounds rushed for only 11 yards against Ashland. The ground game rebounded for over 100 yards against Grand Valley then only ran for 14 yards against the Huskies.
“To win football games you have to be able to operate in both dimensions…run and pass,” sophomore Joumeel McLaurine said before the Michigan Tech game. “If we can’t run the ball the defense won’t respect it and concentrate on stopping the pass. We can’t win that way.”
Before the season, Bartolomeo said he wanted to improve the special teams. The focus on the squad seems to have paid dividends. Senior punter Tyran Fakes was 15th in the country in yards per punts (an average of 42) going into last Saturday’s game against Michigan Tech. The return game and the kickoff coverage squads have improved as well. Ryan Forney has a punt return for a touchdown to his credit and has been effective in kickoff returns as well.
The Greyhounds kick off the rest of the season with a battle against the Findlay Oilers on Saturday at in Findlay, Ohio.
