Searching for a third straight

Michigan Tech defensive back Junyoung Chung prepares to return a kick during a game against South Dakota Mines on Thursday, Sept. 5, at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

OSHKOSH, Wis. — With two straight wins at home, the Michigan Tech Huskies football team hits the road again this weekend looking for their first win away from Kearly Stadium. They know they have a battle on their hands, as they will face the No. 13 Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans.

The Huskies enter Saturday’s matchup 2-1 on the season thanks to a victory over Hillsdale, 21-6, last weekend. Despite the fact that they led for most of the game, coach Dan Mettlach was still not overly happy with the way the Huskies defeated the Chargers.

“Obviously, we’re always happy getting a win,” he said. “That’s not easy to do at this level. So, proud of the guys for that part of it. We did a lot of good things, and, obviously, there’s some stuff that’s starting to click with guys, which is good to see. At the same time, even after the game, watching it the next day, showing it to the guys yesterday, I think everybody in our locker room understands that that wasn’t Michigan Tech football for four quarters.

“So, that part is good that our guys aren’t getting fooled by just winning a football game. Our execution in every situation, and the bad penalties we took, and so on, that’s just not who we are. We need to get that part cleaned up, and the guys know that.”

Penalties are something that Mettlach has been keenly aware of during his tenure with the Huskies. He wants his players to get to that edge, but not cross over it, which is something that still needs work.

“That starts at the top,” he said. “I mean, if there’s a penalty problem, we have to get our guys to understand where that edge is at, not taking cheap penalties, and so on. Some of the penalties you get during a game, holds or that type of stuff, is you’re playing hard, you get caught in some bad positions, that happens. But, the discipline penalties after the whistle, or penalties before the whistle, are inexcusable.

“Those just need to get corrected.”

Still, the Huskies found a way to get the win, which is the end goal.

“No matter where we are in a game, whether we’re up the whole game, or we’re down and trying to fight back, every guy that we have in our locker room knows that we have a chance to win every single game we play, no matter what’s going on,” said senior defensive back Hunter Buechel after the win over the Chargers. “The culture we have in our locker room is amazing, and everybody’s staying in high spirits, no matter what’s going on in the game. It’s a great feeling being around all the guys that we have on our team.”

Mettlach loves the effort he gets from Buechel every game.

“I love everything in his game,” said Mettlach. “We have for a while. We feel like he’s one of the best football players in that position in our entire league. He does that on a week in, week out, basis. He finally got recognition for it this past weekend, but he is that guy for us every weekend.

“So, when Hunter is making plays like he did, sacks off the edge, knocking balls down, along with everything else he does, obviously, he’s tough to game plan for and everything else. He makes our defense go right now, and, obviously, we’re going to expect that kind of production from him.”

Buechel earned GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against the Chargers.

He was also a key component for the Huskies in the win, along with sophomore linebacker Chase Koch and junior linebacker Porter Zeeman, who both worked to fill in for the injured Marc Sippel.

“I thought Chase played well,” Mettlach said. “Porter did some good things as well. Obviously, the rest of the guys picking up the slack, from a communication standpoint with Sips out, was big for us. But, it’s a team-wide thing.

“I told you guys that on Friday, before we even got to the game, that it’s not just the defensive guys that need to step up. Everybody’s going to have to. You lose a guy like that one way or another, whether it’s a voice in the locker room, production on the field, whatever, everybody’s got to step up when you lose a guy like Sips.”

SCOUTING THE TITANS

This weekend, the Huskies take on a Division III school in Wisconsin-Oshkosh, but don’t let that fool you. The Titans, as Mettlach points out, are an outstanding football team, who have already beaten two Top-25 squads in No. 9 Wheaton College, and No. 21 Linfield University.

“They play the best DIII league in the country,” said Mettlach. “They’ve consistently climbed up the rankings here. This year, two ranked wins for them already with what they played in their schedule.

“I said this last year when we went to play (Wisconsin-)Platteville, I feel the same this weekend, with no DII football in Wisconsin. This is a DII league, so it might say DIII by their names, but there’s nobody in our locker room staff, players, that buy that. They all know each other. We got a lot of Wisconsin kids on our team, so they know how good the football is in that league, and what Oshkosh has been traditionally. We are not going to get tricked into thinking that they’re a lower level than us. They’re not at all. They would function in our league, and our guys know that. So, we’re going to play good football.”

The Titans are led by junior quarterback Quentin Keene, who has completed 15-of-29 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns. They also feature a freshman quarterback in Cole Warren, who is 15-of-19 for 180 yards and two touchdowns.

Junior wide receiver Jon Mathieu is emerging as the top target with nine catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns.

Sophomore Justice Lovelace has been good out of the back field, with 38 carries for 190 yards. He has also scored two touchdowns.

GAME TIME

The Huskies and Titans will do battle at 1 p.m. Saturday in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.