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DETROIT, Mich. -- For the third time in the last four seasons, and the fourth time in school history, the NIU Huskies won the Mid-American Conference Championship.  This time, the Huskies won it in decisive fashion, 51-17, over Bowling Green on Friday night at Ford Field.

NIU led 20-10 at the half before scoring 24 straight points to begin the second half to cruise to the 34-point win, the largest win in MAC Championship Game history. The 51 points scored by the Huskies also set a MAC Championship Game record, bettering the previous high of 49 scored by Marshall in 2002 and Miami (Ohio) in 2003.

“I’m super-excited for our university, our athletic department, our staff and most importantly our players,” said NIU Head Coach Rod Carey.  “This was our best game at the right time.  These kids set out what they wanted to do back in January [win the conference championship] and it’s because of their hard work that we’re here.  You don’t get here without hard work. “

Huskie sophomore quarterback Drew Hare (O’Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) set new career highs with 29 completions on 49 attempts, throwing for 218 yards and a pair of touchdowns to claim MVP honors. Senior tailback Cameron Stingily (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) ran for 116 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns while senior Da’Ron Brown (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park) had a career-best nine catches for 70 yards.

The Huskies ran for 334 yards on 51 carries with four rushing scores in the game while holding Bowling Green to just 287 yards, 124 rushing.  NIU forced four turnovers, including three interceptions, two by senior safety Dechane Durante (Charlotte, N.C./Vance) who recorded a pair of interceptions, and now has four career pickoffs in MAC Championship Games. Durante has now 11 career interceptions, tied for ninth-best in NIU history.  Paris Logan (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge) also recorded an interception for NIU, who gave up less than 24 points for the ninth time this year.

“We knew it was a tempo offense and we practiced fast and we played fast,” Durante said.  “Our offense helped us with some long drives.  We knew they were going to throw downfield and I’m just happy we played our best game tonight, hands down.”

Leading by 10 at the half, NIU got the ball to start the second half and drove 68 yards in 10 plays to extend its lead to 27-10 on a four-yard touchdown pass from Hare to junior Juwan Brescacin (Mississauga, Ontario/Culver Academy).  On fourth-and-one at the Bowling Green 37, senior tailback Akeem Daniels (Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola) converted with a 13-yard rush around the left side. Three plays later on third-and-six, Hare slipped through the line for 16 yards and a first down at the Falcons four-yard line. On the next play Hare hit Brescacin in the corner of the end zone for the score.

Brescacin finished with seven catches for a game-high 83 yards and that touchdown.

After a Bowling Green punt, the Huskies scored again to take a 34-10 lead midway with 8:18 to play in the third quarter. Stingily setup the score with a 43-yard gain to the Falcon 2-yard line. Two plays later, he powered his way into the end zone for the first of his two touchdowns on the night as the Huskies took a 24-point lead.

On the next drive, Bowling Green was staring at fourth-and-one from the NIU 36 and the Falcons decided to go for it. James Knapke completed a swing pass to Travis Greene, but junior safety Marlon Moore (Mobile, Ala./C.F. Vigor) stopped the play for a two-yard loss and the Huskies took over on downs.

It took NIU less than two minutes to add another three points as freshman Christian Hagan (Omaha, Neb./Westside) made the third of his three field goals on the day, this one from 23-yards out, as the Huskies took a 37-10 lead with 4:15 to play in the third.

Stingily made it 24 unanswered points for the Huskies with a two-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, pushing the NIU lead to 44-10.

The Falcons erased the second-half shutout as Travis Greene scored from six yards out after a 62-yard kickoff return by Clint Stephens. NIU redshirt freshman Jordan Huff (Mobile, Ala./St. Paul’s Episcopal) closed the scoring with a two-yard touchdown in the final minute.

Bowling Green starting quarterback James Knapke finished 11-of-21 passing for 151 yards before being relieved by Cody Callaway. Green led the Falcon run game with 105 yards on 18 carries.

NIU struck first with 5:57 left in the first quarter as Hare scored on a quarterback draw, capping an eight-play, 60-yard drive that took just less than three minutes. Hare was 3-of-3 passing on the drive, including a 20-yard connection with Brown that set the Huskies up inside the red zone.

Logan’s interception gave the Huskies good field position at the Bowling Green 25 and NIU converted with a 35-yard Hagan field goal to take a 10-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.

Following a turnover on downs near midfield by Bowling Green, NIU turned the short field into more points with a 32-yard Hagan field goal four minutes into the second quarter. The Huskies converted a trio of third downs on the drive before Hagan’s second field goal of the night gave the Huskies a 13-0 advantage.

The Falcons scored for the first time on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Knapke to Gehrig Dieter, cutting the NIU lead to 13-7 with 9:33 to play in the half.

With 1:31 remaining in before the intermission, NIU took over on its own 32 and drove 68 yards for a touchdown in just 1:06 to take a 20-7 lead. Hare started the drive 5-of-5 through the air and an 11-yard carry by Daniels helped give the Huskies first-and-goal at the Bowling Green five.  Following a pair of incompletions, Hare rolled left on third-and-goal and threw back across the field to an open Luke Eakes (St. Marys, Kan./St. Marys) in the end zone for the score. Eakes caught his first touchdown pass of the season.

Bowling Green quickly moved down to the NIU 28 and Tyler Tate connected on a 46-yard field goal to cut the Huskie lead to 20-10 at the half before the Huskies took full control with a dominating third quarter performance.

NIU will find out its bowl destination on Sunday, December 7.  Stay tuned to NIUHuskies.com  and Postseason Central.