DEKALB, Ill. – After falling behind by three touchdowns in the first half, the Northern Illinois University Huskies rallied to within six in the fourth quarter, only to fall, 35-22, to Central Michigan on Wednesday night (Nov. 2) at Huskie Stadium.
 
Harrison Waylee (Johnston, Iowa/Urbandale) rushed for 136 yards on 20 carries while true freshman Nevan Cremascoli (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier), making his collegiate debut, completed 13 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. The Huskie defense forced four turnovers in the contest, three fumbles and an interception by Jordan White (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace/Youngstown State).
 
"It's just not a good enough performance," said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. "We have to be able to find some offense. We have to execute. We have to give ourselves a chance and we didn't give ourselves a chance. We have to go back and figure out what we can do offensively.
 
"Offensively we didn't do enough to help ourselves, (we) put our defense in some bad situations. We have to be able to sustain drives, especially in critical situations.  We have to have some balance in our offense. I thought our defense hung in there for the most part. That first half is not the way we want to play. We came fighting back in the second half, but it wasn't enough."
 
Trailing 21-0, the Huskies (2-7, 1-4 MAC) scored on their first drive of the second half. Cremascoli connected with Liam Soraghan (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) for an 11-yard touchdown pass to cut the Central Michigan lead to two scores. NIU went 80 yards in 11 plays with Cremascoli going 3-of-4 passing on the drive.
 
"Obviously that's a true freshman out there for the first time," said Hammock of Cremascoli. "There are a lot of things to clean up and that was a good front that was coming after him. He will grow from this performance."
 
Central Michigan (3-6, 2-3 MAC) answered with a touchdown late in the third quarter to regain its three-touchdown advantage. NIU appeared to have held the Chippewas to a long field goal attempt, but CMU faked the kick with Luke Elzinga finding Bryant Kieft for 20 yards and a first down. Two plays later, Jase Bauer scored from seven yards out to give the Chippewas a 28-7 lead with 36 seconds left in the third.
 
Bauer scored a pair of touchdowns in the contest while rushing for 109 yards on 14 carries.
 
NIU needed just four plays to answer as Cremascoli found Tristen Tewes (Pleasant Plains, Ill./Pleasant Plains) for a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Huskies went for two and converted as Shemar Thornton (Miami, Fla./Hallandale/FIU) got the ball on an end around and threw to Cremascoli for the two points, cutting the CMU lead to 13.
 
Tewes had three catches for a game-high 70 yards in the contest, Thornton made a game-high five catches for 49 yards.
 
On its next possession, NIU's Demond Taylor (East St. Louis, Ill./East St. Louis) forced a fumble by CMU's Lew Nichols and defensive end Izayah Green-May (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook/Wisconsin) scooped it up at the Huskie 43 and took it the distance down the sideline for a Huskie touchdown as NIU trimmed the Central Michigan advantage to 28-22 with 11:31 to go.
 
After a defensive stop by the Huskies, NIU was pinned back on its own 1-yard line by the Central Michigan punt. Three plays later, Thomas Incoom stripped Cremascoli in the end zone and Kyle Moretti fell on the football for the score to give the Chippewas a 35-22 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
 
Daniel Richardson was 13-of-22 passing for 150 yards and two touchdowns for Central Michigan; Nichols rushed for 92 yards on 28 carries.
 
Jaden Dolphin (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) recorded a game-high 15 tackles for the Huskies, C.J. Brown (Canton, Mich./Walled Lake Western) added 11 tackles, including five solo, and a forced fumble.
 
Central Michigan opened the scoring on its first drive of the contest. The Chippewas took over with a short field on the NIU 43 and, six plays later, Bauer scored from six yards out to give the visitors the early lead. CMU scored again on its second drive of the game, going 67 yards in seven plays, capped by a 23-yard touchdown pass from Richardson to Joel Wilson to give the Chippewas a 14-0 lead with under five minutes to play in the opening quarter.
 
The Chippewas added a third score midway through the second quarter. After taking over on downs at their own 41, Central Michigan needed just five plays to go 59 yards as Richardson connected with Tyson Davis for the 15-yard score as the visitors took a 21-0 lead.
 
NIU will head on the road for the final time this season next Wednesday, Nov. 9, when the Huskies travel to Western Michigan. Kickoff against the Broncos is scheduled for 6 p.m. on ESPNU.

-- NIU --