ACCIDENT — Northern trailed by a touchdown late in the third quarter, but behind two touchdowns by Liam Stewart, the Huskies fended off Albert Gallatin, 31-21, on Friday night at Half-Mile High Stadium.
Stewart, coming back from an injury, didn’t start at quarterback in the first half. He played the second and scored the tying touchdown on a 58-yard option keeper with 3:40 left in the third.
He then gave Northern the lead, 28-21, with a two-yard touchdown run with 59 seconds left in the third.
“It was one of those slobberknocker games,” Northern head coach Phil Carr said. “They don’t throw it often and they’re not very good at it. They’re very good at the option, have some nice backs. It was just smash-mouth football.
“This will change this team I think. We built some character tonight.”
Northern’s Wally Brands, who was 3 for 3 on PATs, closed the scoring with a 20-yard field goal with 1:50 left in the game. Devin McKenzie also made an extra point for the Huskies.
Albert Gallatin racked up 362 yards rushing on 48 carries and scored first on a 71-yard run by Adam Pegg with 1:30 left in the first quarter.
Northern (1-1) answered on a 14-yard Luke Ross scoring run with 7:44 remaining in the first, and Evan Graham found the end zone on a 21-yard scamper at the first-quarter buzzer.
Tee Guesman finished with 18 carries for 138 yards to lead Albert Gallatin. He scored twice, once with 21 seconds left in the first half on a one-yard run and again with 4:30 left in the third on a 13-yard carry.
Northern rushed for 262 yards on 35 carries, led by Caleb Hinebaugh with 85 yards on nine tries. Stewart toted it three times for 64 yards, Graham had 15 carries for 62 yards and Ross ran it eight times for 51 times.
Ross also caught three passes for 40 yards.
Northern’s Austin Ross recovered a fumble, the only time Albert Gallatin lost it despite putting the ball on the turf five times.
The Huskies’ leading tacklers were Hinebaugh with 12, Nick Riley with 10, Anson Miller with seven and Graham with six.
Northern is at Hancock on Friday.