ADRIAN, Mich. -- The Siena Heights football team fell to NCAA Div. II opponent Northwood, 38-7, in non-conference action on the Saints' opening day.
Leading the Saints in yardage for the day was punter Aaron Wagner who helped the Saints out of trouble with 11 punts, including a 66 yard long punt. SHU was unable to earn a first down in the first half, going 14 yards offensively in the first half. Northwood led the Saints 24-0 at the end of the first half with a field goal coming from David Riser in the first before Joe Garbarino ran in three touchdowns in the second quarter.
The Timberwolves (1-0) again came at the Saints with their running game as Allante Shy ran into the end zone and made it 31-0, with the help of a Riser extra point. Siena Heights earned a first down in the middle of the third quarter when Lucas Barner Jr. completed a pass to Justin Carrabino. Northwood then recovered a SHU fumble, which resulted in the Timberwolves' final touchdown of the day when NU quarterback Spencer McCourt completed a pass to Gary Landless for the 38-0 lead.
Siena Heights (0-1) found some life in the third quarter as Deontae' Rush caught a 23-yard pass from Barner to get the Saints on the board. Brady Tanguay sent one through the uprights for the extra point to make it 38-7. The Saints defense held the Timberwolves to only 21 yards in the fourth quarter.
Leading the Saints defense was E.J. Shaah with 10 total tackles. Logan Smith managed nine tackles while Zachary Flack and Cohen Canter earned eight and seven runs, respectively. Northwood defender Travis Wiltjer had seven tackles and one sack to lead the Timberwolves.
Offensively, Dahvon Washington had seven rushes for a total of 32 yards while D'aries Davis ran eight times for 15 yards. For NU, quarterback Garbarino went 7-for-10 for 117 yards while running the ball 19 times for 77 yards. Vashon Nutt and Corey Burdgick ran 38 and 36 yards, respectively.
Quarterback Barner went 10-for-20 for 66 yards, making two completions to both Rush and Adam Glanders. Mitchell Meger had three kick returns for 45 yards as Braelen Bader and returned two for 26 yards.
Siena Heights will return to action on Saturday, September 9, for a 1 p.m. contest against Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) at home.
