ATHENS — Kurtis Rourke and Sam Wiglusz would combine for a pair of touchdown passes as the Ohio Bobcats took down the Northern Illinois Huskies 24-17 on Saturday and earn their third-straight victory.
Rourke and Wiglusz would begin the scoring, as the two would connect for an eight-yard touchdown pass to cap the game's opening drive and take an early 7-0 lead.
The Bobcats (5-3, 3-1 MAC) final score of the half would be set up on a 61-yard run by Rourke to put the ball on the Huskie 15 yard line. The drive would end up stalling and Vakos would come out to hit a 31-yard field goal to put the score 10-6 in favor of the Bobcats at halftime.
Place kicker John Richardson made field goals from 38-, 27- and 45-yards to keep the Huskies within a point, trailing 10-9 with just under 11 minutes left in the third quarter.
Rourke would add a touchdown in the third quarter, as he nosed in from the 1 with 4:16 left in the third quarter to extend the Bobcats lead to 17-9. His score capped off a 13-play, 81-yard drive that chewed up six and a half minutes.
Northen Illinois (2-6, 1-3 MAC) would score their lone touchdown of the game, as Kacper Rutkiewicz dash into the end zone from 11-yards out with 1:31 left in the third quarter. Nate Valcarcel threw to Cole Tucker for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 17.
After forcing a Huskie punt, Ohio would start their drive in the shadow of their own goalpost at their own 10. Rourke would quickly complete two passes to Miles Cross and Will Kacmarek for 10 and 13 yards, and then rip off a 14-yard run of his own, to put the Bobcats at midfield.
The Bobcats would finish off the 11-play drive and take the lead for good, when Sam Wiglusz leaped high to pull in a 22-yard pass from Kurtis Rourke overtop of an outstretched defender in the end zone to give Ohio the 24-17 lead with 7:00 remaining in the game.
Rourke was 14 of 26 through the air for 200 yards and two touchdowns and even led the Bobcats' running game with 64 yards on seven carries. Wiglusz finished with six catches for 69 yards.
Antario Brown had 160 yards on 16 carries to lead the Northern Illinois offense. Quarterback Justin Lynch completed half of his 18 pass attempts for 110 yards.
The win for the Bobcats improved their record to 3-1 in the Mid-American Conference East Division and set up a battle for first place on Tuesday, Nov. 1 against the first-place Buffalo Bulls (5-3, 4-0 MAC) at Peden Stadium.
Northern Illinois 0 6 11 0 = 17
Ohio 7 3 7 7 = 24
First Quarter OHIO — Sam Wiglusz 8 pass from Kurtis Rourke (Nathanial Vakos kick), 11:05 Second Quarter
NIU — John Richardson 38 field goal, 10:49 NIU — John Richardson 27 field goal, 4:07 OHIO — Nathanial Vakos 31 field goal, :19 ThitrdQuarter
NIU — John Richardson 45 field goal, 10:56 OHIO — Kurtis Rourke 1 run (Nathanial Vakos kick), 4:16 NIU — Kacper Rutkiewicz 11 run (Shemar Thornton pass to Cole Tucker), 1:31
Fourth Quarter
OHIO — Sam Wiglusz 22 pass from Kurtis Rourke (Nathanial Vakos kick), 7:00
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