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DEKALB, ILL. - Northern Illinois gave up the lead by yielding 10 straight third quarter points, but the hosts came storming back with three fourth quarter TDs enroute to a 27-10 win over visiting Akron Saturday at Huskie Stadium.
Chad Spann did much of the damage for NIU as he scored two touchdowns – both in the fourth quarter – while gaining 125 yards on 21 carries. It was the junior’s third 100-yard plus performance of 2009 and second in two weeks.
Sophomore quarterback Damarcus Grady also went over the century mark as he picked up 109 yards on 20 carries.
The 275 yards rushing accounted for most of NIU’s offense as the Huskies picked up just 62 yards through the air.
Akron, on the other hand, got 204 of its 235 yards of offense through the air. Eighty of the yards came from a throw by running back Alex Allen, who took a pitch and then connected with Andre Jones for the Zips only touchdown in the game. Jones had a career-high 154 yards in the loss.
Freshman QB Patrick Nicely provided Akron’s other 124 passing yards while hitting 11 of 27 pass attempts. He had no interceptions or touchdowns.
Both teams had trouble scoring during the first two quarters. Mike Salerno accounted for what little scoring there was on a pair of field goals – one from 22 yards in the first quarter and another from 37 yards out with 2:50 remaining before intermission.
Trailing 6-0 , Akron made a big to take the lead, but an early third quarter drive stalled at the NIU 17. Bronko Rogovic ensured his Zips would get something out of the drive when he converted a 34-yard field goal attempt.
Jones’ TD off the halfback pass later in the stanza gave Akron its only lead of the game at 10-6.
“The halfback pass was a huge play – a real shift in momentum,” Akron coach J.D. Brookhart said. “I really felt at that point that we were in pretty good shape … but (our scoring) stopped after that.”
The hard-running Spann put NIU back out front early in the fourth quarter when he bounced away from a potential tackle at the 15-yard line and raced into the end zone to complete a 28-yard TD run.
“We are a big running team, and every one on the sideline said we needed to get the running game going,” Spann said. “DeMarcus and I decided we had to pick it up and get the offense moving. It was a third and short, and we were just trying to get the first down, but I got some great blocks downfield from our wide receivers.”
The hosts took advantage of an Akron pass interference penalty on their next possession. The penalty gave NIU a first down at the Akron two-yard line and Spann took it in for a TD on the next play.
Akron mounted its own drive on its next possession. Starting at its own 39-yard line, the Zips moved to the NIU 13. But on third and four, Brandon Bice sacked Nicely and caused a fumble, which was recovered by NIU’s Tracy Wilson.
Nathan Palmer’s seven-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds left concluded scoring.
“I think we possibly wore them down. They had some injuries like us,” Huskies coach Jerry Kill said. “I think they ran out of some depth. It’s hard to play when you lose that much depth …. You see a lot of teams just go crazy when it comes to the fourth quarter, and I think a lot of it has to do with just wearing the defense down.”
NOTES:
Northern Illinois (5-3, 3-1) continues its home stand Saturday when it hosts Eastern Michigan.
Akron (1-7, 0-4) returns home next week after a three-game road swing. The Zips will face rival Kent State in a battle for the Wagon Wheel.
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