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Huskie defense comes up with 11 sacks, new faces step up on both sides of ball during Spring Football Game

DeKALB, IL---Ken West led an inspired effort from the Northern Illinois University defense, collecting two of NIU's 11 sacks during the Huskie Spring Intra-Squad Scrimmage Saturday (Apr. 23). That wasn't to say there weren't some solid performances




April 23, 2005

New Names, QB derby, Academic and Athletic Performance Center highlight Huskie Spring Football Game
DeKALB, IL --- It was not your average Northern Illinois University spring football game. All the excitement and anticipation surrounding the announcement of the $9.5-million Academic and Athletic Performance Center warmed up a frigid Saturday afternoon (April 23) on Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium.

For the record, the NIU White Team (Offense) blanked the NIU Cardinal Team (Defense) by a 34-0 score. To be honest, that wasn’t the point.

With current Northern Illinois National Football League products such as Justin McCareins of the New York Jets, Ryan Diem of the Indianapolis Colts, and P. J. Fleck of the San Francisco 49ers, plus NIU Athletics Hall of Famers such as Bob Heimerdinger, Jack Pheanis, Bob Brigham, Al Kranz, etc., on campus, the weekend literally turned into a Cardinal and Black pep rally.

“This is a historic day for our entire athletic program,” said Huskie head man Joe Novak in reference to the new AAPC. “Believe me, this is a much-needed facility. It will help us make the most of our talent, it will help us retain student-athletes, and it will help us in recruiting future student-athletes. We’ve all heard the term ‘front porch.’ Your athletic program and your facilities are the front porch of the university. Those facilities, that’s the first impression of your program, your institution.”

On the field, his Northern Illinois team also made some “first impressions.” With (1) the Garrett Wolfe (Chicago / River Grove Holy Cross) and A. J. Harris (Wheaton / North) tailback combo sidelined with minor shoulder injuries and (2) Novak looking for a successor graduated three-year quarterback starter Josh Haldi, some new Huskie names surfaced.

For example, red-shirt frosh tailback Montell Clanton (Rockford / Guilford) picked up the slack for the Wolfe-Harris duo by topping all rushers with 39 net yards and one touchdown (one-yard run) on 13 carries. “A. J. and Garrett don’t have anything to prove,” Novak said about the nation’s No. 1 returning major-college rushing duo (2,478 combined yards) for 2005. “We (coaches) know what they can do. This gives somebody else a chance to break out---guys like a Greg Turner or Jarret Carter or a Montell Clanton.”

On a windy day that featured 24-to-34 mile-per-hour gusts, four Northern Illinois quarterbacks combined to complete 26-of-47 passes for 320 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Junior-to-be QB Phil Horvath (Naperville / Central) hit 10-of-14 for 128 yards and one TD as the Huskies’ No. 1 QB. Red-shirt frosh QB Britt Davis (Broadview / Riverside-Brookfield) hit 10-of-17 aerials for a game-high 145 yards and one TD. Classmate Dan Nicholson (Chicago / Brother Rice) went 4-of-10 for 35 yards and one TD while soph Zach Ullrich (Winfield / Wheaton North) completed 2-of-6 for 12 yards.

“All four bring something different to the table,” Novak said about the Northern Illinois QB derby. “We’ve got all summer to work. By August 14-15-16, we’ll get it down to two guys and go with them. It (decision) might go down to the Michigan (September 3) game,” Novak said. “Phil Horvath is steady. He’s a guy like Haldi. Zach Ullrich is a competitor. He might be better on Saturday then he is on Thursday. Britt Davis can be a great player. He can make the big play. Dan Nicholson is a good athlete, but not as good as Britt. He’s probably the best passer. In two or three years, Davis or Nichol-son will probably be wonderful quarterbacks, but not right now. It will be interesting. As a coach, I like the competition.”

Two wide receiver “newcomers”---junior Jarret Carter (Florissant, MO / Hazelwood Central) and frosh Greg Turner (Glendale Heights / Addison Driscoll)---joined the Huskie “establishment” with a game-high four catches. Carter caught four passes for 102 yards and one TD (30-yarder from Horvath in the first period). Turner made four receptions for 81 yards and two TDs (a 16-yarder from Nicholson and a 20-yarder from Davis). The WR vets included seniors-to-be Sam Hurd (St. Antonio, TX / Brackenridge) with four for 40 yards and Shatone Powers (Broadview / Riverside-Brookfield) with four for 33.

Defensively, the Northern Illinois Attack Four-Three scheme limited the Huskie White squad to 50 net rushing yards on 56 carries (a 5.5 yards-per-attempt average) and produced 11 QB sacks. Junior-to-be defensive end Ken West (Calumet City / South Holland Thornwood) led the way with two sacks for nine yards in losses. Red-shirt freshman DE Erek Benz (Park Ridge / Chicago Lane Tech) collected three tackles for 15 yards in losses. Junior-to-be cornerback Adriel Hansbro (Madison, WI / Edgewood) produced three pass deflections. On special teams, NIU freshman linebacker Luke Athans (Manhattan / New Lenox-Lincoln-Way Central) and red-shirt frosh free safety Bill Ikegwuono (Madison, WI / Memorial) both blocked punts Saturday. Plackickers Chris Nendick (Naperville / Central) added a 32-yard field goal and junior transfer Luke Biondi (Sioux Falls, SD / O’Gorman) boomed a 53-yard “trey.”

“For the most part, it was a productive spring,” Novak said. “Now, we aren’t ready to play Michigan and I don’t think anybody at this point is. We have a lot of work in the off-season. Our goal is still to win the Mid-American Conference championship. I think we can be a good team.”

(For further information, please contact Mike Korcek) -NIU-