NIC NORA

HOUGHTON — The Michigan Tech Huskies will face South Dakota Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota, on Thursday night, coming off a 37-17 win last week over Bemidji State.

The Huskies shut down Bemidji State in the second half, and used a number of what coach Dan Mettach refers to as “gadget plays” to earn a win over the No. 16-ranked Beavers.

“I can’t say enough about the guys, Top 16 team coming in, as many new faces as we had, I felt like the confidence, and the way we went about our business in early camp, was incredible,” Mettlach said.

Alex Bueno, a redshirt sophomore quarterback, looked poised behind center, rushing 16 times for 102 yards, and going 15-of-24 through the air for two touchdowns and one interception.

Bueno broke a huge run on the Huskies’ first drive. Down by seven after a 25-yard touchdown run by Beavers quarterback Connor Carver, Bueno took the ball, spun, opened up the field and ran for 45 yards to get the Black and Gold into Beavers territory. The play led to a 32-yard field goal from sophomore kicker Avery Kucharski.

From there, Bueno settled in and never looked back.

In the second quarter, a 14-yard run by junior wide receiver Nic Nora put the Huskies up 16-14.

“It felt great,” said Nora, a Kingsford graduate who missed all of 2024 with an injury. “It’s always a long year with injuries, and I just kept my head down, kept grinding, and it felt awesome to be back out there, especially with the result with a top 16 team coming to our house. It was really fun to be back out there with the guys, for sure.”

After the Beavers regained the lead with a 14-yard field goal to close out the first half, Nora’s number was called again on a shovel pass from Bueno to cap a 2:41 drive in the third quarter and put the Huskies up 24-17.

“Both the calls, the first one was a reverse, I knew the flow of the defense would be going away, so I just had to make sure if that edge got full, it’s always just a race to the pylon,” Nora said. “Then, same thing with the shovel pass. If I can get outside that edge, just use your speed and use your agility to get to that pylon. So, that’s what I saw on both of them. I just hit the gas and luckily I got to the black.”

Nora finished with three rushes for 19 yards and a touchdown. He also made three catches for 28 yards and a touchdown.

The Huskies jumped ahead 31-17 after junior running back Jake Rueff scampered into the end zone to cap a five-play, 61-yard drive with a 47-yard touchdown reception with 12:37 left in the fourth quarter.

Rueff rushed 17 times for 57 yards in the game. He also had five receptions for a game-high 70 yards and a touchdown.

Bueno then called his own number from three yards out to cap a 23-yard touchdown drive to extend the Huskies’ lead with 10:53 remaining.

Junior linebacker Porter Zeeman led the Huskies defensively with eight tackles, including four solos.

For more on the Huskies, go to https://www.mininggazette.com/sports/local-sports/2025/08/getting-technological/.