MARQUETTE — The football team at Northern Michigan University put up a valiant effort for one half before Grand Valley State starting roaring with its offense after intermission to take a 35-7 GLIAC football victory at the Superior Dome on Saturday evening.

On a night when the university celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Wildcats’ only national championship, NMU tied the game 7-7 with 30 seconds left in the first half on a Noah Dobert 1-yard touchdown run.

After Michael Karlen’s extra-point kick actually tied the score, Northern couldn’t stop a third-quarter onslaught by the nation’s No. 8 ranked team.

The Lakers improved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference by scoring on three fairly quick drives in the third. Those possessions together lasted barely nine minutes on the clock and needed a total of 16 plays.

GVSU added one more score on the first play of the fourth to round out the scoring and send the Wildcats to their 28th straight loss as they stand 0-6 this season, 0-3 in the GLIAC.

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