Second-Half Rally Falls Short as Cal Poly Drops 47-30 Decision to Northern Illinois

Saturday, September 24

DeKalb, IL

12:30 pm

1-3

Northern Illinois

2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cal Poly

Northern Illinois

Second-Half Rally Falls Short as Cal Poly Drops 47-30 Decision to Northern Illinois

9/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

DEKALB, IL – Senior quarterback Chandler Harnish passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as Northern Illinois of the Football Championship Subdivision defeated Cal Poly 47-30 in a non-conference football game Saturday afternoon at Huskie Stadium.

Harnish completed 18 of 21 passes for 187 yards, hitting Perez Ashford with a three-yard scoring pass and seven yards to Tim Semisch, as Northern Illinois evened its record at 2-2.

Cal Poly, held to just five first downs in the first half and trailed 34-7 at the break, fell to 1-3.

The Mustangs outscored Northern Illinois 10-0 in the third quarter and 23-13 in the second half, but in the first meeting between the two clubs, Northern Illinois held on for the win.

Junior quarterback Andre Broadous scored twice on short runs and David Mahr tossed a 26-yard slotback pass to Mark Rodgers to fuel Cal Poly's comeback from a 27-0 second-quarter deficit.

Sophomore kicker James Langford added a 33-yard field goal and the Mustangs pulled to within 16 points at 40-24 on the pass from Mahr to Rodgers with 10:10 to play in the game.

Northern Illinois, however, clinched the victory with an 80-yard drive capped by Jasmin Hopkins' 29-yard touchdown run with 6:58 to go. It was Hopkins' second score of the game, adding to his one-yard plunge in the first quarter.

Northern Illinois scored on all of its six possessions in the first half en route to its 34-7 lead at the break.

Broadous completed five of 10 passes for 49 yards and also added 103 yards on the ground with 24 carries. It was the first 100-yard game for Broadous in his Mustang career.

Senior fullback Jake Romanelli missed his third career 100-yard game by two yards, netting 98 yards on 16 carries. He scored Cal Poly's final touchdown of the game on an eight-yard run with 37 seconds remaining and the Templeton High School graduate also caught three passes for 18 yards.

In his last three games, Romanelli has rushed for 98, 100 and 98 yards.

Rodgers also was close to a 100-yard game, gaining 94 yards on 16 trips.

In addition to his 187 passing yards, Harnish rushed for 118 yards on 13 carries and scored once on a 29-yard run. Hopkins added 143 yards on 22 trips.

Ashford caught four passes to lead the Northern Illinois receiving corps.

Northern Illinois amassed 542 yards in total offense, including 347 yards in the first half alone, and accumulated a 33-21 advantage in first downs.

Cal Poly netted 369 total yards, including 294 on the ground.

Cal Poly's defensive leaders were linebacker Johnny Millard with 12 tackles, safety Greg Francis with 11 and cornerback Asa Jackson with 10. Tackle Sullivan Grosz (pictured above) notched Cal Poly's lone sack of the game while Kevin Hess, another tackle, blocked a Northern Illinois PAT attempt and linebacker Xavier Ramos recovered an onside kick that was fumbled by the Huskies.

Cal Poly has a bye next week and will play three of its next four games in Alex G. Spanos Stadium, beginning Oct. 8 against Central Oklahoma at 4:05 p.m.