Football’s win over the Toledo Rockets wasn’t pretty, but NIU did enough to distance itself late in the game Tuesday.

The Huskies (8-2, 5-1 MAC) defeated the Toledo Rockets (6-4, 5-1 MAC), 27-24, at Huskie Stadium in their last home game of the season.

The Huskies tried to distance themselves from the Rockets throughout the game, but the Rockets stuck with NIU until late in the fourth quarter.

Redshirt senior tailback Cameron Stingily scored a 4-yard touchdown run to put the Huskies up 20-10 5:42 in the third quarter.

“I know they’re counting on me to get the first down and get the chains moving,” Stingily said. “I take every play the same from the beginning to the end.”

But, the Rockets battled back on the ensuing drive with a touchdown run of their own to make it 20-17.

It wasn’t until Stingily scored his second touchdown nearly 15 minutes of game time later that the Huskies began to distance themselves. They still needed to survive another Toledo touchdown and onside kick attempt, but they made their plays when they had to. On the game’s final play they withstood several Toledo laterals to close out the victory.

“I never doubted that the Huskies were going to win,” said Huskies fan Matt Compton. “It was a little too close at the end for my liking. I believe we will go to Detroit and take care of business these last two games and then hopefully the Bahamas Bowl, where it is warm.”

The defense held Toledo to no touchdowns in the first quarter and only one touchdown in the first half.

Following an early field goal by the Huskies, redshirt sophomore quarterback Drew Hare connected with senior wide receiver Da’Ron Brown for a 64-yard touchdown pass to give the Huskies a 10-0 lead. Freshman kicker Christian Hagan put the Huskies up 3-0 with his first-career field goal to open the scoring.

It wasn’t until late in the second quarter that the Rockets struck back against the Huskies’ defense. Down 10-3, wide receiver Dwight Macon, who came in to play quarterback, connected downfield to wide receiver Corey Jones for a 69-yard touchdown pass to tie the game on Macon’s first pass attempt.

Coming into the game, the Rockets averaged 34.4 point per game, but the Huskies held the Rockets to just 24 points, one of the lowest point totals they scored all year.

“You play everybody the same,” said senior defensive end Jason Meehan. “I had faith we would adjust to it and we did. Once [Macon] came in we realized it was a wildcat-type thing … . You just play ball.”

The win allows the Huskies to control their own fate in terms of winning the MAC West. If they win their final two games against Ohio and Western Michigan they’ll go to the MAC Championship game for the fifth-straight season.

“You just take it one game at a time,” Stingily said. “You have to have a 1-0 mentality, don’t look back don’t look ahead. Just look at the task at hand.”