Fill in the blanks for this weekend’s football game

By BRANDON MANGIA and ANDY PRUSKI

With the NIU football team struggling this season, writing a recap every week has become so routine that, after a while, they almost all come out the same.

So, instead of being really serious about the state of the team, why not just have fun with it? To be fair, the Huskies have had injuries pile up from week to week and the underclassmen have been thrown in because of that. On the positive side, 98 percent of the team will be back next year. But for now, it’s Huskie Mad Libs time!

Now, you too can write your very own recap. All you need is a roster and an imagination.

The NIU football team fell this weekend to (name of MAC team) by the score of (insert score). NIU falls to 1-(number greater than seven, lower than 11) on the season. Once again, Justin Anderson led the Huskies’ offensive attack, rushing for (number higher than 100) yards on 25 carries, but turnovers proved to be too much for the Huskies to overcome.

NIU looked strong out of the gates, jumping out to a (number) point lead. However, the Huskie defense gave up (insert number) second half points en route to the loss. (opposing defensive back) sparked (MAC team from above) by returning an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter.

(“Cliche quote about another tough loss”), said NIU head coach Joe Novak.

The Huskies got on the board first when (Dan Nicholson or Ryan Morris) connected with junior wide receiver Matt Simon on a (number greater than 30)-yard touchdown pass. Simon continues to make a name for himself in the MAC, as he totaled (number over 100) receiving yards. Anderson put the Huskies up by double digits in the second quarter when he scored on a (number) yard touchdown run. With his performance, the redshirt sophomore moved to (number between 5-25) in the nation in rushing.

(“Quote about offensive line gelling,”) Justin Anderson said.

However, NIU committed (number) turnovers in the second half, setting up (MAC team from above) with plenty of scoring opportunities, which they converted on.

After falling behind by (number) points, NIU had its chances to take the lead, but failed to score points on (number) trips to the red zone.

One of the lone bright spots for the Huskie defense was defensive end Larry English who had (number) sacks and (number larger than last) tackles for a loss.

(“Quote about English being great,”) Novak said.

Although the Huskies lost the game, they were fortunate enough to get through the afternoon suffering only (number) injuries. NIU will be back in action in two weeks when they take on a struggling (different MAC team) team.

(“Quote about playing out the rest of the season with effort and enthusiasm,”) said (NIU player).