OXFORD, Ohio | NIU’s final first down summed up the entire game.

NIU quarterback Phil Horvath’s sneak was just enough to beat the stretch of the chains on fourth and one to seal the Huskies 28-25 victory over Miami-Ohio Sunday on ESPN.

The seesaw battle saw five lead changes and 10 total punts. Every possession was crucial compared to those in the Huskies’ previous three wins coming by a margin of 64 combined points.

“It was about what I expected it to be,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “Luckily, at the end we made plays on both sides of the ball, but they brought a lot of good blitzes.”

Despite Miami’s blitzes, Huskie running back Garrett Wolfe churned out 162 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.

But Wolfe’s 25th carry was the most important in his eyes. After NIU (4-2 overall, 3-1 MAC) tight end Brandon Davis caught Horvath’s lone touchdown pass, Wolfe pushed through his defender from one yard out for a two-point conversion with 7:46 left in the fourth quarter to end all scoring.

“I felt if I got tackled there I would’ve let the team down,” Wolfe said. “A one-on-one matchup and getting in that end zone is something you dream about as a running back.”

After two runs for 27 yards by Miami running back Andre Bratton, a depleted NIU secondary held strong on four-straight passing plays.

Two Wolfe runs and an incomplete pass by Horvath gave Miami the ball back with 2:29 left and three timeouts.

But this time Huskie defensive end Larry English sacked Kokal for an eight-yard loss which helped lead to a Miami (0-6, 0-2) fourth and eight.

NIU redshirt freshman Spencer Williamson had come in for injured senior cornerback Adriel Hansbro earlier in the game, and became the target of Miami’s offense on the final play.

Kokal dropped back and heaved a pass down the middle of the field to receiver Dustin Woods, who had Williamson one-on-one and beat by a yard. But the ball shot down in front of Woods by one yard.

Sean Connor is an NIU football beat reporter for the Northern Star.