As NIU quarterback Josh Haldi rolled to his right, took a couple of steps for momentum and lofted the ball 41 yards to Shatone Powers in the end zone, the momentum in Saturday’s game vs. Eastern Michigan began to shift.

The Hail Mary pass from Haldi, which ended the first half, helped lift NIU to a quick second-half start and an eventual 34-16 win.

“We had five defenders back there, a three-man rush, and it’s one of those plays that is probably completed less than 5 percent of the time,” said EMU coach Jeff Genyk, whose team had a 13-all tie with NIU prior to the score.

“One of our safeties went up and tipped it, which put it right into Powers’ breadbasket,” he said.

Genyk, in his first year at EMU, said the Hail Mary play was a huge momentum changer and had a huge effect on his team as it is in transition.

Two plays after coming out of the locker room, NIU running back Garrett Wolfe ran 70 yards down the right sideline into the end zone to give the Huskies a 27-13 advantage.

Two minutes and 18 seconds later, after an Adriel Hansbro interception, Haldi threw his second touchdown of the game on a three-yard pass to tight end Brad Cieslak.

“How they were playing us was a little different than how we anticipated,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “In the second half, we did a better job of calling stuff and attacking them.”

NIU’s defense held the Eagles scoreless in the second half outside of a Brian Klaban field goal to end the game.

“We played all-out with all the seniors on the defense,” NIU safety Lionel Hickenbottom said. “We just wanted to step it up. We can always be better, but we really stepped up against Eastern.”