Faccio scores three times as Sentinels hold off Alpena

ALPENA, Mich. — Marquette led Alpena 7-0, 14-7, 20-14 and 26-14 on Friday night. Three times, the Wildcats came back.

The last comeback got them within 26-21 on the first play of the fourth quarter. Marquette held on to win 34-21, scoring the final touchdown with 58 seconds left after converting a fourth-and-10, and won its fourth straight game.

Landen Faccio ran 23 times for 115 yards and three touchdowns and caught the two-point conversion that put the game two scores out of reach. Winston Leonard completed 17 of 21 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Skyler Blackburn caught six passes for 87 yards and Brody Clements four for 74, each with a touchdown. Marquette did not turn the ball over.

It was a long bus ride for a game that was not settled until the last minute, and Marquette coach Eric Mason said the result was all that mattered.

“At the end of the day, that’s all that counts,” he said. “It makes this four-and-a-half, five-hour bus ride worth it.”

Seventy-eight yards, one play

Marquette’s first possession ended in a punt. Its first scoring drive ended with Faccio’s 11-yard touchdown run, and the extra point made it 7-0.

Alpena needed one snap to tie it. Quarterback Cash Moughon broke loose on the first play of the Wildcats’ next possession and ran 78 yards for a touchdown, and the extra point made it 7-7.

A 27-yard completion to Blackburn set up Faccio’s 1-yard run before the quarter was out. Leonard’s kick made it 14-7.

Alpena got the ball back at its own 23, and three runs later the quarter ended with the Wildcats facing fourth-and-1 at their own 32.

The fake punt

Alpena lined up to punt to start the second quarter. Moughon kept it instead and ran for the first down, and a Marquette player was flagged for a late hit after the play, adding 15 yards. The Wildcats had first down in Marquette territory.

Coltyn Plantenga ran down running back Szymoniak from behind for a 1-yard gain, and two passes later Alpena faced fourth-and-2 from the Marquette 35. The Wildcats went for it, and Moughon kept on a run-pass option and got the first down before Blackburn brought him down.

Tyler Hendrickson dropped Moughon for a 5-yard loss, but on the next play Moughon escaped him and found Gavin Ross for 13 yards and a first-and-goal. Two plays later, from the 7, Moughon threw to Misiak, who had no Marquette defender within reach. The kick tied it at 14.

Thirteen plays and a blocked kick

The drive that followed did not start well. Evan Brown muffed the kickoff and picked it up, and Marquette started at its own 22.

Leonard scrambled for 4 and Brown caught a bubble screen for a first down. Three plays later Szymoniak stopped Faccio for no gain on third-and-1 at the Marquette 38.

Marquette kept the offense on the field, and Faccio turned the corner for 3 yards and the first down. Blackburn caught a short pass and made two defenders miss to reach the 48, and on third-and-3 Faccio stretched a run to the outside and went down the sideline to the Alpena 41. A personal foul on Alpena moved the ball to the 26.

Leonard hit Blackburn for 8 to the 18. Faccio converted on third-and-2, and from the 16, Leonard threw to Clements, who caught it inside the 5 and reached the ball across the goal line. Clements was wearing No. 47 instead of his usual No. 5.

Leonard’s extra point was good, but Alpena was flagged for offside and Marquette re-kicked from closer. Gabe Storey broke through and blocked it. The drive had taken 13 plays and more than six minutes, and Marquette led 20-14 with 48 seconds left in the half.

Alpena punted on its last possession of the half. At the break Marquette had 100 yards passing and 77 rushing; Alpena had 104 rushing, 98 of them from Moughon on three carries, and 50 passing. Neither team had turned the ball over.

The stop at the 14

Alpena took the second-half kickoff and moved quickly. Szymoniak ran 15 yards to midfield, and after Connor D’Ambrosio held him to 1, Moughon found MacGregor McClintic open in the middle for 35 yards to the Marquette 14.

Szymoniak ran for 2. On the next play he took a pitch up the sideline and out of bounds, but a holding penalty brought it back. D’Ambrosio and Clayton Edwards chased Moughon into an incompletion, Edwards tackled him after a 6-yard run, and on fourth-and-9 from the 14 Moughon threw for McClintic with Blackburn in coverage. Incomplete. Turnover on downs.

Marquette started at its 13 and lost 3 when Westin Mitchell met Faccio in the backfield. Then Leonard faked a bubble screen and threw deep to Blackburn, who had a step on two defenders and caught it near midfield.

Faccio ran for 7. Jack Keough took a jet sweep for 6. Faccio ran for 4, then broke outside, made a man miss and went 15 yards to the Alpena 20. After a 2-yard Faccio run and a false start, Marquette had second-and-13 at the 23, and Leonard threw to Blackburn in the end zone. It finished an 87-yard drive.

Leonard’s extra point went wide left. Marquette led 26-14 midway through the third quarter.

Alpena comes back again

The Wildcats went 66 yards in 10 plays after the kickoff. Moughon completed passes to McClintic for 9 and Ross for 15, converted a third-and-6 with a 7-yard bootleg and found Greyson Srebnik for 17 to set up first-and-goal at the 10.

Nashua Hoffman tripped up Szymoniak at the 11 on the last play of the third quarter. On the first play of the fourth, Szymoniak went off right tackle, made two defenders miss and scored. The kick made it 26-21.

Half a yard

Marquette answered with a drive from its own 24. Clements caught a curl and got down the sideline, and Faccio ran for 10 and a first down at the Alpena 46. Brown split two defenders on a 15-yard catch to the 30.

Then it stalled. Dylan Pond gained 2, Leonard kept on a play-action rollout for 1, and a third-down throw sailed over Clements. On fourth-and-7 from the 27 with 7:51 left, Leonard threw to Brown, who stretched for the marker and came down about half a yard short.

The Marquette defense got the ball right back. Josiah Youngren dropped Moughon for a 3-yard loss on first down. Szymoniak caught a pass for 4. On third-and-9, D’Ambrosio sacked Moughon for a 6-yard loss, and Alpena punted. Marquette took over at its own 36 with 5:31 left.

Fourth-and-10

Faccio gained 1. Clements caught a hook route for 8. On third-and-1, Faccio ran up the middle, across midfield and into Alpena territory, and a facemask penalty on the tackle moved the ball to the Alpena 35. Faccio used a spin move for 11 more to the 24.

After a false start, Braylon Zdunek caught two passes for 9 yards. On third-and-6 from the 20 with 1:47 left, Leonard kept on an option and was dropped for a loss.

It was fourth-and-10 at the Alpena 24. Leonard threw to Clements, who caught it inside the 5 for a 19-yard gain.

“Anytime you can get an opportunity to get Brody one-on-one and throw it to Brody, in my opinion, it’s a good call,” Mason said. “… Winston put it right on him, and Brody made the catch.”

From the 3, Faccio pushed up the middle for his third touchdown. Marquette went for two, and Leonard rolled out and threw to Faccio, who fought his way into the end zone. It was 34-21 with 58 seconds left.

Two plays into Alpena’s next possession, Plantenga intercepted Moughon. Leonard took a knee.

What it means

Marquette is 4-2 and 4-0 in the Big North Conference, in first place, after starting the season 0-2. Alpena is 1-5 and has lost five straight.

What Mason liked was the response. Marquette gave up a 78-yard run, a fake punt that led to a tying touchdown and a 66-yard drive that cut its lead to five, and each time it went on to score again.

“Just to watch the kids overcome things, adversity and whatnot, and continue to play and make plays,” Mason said. “They just kept responding and they weren’t going to be denied.”

Marquette was not clean. It missed two extra points, one of them blocked, came up short on a fourth down in Alpena territory and was flagged for a late hit on the fake punt. Moughon finished with 107 yards rushing and 130 passing.

But the Sentinels had no turnovers, and the Wildcats’ only one ended the game.

Mason was already thinking about what is left: Gaylord, Petoskey and Kingsford.

“It’s a tough conference,” he said. “We got Gaylord, Petoskey and Kingsford, and those are three quality teams. And we just gotta be ready to play.”

Marquette hosts Gaylord on Friday. Kickoff is 7 p.m.

Statistics compiled from the game broadcast and are unofficial.