Jackson Courville made a 52-yard field goal with two seconds on the clock to give the Ball State Cardinals a 25-23 win over the Northern Illinois University Huskies Saturday at Scheumann Stadium, enabling the Cardinals to retain the Bronze Stalk Trophy.

Courville’s field goal, his fourth of the game and the second of 50 or more yards, erased the 23-22 lead that the Huskies had claimed just 13 seconds prior on Kanon Woodill’s 47-yard field goal.

“Obviously this was a tough loss. We didn’t play well enough and that falls on me,” said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. “It was all three phases, offense, defense and special teams. Our defense gave up some yards and some points today. We have to look at what were the problems and try to correct it. We gave up plays in critical moments. At the end of the game, they threw a ball up and flipped the field.

“We didn’t score enough points. We dropped a two-point conversion pass, we had a chance for another score before the half that was dropped, and we have to make those plays. We didn’t handle the end of the game very well. I have to do a better job getting the team ready to play.”

Woodill’s three with 15 seconds to play gave the Huskies their first lead of the game, capping a 12-play, 50-yard drive that started at the NIU 20 with 1:51 to play. Safety Santana Banner blocked Courville’s fourth field goal attempt from 33 yards out to give the ball back to the NIU offense with Ball State leading 22-20.

NIU junior quarterback Ethan Hampton completed passes of 11, 14 and 11 yards on the drive to receivers Trayvon Rudolph, Cam Thompson and Dane Pardridge, respectively, to pick up chunks of yardage. An eight-yard completion to Rudolph put the Huskies on the 25 before a false start penalty made it a 47-yard field goal by Woodill.

After the kickoff, BSU started from its 26 with 13 seconds on the clock. A 34-yard completion from quarterback Kadin Semonza to Malcolm Gillie put the ball at the NIU 40 with seven seconds to play and a five-yard completion made it a 52-yard try from the NIU 35.

Ball State led 19-14 at halftime and at the end of a scoreless third quarter, before extending its lead to 22-14 with 8:56 to play on a 50-yard field goal by Courville. The Huskies responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that was extended by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct call for taunting on Ball State and by a 15-yard pass interference penalty that took the ball to the BSU 20. A Hampton to Rudolph connection garnered eight yards and after an incompletion, freshman Telly Johnson Jr. powered to the six. Antario Brown scored one play later to record his second rushing touchdown of the game.

The Cardinals scored on the opening possession of the game, driving 62 yards in 10 plays with Semonza hitting tight end Tanner Koziol on a three-yard fade to the end zone for the score.

An exchange of punts followed before the Huskies embarked on a 90-yard, seven-play drive beginning at 4:57 of the first quarter behind redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Holst, who got the start for NIU. Holst connected with Keyshaun Pipkin for eight yards and Thompson for 27, then picked up nine and 17 yards rushing. The next play was a handoff to Brown, who spun out of tackle and rumbled 34 yards for the score. Woodill’s PAT tied the game at seven with 49 seconds left in the quarter.

Ball State scored the next 12 points on Courville field goals of 24 and 47 yards, and a second Semonza to Koziol touchdown pass, to take a 19-7 lead.  Nine of BSU’s points came after NIU turnovers on a toe dragging interception by George Udo that gave the Cardinals the ball on the NIU 31, and a Holst fumble at the BSU 41.

Hampton came on to direct the two-minute offense late in the second quarter, driving NIU from its 25 to the 46 with a series of short completions. He then hit Thompson down the middle and the sophomore outran the defender for the 54-yard score with 1:12 left in the half.

Thompson finished the game with a career-high 128 yards on eight catches. Hampton threw for 168 yards on 18-of-33 passing while Brown totaled 62 yards on 11 carries with the two scores. Banner had nine tackles to lead the Huskie defense.

Ball State totaled 392 yards of offense, 170 rushing, and converted 10-of-18 third downs while holding the ball for 34:50.

NIU next plays on Wednesday, November 6 as the midweek #MACtion schedule gets underway with a game at Western Michigan. The Huskies return home on Wednesday, November 13 when they play host to Akron. Tickets to NIU’s two remaining home games are on sale at NIUHuskies.com/tickets.