MARQUETTE, Mich. – Football is back as the Northern Michigan Wildcats will travel to Morehead, Minnesota, where they will face the Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons on Thursday at 7 pm ET, 6 pm local time.
The Wildcats are eager to start a new era under first-year head coach
Matt Janus. The Dragons finished 8-3 last season but are reloading after losing star quarterback Jack Strand to the NFL. In their matchup last season, the Wildcats dropped a heartbreaker 44-37 at the Superior Dome.
Follow The Action
Follow @NMU_Football on Instagram and X for updates leading up to and during the game.
From Coach Matt Janus
"We are ready to play a football game and to the point where we are fine-tuning and ready to travel with the team. We are focused on us playing situational football... playing fast and executing our technique."
Previewing a New Season
After a strong finish to last season, where Northern won three of their final four games, the Wildcats will enter the new season with significant positive momentum and anticipation under a new regime.
NMU returns many of their starters from a year ago, including linebacker
Jax Hertel and running back
Noah Dobert, both of whom were named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 watchlist for this season. Both were also First-Team All-GLIAC last season, while Dobert rewrote the record books for NMU on the ground and was named a D2CCA Second Team All-American.
Dobert, a sophomore from Dearborn, Michigan, put together one of the best rushing seasons in program history in 2025, finishing with 1,656 yards and 15 touchdowns. Both totals established new NMU single-season records, while his 150.5 rushing yards per game ranked third nationally. He also averaged 6.3 yards per carry and finished among the national leaders in total rushing yards. Dobert's record-setting season included a 406-yard, four-touchdown performance against Wayne State, setting a new NMU single-game rushing record. He was named D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week following the performance and also earned GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year and D2CCA All-Super Region 3 First Team honors.
Hertel, a senior from Walworth, Wisconsin, returns after leading the Wildcats with 101 tackles in 2025, a total that ranked third in the GLIAC. His 14.5 tackles for loss led the conference, while he also recorded three quarterback hits, six pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a pick-six. Hertel started all 11 games and earned D2CCA All-Super Region 3 First Team honors after anchoring the Northern Michigan defense throughout the season.
NMU also returns multiple second-teamers and honorable mentions, including fifth-year offensive lineman
Daniel Babcock (Second-Team All-GLIAC), fifth-year defensive lineman
Jake Price (Honorable Mention All-GLIAC), and sophomore defensive back
Murphy Monreal (Honorable Mention All-GLIAC).
New Faces
As NMU opens the new season, they begin a new era under coach
Matt Janus. Coach Janus finished 45-14 at UW-La Crosse, including consecutive WIAC titles in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, the team was undefeated in conference play and made the NCAA DIII Quarterfinals.
Janus brought in two coordinators with Division I experience:
Ryan Bright (Defense) and
Boomer Roepke (Offense). Bright has coached as a defensive analyst at Wisconsin and also worked with linebackers at Stanford. He was most recently at Arkansas, where he took over as interim linebackers coach midway through the season. Roepke worked as a graduate assistant at USC, then at Iowa State as a graduate assistant working with special teams and quarterbacks. More recently, he was head coach at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, where he helped lead the program to undefeated UMAC conference championships in 2022 and 2024, along with two NCAA Division III playoff appearances. This past season, he served a multitude of roles, including interim head coach and offensive coordinator.
NMU also added coaches from across the country as assistants, many of whom won conference titles or had other significant success in their previous coaching positions. It's clear NMU prioritized bringing a winning mentality to NMU, along with coaches who excelled from JUCO all the way to Division I levels.
In addition, the Wildcats brought in several high-impact transfers, including OL
Mitch Verstegen from Indiana, DB
LeeJohn Majerus and DL
Jace Miller from Western Illinois, DL
Daniel Simon from Lindenwood, LB
Logan McGraw from Wayne State, JUCO QB
Liam Oczkowski, and WR
Teflon Lee from Northern State.
More Wildcats to Watch
DB Luc Damaini - The 6-foot-2 junior recorded a career-high 41 tackles last season and returns after two successful seasons in the DB rotation for NMU.
The Offensive Line - After being one of the top units in the GLIAC and supporting a record-breaking rushing attack, the offensive line is looking to build on its success under a new offensive scheme.
WR
Isaac Olson - With a newly revamped offense, Olson is primed to build on his career-high 121 receiving yards last season.
QBs
Duke Shovald and
Aidan Hoard - Both of NMU's experienced QBs will have the opportunity to thrive in a more balanced system and will continue exhibiting their veteran leadership.
A Look at Minnesota State Moorhead
Members of the NSIC, the Dragons have been picked to finish eighth in their conference in the Preseason Coaches Poll. They went 8-3 last season, including a win against ranked Minnesota State Mankato on the road to conclude their season.
Coach Steve Laqua has been with the school since 2011 and will look to lead another successful campaign. In the past three seasons, Moorhead's pass-heavy approach helped them break records in scoring, touchdowns, passing attempts and completions, completion percentage, and more. With a new quarterback, Moorhead will look to continue their record-breaking offensive output this season.
Moorhead has lost their star offensive duo in WR Gage Florence and QB Jack Strand, as well as star WR Brady Perryman, but maintains many of the players who led to a successful year last season. Moorhead brings back an offensive lineman and All-NSIC North First Teamer Manny Wilson on offense and brings back multiple award winners on defense, including DB Adam Kallenbach (First Team) and defensive lineman Zach Dahl.
The Series
Moorhead took the first and so far only game of this series, 44-37, and NMU will look to even the score this Thursday.
2026 GLIAC Preseason Poll
1. Ferris State, 49 (7)
2. Grand Valley State, 43 (1)
3. Michigan Tech, 34
4. Davenport, 31
5. Saginaw Valley State, 28
6. Northern Michigan, 18
7. Roosevelt, 11
8. Wayne State, 10
