Mt. Vernon grad Tanner Koziol had two touchdowns in Ball State’s win Saturday.
Photo courtesy Ball State Athletics
By Associated Press
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Jackson Courville kicked a career-best 52-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to give Ball State a dramatic 25-23 win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.
Kanon Woodill kicked a 47-yard field goal with 18 seconds left to give the Huskies their only lead, 23-22 but Kadin Semonza completed passes of 34 yards to Malcolm Gillie and 5 yards to Tanner Koziol to put the Ball at the NIU 35 with 5 seconds to go.
It capped a wild finish that saw a wide-open Skyler Gill, who had seven receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown, drop a two-point conversion that would have pulled Northern Illinois into a 22-20 tie with 4:57 to play. But after a tipped-ball interception put Ball State at the NIU 23 with 2:26 to play, Santana Banner blocked Courville’s potential clinching 33-yard field goal with 1:51 to go.
Semonza was 20-of-33 passing for 211 yards with two touchdown passes to Koziol for the Cardinals (3-5, 2-2 Mid-American Conference). A 3-yard connection opened the scoring. Koziol also had a 9-yard touchdown among his nine catches for 78 yards.
Courville had field goals of 24 and 47 yards, a yard shy of his career best at the time, to help Ball State take a 19-14 lead at the half. A 50-yard field goal in the third quarter made it 22-14.
Ethan Hampton was 18-of-33 passing for the Huskies (4-4, 1-3), including a 54-yard scoring connection with Thompson. Antario Brown ran for two touchdowns, a 34-yarder to tie the game at 7 and a 6-yard run that pulled NIU within 22-20.
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Ball St. 25, Northern Illinois 23
| N. Illinois | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 | — | 23 |
| Ball St. | 7 | 12 | 0 | 6 | — | 25 |
First Quarter
BALL_Koziol 3 pass from Semonza (Courville kick), 10:26.
NIU_Brown 34 run (Woodill kick), :49.
Second Quarter
BALL_FG Courville 24, 12:44.
BALL_FG Courville 47, 9:40.
BALL_Koziol 6 pass from Semonza (kick failed), 1:51.
NIU_Thompson 54 pass from Hampton (Woodill kick), 1:12.
Fourth Quarter
BALL_FG Courville 50, 8:52.
NIU_Brown 6 run (pass failed), 4:57.
NIU_FG Woodill 47, :15.
BALL_FG Courville 51, :02.
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| NIU | BALL | |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 20 | 21 |
| Total Net Yards | 386 | 392 |
| Rushes-yards | 24-142 | 41-169 |
| Passing | 244 | 223 |
| Punt Returns | 2-31 | 0-0 |
| Kickoff Returns | 4-65 | 4-70 |
| Interceptions Ret. | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 25-44-2 | 21-34-0 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost | 1-4 | 1-9 |
| Punts | 3-42.667 | 4-37.75 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 3-2 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3-30 | 5-50 |
| Time of Possession | 25:08 | 34:52 |
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING_N. Illinois, Brown 11-62, T.Johnson 6-48, Holst 5-27, Hampton 1-4, G.Williams 1-1. Ball St., Pemberton 14-69, Sloan 17-50, Pickett 3-44, Kelly 4-14, Spegal 1-2, (Team) 1-(minus 1), Semonza 1-(minus 9).
PASSING_N. Illinois, Hampton 18-34-1-180, Holst 7-10-1-64. Ball St., Semonza 20-33-0-212, Kelly 1-1-0-11.
RECEIVING_N. Illinois, Thompson 8-129, Rudolph 7-47, Barnes 4-27, Pardridge 3-17, McElroy 1-10, Pipkin 1-8, Lampe 1-6. Ball St., Koziol 9-79, Sloan 4-47, Gillie 3-46, Bowick 3-31, Semonza 1-11, Abney 1-9.
MISSED FIELD GOALS_Ball St., Courville 33.
