BY JONNY ZAWACKI

News Sports Writer

Just one year ago, Alpena witnessed a breakout season for one of its most recent football stars.

Jordan Ferguson was a workhorse in the Wildcats’ backfield in 2014, breaking the schools single season rushing record with 1,452 yards while finding the end zone 19 times which was just one score shy of breaking the single season touchdown record.

Ferguson was earned first team all-conference honors as a running back during his junior and senior years, along with being an all-state honorable mention as a senior.

The record-breaking season eventually led Ferguson to continue his football career at Michigan Tech University. After leading the Wildcats to one of their best seasons years as a senior, Ferguson decided to continue playing football and get an education in Houghton.

“I chose Michigan Tech because every person I talked to about going here knew how prestigious (a) school it is and how a degree from Tech carries some weight in today’s world. It’s a challenging school with a great football program that has had a lot of success over the years,” Ferguson said.

The first year of college can sometimes be a challenge for many, especially when playing a sport. It can be difficult to be a star on a high school team and then make the transition to a possible decline in playing time at the next level. Fortunately for Ferguson, he was redshirted this season in order to develop and save a year of eligibility.

As a red shirt, Ferguson is currently on the scout team offense as a fullback/running back.

“Being on scout team is more difficult than most would think. We have meetings every Monday where we try to learn the offense of the opposing team to give the defense a good look, while at the same time, having to remember our own team’s playbook. We scrimmage against our number one and two defense every day to prepare them for the upcoming game,” Ferugson said.

“The transition from high school football to college football was very hard to adapt to at first. College football is a whole new world, the speed of the game is so much faster in college compared to high school. Everyone is stronger and hits harder, it was very hard to get used to at first.”

Tech is off a perfect 4-0 start this season, winning two games by one point. The most recent victory for the Huskies came at home against rival Northern Michigan University last week in the annual Miners Cup game as Tech blocked what would have been a game-winning field goal to secure the win.

“It is an amazing feeling to be apart of a winning program. Witnessing my first Miners Cup game gave me a thrill that I have never experienced before, winning the game by one point and charging the field with the rest of the team after we blocked a field goal was one of the best feelings I have ever experienced from winning a football game and I can’t wait until it’s my turn to take the field and play.” Ferguson said.

After a successful high school career where Ferguson set and tied school records, he is taking advantage of every day to continue to learn and get better so he is ready for his first opportunity he gets at Tech.

“Going from running the ball 30 times a game and breaking records in high school to not even touching the field and watching your teammates play from the sidelines was initially hard to deal with, but now it just makes me even more excited to get my chance to play. I have spent more time watching film and learning my position in the first two months that I have been apart of this program than I ever did in high school. Football in high school built my foundation and college football is now adding more and more onto it each and every day.” Ferguson said.